On my latest bar-hopping adventure in Manila to revisit the gems of Pobla, we stumbled upon Cheshire MNL, a newly opened secret spot, great for your next night out. Named after the Cheshire Cat, known for its distinctive mischievous grin from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the bar is operated by the same proprietors as the multi-concept building White Rabbit.
Watch the video below for a sneak peek of the venue:
White Rabbit features different experiences: upstairs, the Ugly Duck is a bar and restaurant where guests can enjoy alfresco dining and vibe to live DJ music on weekends. If you’re looking to party, head downstairs to Apotheka to enjoy live DJ performances and bands. Tucked away four flights up (yes, you literally have to walk up), you’ll find the speakeasy-style cocktail bar, Cheshire. Still in its soft opening since popping up earlier this year, you can’t just stroll in; you’ve got to slide into their DMs on a cryptic Instagram account that has only a cat’s eye for a profile picture and no posts.
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For those seeking a quieter, sit-down experience, you’ll love the laid-back atmosphere at Cheshire. The venue offers a 35-seat area with a bar in the middle, dimly lit with maroon-colored interiors, and featuring large paintings as focal points on the walls. They also have a private room for larger groups of 15 to 20 people. Going out on a date? This is a great spot for a romantic night out. One of the standout features is the restroom, which is decent and inviting. It allows you to enjoy more drinks without worrying about a trip to the loo.
According to one of the owners, Carlos Munarriz, the stars of Cheshire are the drinks and the service. Their menu is presented in a deck of cards, offering a plethora of choices to match your palate. Drinks start at PHP500 and go over PHP1,800 for premium cocktails featuring top-shelf spirits. For instance, their Grand Old Fashioned is made with Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye, while the El Presidente uses Foursquare Rum from Barbados.
The signature drinks are twists on classic concoctions, categorized by the suits in the deck. Hearts feature sours with cocktails like the Corpse Reviver and Jack Rose. Spades highlight highballs, and clubs offer low-ABV options for a lighter start, like the Sbagliato. Diamonds showcase spirit-forward drinks, including the Queen of Clubs—a tart pineapple-flavored mimosa—and the Jack of Diamonds, a tequila cocktail smoked with hickory chips.
A crowd-pleaser is the Queen of Diamonds, a more approachable Negroni Bianco that’s fruitier and sweeter than bitter, made with gin, Fernet Hunter, and topped with Ratafia Rossi. Their take on the classics is more approachable than the originals, featuring fruitier and more floral flavors in their sours and sweeter notes on their boozy twists. You’ll find a classic style of cocktail making here, with minimal garnishing, although they do incorporate some smoking for added flair.
Feeling peckish? The bar serves some light chows that you can pair with your drinks. Snacks include spiced fried garbanzos (PHP 280), mala-flavored fries (PHP340), seabass carpaccio with tomato, rosemary oil, gremolata, and fried capers that you can enjoy with thin chips(PHP400), as well as Buffalo chicken sando with blue cheese slaw (PHP400).
Cheshire is located on the fourth floor of the White Rabbit Building, 5672 Dona Carmen Street, corner General Luna, Makati. They are open from Tuesday to Sunday at 7pm onwards. No walk-ins here, so be sure to hit them up on Instagram @cheshire.mnl to make a reservation.
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