All of the food was absolutely amazing. The service was attentive and the vibe was immaculate.
Adrian
All time favorite restaurant. Love at first bite for the pancit and lumpia. We also love the sig sig and the soft shell crab.
Greg
Amazing food and cool people. We plan to go back and eat through the entire menu. Highly recommended.
Elan
Great food and service. The pork rib adobo and crab noodles were delicious and my mom loved the halo halo. Definitely would recommend
Fergus
We orders 5 or 6 dishes. All were fantastic apart from the prawn dish that was too tart for most at the table. A preference thing, nothing else. The service was attentive but not intrusive. Really appreciated that the restuautant team turned the music down and accomadited our last minute table change. I'll be back!!
Opentable Diner
The service was very poor. We had been sitting at our table for a good ten minutes and had to ask for our server to take our order because he was busy chatting with someone who seemed to be a personal friend or a regular customer. The servings were too small for the price so I did not feel it was good value for money. My cocktail was good though. I really wanted to give a more favorable review but was very disappointed in our visit.
Heidi
We went to Magna Kusina 3 days after moving to Portland to celebrate my youngest kid's birthday 3 years ago. We were so happy with the food and drinks that it is something that we do annually. There are certain things that we look forward to every year. Calamansi soda, Isaw skewers, sisig are favorites in my family. We haven't gone wrong with anything that we have chosen to eat there. Last night's dinner didn't disappoint again. Our server was great too. Thanks for another wonderful meal
JINNY
I didn't know much about Filipino food, but I'm glad I found out! My party tried the lumpia, chicken, shrimp, and a vegetarian dish for lunch. All were great. I'm glad we had a reservation, the place was packed in part due to just having shown up on both the Oregonian and the NYT restaurant lists. It was very noisy and a bit stuffy inside; I'm glad the weather was nice enough for us to eat outside. We perused the menu ahead of time so we could order as soon as the server came to get a drink order, which cut the wait time to get food considerably.
Ron
This is the place to dine if you love grilled unique foods! The staff always makes me feel welcome and is attentive.
My friends and I love Magna. Chef Carlo and his team make sure you have an amazing experience. Not only are the food and drinks terrific, but the atmosphere is chill and friendly. It's a great place to hang out with friends and family.
The food is easy to order for sharing so you can try multiple dishes, which I totally suggest. You can't go wrong ordering anything, but some suggestions... * The lumpia and chicharon with shishitos covered in salted egg dust. These make a great starter while trying to narrow down what else to order. * One of my favorite combos - the Sisig (crispy pork bits, onions, chili topped with runny egg) and the garlic rice. It's also great with the Pancit Bihon. * If you're into crab definitely get the Mom's Crab Fat Noodles - Dungeness crab + corn-pepper chow chow over squid ink noodles made in house. Go for it by adding the fried soft shell crab.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ann Wu
Dined at Magna Kusina for the first time and all that was left at the end were smiles and good memories.
Carlo was the first face when we entered into the restaurant, full of energy, friendliness, and humor. The restaurant and atmosphere felt instantly like home before we were even seated.
For dinner, we ordered: - Chicken and mushroom skewers: chicken was made so tender and juicy; mushroom skewers were such a creative spin!
- Crab fat noodles: this was absolutely both of our favorite dishes of the night. The crab flavors were bold and powerful; the sauce was portioned just right so it was not a soupy dish; seasoning was so on point and not too salty. The soft shell crab added another fun to the dish, so yummy! A must order.
- Laing (coconut collard greens): I personally enjoyed this dish, however my friend did not like the coconut flavor. The crispy shallots added to the texture which I thought was a nice touch.
- Pork ribs adobo: a solid dish and meat was cooked tender, although not fall-off-the-bone. The sauce was also seasoned well, not too overpowering and salty. I also loved the bok choy and scallions garnish!
