Eat as you are at seasoned chef and restaurateur Kalel Chan’s new restaurant Lobby Among the highlights of the menu is the T-bone hybrid steak, aged for 28 days and grilled to perfection on a Kopa charcoal oven from Slovenia, a wagyu and Angus cross, in which the incredible marbling of the former and the hearty flavor of the latter are combined. How do you describe dining at Lobby 385, a new restaurant tucked away in the warren of little streets worming through houses walled like fortresses in San Juan City? It’s Kalel Chan’s new baby, a venture all his own with partners Paulo Cheng, PJ King, Jeff Siy, Warren Sy, and Kelvin Yu, the OPM band Itchyworms’ bass guitarist. Kalel continues to be at the helm of the Raintree Hospitality Group as corporate chef, with which over the past two decades he has solidified his expertise manning and running a variety of restaurant concepts, ranging from in-city dining to dining destinations.
So what is it like eating at Lobby 385? It’s like arriving on a big-ass black bike, like the one Kalel owns, a Triumph speed twin, at a black-tie party at the Château de Fougères in France, although what Lobby 385 offers is a vintage Manila vibe, housed in what appears to be a modernized version of a 1920s-built ancestral home, replete with the impression of an imposing stairway at the main entrance. Order the Lobby Signature 100% Angus Burger and it’s like taking big bites at a mean old sandwich in your tux, meat juices dripping onto your.