Restaurant in Makati, Philippines
Serious Manila dining. Book ahead.
Gallery By Chele is the most technically ambitious tasting-menu restaurant in BGC, and one of the clearest booking decisions in Metro Manila for food-focused travelers. Counter seating adds real depth to the experience. Booking is currently easier than comparable venues like Hapag, making this an accessible entry point into serious Philippine fine dining.
If you have already visited Gallery By Chele once, the question on a return trip is whether the experience holds up without the novelty factor. It does. The restaurant, located on the fifth floor of Clipp Center in BGC, delivers a level of technical ambition that remains rare in Metro Manila regardless of how many times you have sat at the table. For food-focused travelers passing through Manila, this is the booking to make first.
What changes on a second visit is how much more you notice. The kitchen counter, if you can secure that position, shifts the meal from passive to active. You watch the brigade work through each course with precision that rewards close attention. The visual detail on each plate is the first thing that registers: color is used deliberately, composition is tight, and there is none of the overwrought garnish that clutters lesser tasting menus. Watching a course assembled from that vantage point gives you context that a standard dining room table simply cannot. For solo diners in particular, counter seating here is a practical upgrade, not just a preference. You are close enough to ask questions, and the team is accustomed to engaging guests who are genuinely curious about what they are eating.
Weekday lunch or early dinner service gives you the most attentive experience. Weekend evenings fill the room and, while service does not fall apart, the energy shifts. Booking at Gallery By Chele is currently easier than comparable tasting-menu restaurants in the region. You are unlikely to face the weeks-long wait you would encounter at Hapag, though that can change as the restaurant's international profile grows. If you are planning a trip around this meal, a week to ten days' notice is usually sufficient, but booking further ahead eliminates any uncertainty. For context on the wider dining options in the area, see our full Makati restaurants guide.
Gallery By Chele sits in a small group of Manila-area restaurants, alongside Toyo Eatery in Manila and Linamnam in Parañaque, that are doing serious, considered work with Philippine ingredients and technique. If the tasting-menu format is your preferred way to eat, and especially if you can position yourself at the counter, this is one of the clearest yeses in the city. Explorers looking for depth and local context will find more here than at most comparable addresses in Southeast Asia, including venues with more international press. Also worth bookmarking for your trip: Kása Palma, Celera, and Helm if you are building a full Makati itinerary. For broader planning, our Makati hotels guide and our Makati bars guide cover the rest of your stay.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery By Chele | — | |
| Hapag | — | |
| Kása Palma | — | |
| a mano | — | |
| Crosta | — | |
| Celera | — |
Comparing your options in Makati for this tier.
Gallery By Chele operates a set menu format, so ordering is not a decision you make at the table. The kitchen drives the meal, which means your main choice is whether the tasting menu format suits you. If you prefer to pick and choose dishes, Crosta or a mano in the BGC area offer more flexibility.
Yes, and the counter position makes solo dining genuinely worthwhile here. Securing a counter seat at Clipp Center puts you close to the kitchen action, which adds engagement to what would otherwise be a quiet table-for-one. Book explicitly for the counter when you reserve.
The address — fifth floor of Clipp Center, 11th Avenue corner 39th Street in BGC — signals a polished crowd. Dress neatly: trousers and a collared shirt for men, a similar level of effort for women. This is not a jacket-required room, but arriving in shorts and sneakers would read as underdressed for the format.
It is one of the stronger cases in Metro Manila for a milestone dinner. The set menu format removes ordering stress, the room is composed rather than loud, and the kitchen's focus on Philippine-rooted cooking gives the meal a sense of place that generic hotel fine dining rarely delivers. Book well ahead for a weekend evening if the date is fixed.
Hapag is the most direct comparison for serious Philippine-focused tasting menus and is slightly harder to book. Toyo Eatery in Manila covers similar creative territory with a different sensibility. For something less formal and more affordable, a mano and Crosta offer strong cooking without the set-menu commitment.
Book at least three to four weeks out for a weekend dinner, two weeks for a weekday slot. Weekday lunch and early dinner services are the easier reservations to land and typically deliver more attentive pacing. Do not leave this to the week before if the date matters to you.
Small groups of two to four work well within the dining room's format. Larger groups should check the venue's official channels to ask about private or semi-private arrangements, as the tasting menu structure can create pacing challenges for bigger tables. The Clipp Center address in BGC is straightforward for groups arriving from across Metro Manila.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