My friend ordered the drink special and loved it.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience dining here. I will for sure be back and recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mom's Crab Fat Noodles
Liliana Quintero
Very bad, I lost my money in this place, the lunch it was horrible and expensive 😤
Recommended dishes: Seafood
Eric
The food itself is great, but the experience of dining here has been consistently disappointing on a few occasions. Service is pretty off. After being seated, about 5 minutes later someone came by to ask if anyone had taken our order. We placed a drink order and then waiting about 20 minutes for the two drinks to arrive. We placed our food order when the drinks arrived (roughly 5/6 dishes across the spectrum of categories). The food was all dropped off together about 15 minutes later and that was the last we saw of any server or anyone checking in or taking drink orders, filling water, etc. We decided to bail on a dessert or even a second drink. All in all we were there for about 90 minutes. I had to catch a waiter on my way to the bathroom to ask for the check. In general I didn't feel great about dropping $150 on dinner for 2 where we were sort of treated as an after-thought. I've had better recent experiences elsewhere, so I don't think this is a "state of service industry" situation.
Pam
Not impressed. This restaurant has consistently been on best of lists -- and I don't understand why. No one checked in with us for 15 minutes. Once I had a drink order in, I didn't receive my drink for 30 minutes. If the drinks are that hard to prepare, maybe it's time to rethink the recipes. The lumpia was tasty, the squid ink pasta was the highlight. The rest was ehhh okay. I won't be back.
All of the food was absolutely amazing. The service was attentive and the vibe was immaculate.
All time favorite restaurant. Love at first bite for the pancit and lumpia. We also love the sig sig and the soft shell crab.
Amazing food and cool people. We plan to go back and eat through the entire menu. Highly recommended.
Great food and service. The pork rib adobo and crab noodles were delicious and my mom loved the halo halo. Definitely would recommend
We orders 5 or 6 dishes. All were fantastic apart from the prawn dish that was too tart for most at the table. A preference thing, nothing else. The service was attentive but not intrusive. Really appreciated that the restuautant team turned the music down and accomadited our last minute table change. I'll be back!!
The service was very poor. We had been sitting at our table for a good ten minutes and had to ask for our server to take our order because he was busy chatting with someone who seemed to be a personal friend or a regular customer. The servings were too small for the price so I did not feel it was good value for money. My cocktail was good though. I really wanted to give a more favorable review but was very disappointed in our visit.
We went to Magna Kusina 3 days after moving to Portland to celebrate my youngest kid's birthday 3 years ago. We were so happy with the food and drinks that it is something that we do annually. There are certain things that we look forward to every year. Calamansi soda, Isaw skewers, sisig are favorites in my family. We haven't gone wrong with anything that we have chosen to eat there. Last night's dinner didn't disappoint again. Our server was great too. Thanks for another wonderful meal
I didn't know much about Filipino food, but I'm glad I found out! My party tried the lumpia, chicken, shrimp, and a vegetarian dish for lunch. All were great. I'm glad we had a reservation, the place was packed in part due to just having shown up on both the Oregonian and the NYT restaurant lists. It was very noisy and a bit stuffy inside; I'm glad the weather was nice enough for us to eat outside. We perused the menu ahead of time so we could order as soon as the server came to get a drink order, which cut the wait time to get food considerably.
This is the place to dine if you love grilled unique foods! The staff always makes me feel welcome and is attentive.
Absolutely delicious
Restaurantji Recommends
My friends and I love Magna. Chef Carlo and his team make sure you have an amazing experience. Not only are the food and drinks terrific, but the atmosphere is chill and friendly. It's a great place to hang out with friends and family.
The food is easy to order for sharing so you can try multiple dishes, which I totally suggest. You can't go wrong ordering anything, but some suggestions...
* The lumpia and chicharon with shishitos covered in salted egg dust. These make a great starter while trying to narrow down what else to order.
* One of my favorite combos - the Sisig (crispy pork bits, onions, chili topped with runny egg) and the garlic rice. It's also great with the Pancit Bihon.
* If you're into crab definitely get the Mom's Crab Fat Noodles - Dungeness crab + corn-pepper chow chow over squid ink noodles made in house. Go for it by adding the fried soft shell crab.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dined at Magna Kusina for the first time and all that was left at the end were smiles and good memories.
Carlo was the first face when we entered into the restaurant, full of energy, friendliness, and humor. The restaurant and atmosphere felt instantly like home before we were even seated.
For dinner, we ordered:
- Chicken and mushroom skewers: chicken was made so tender and juicy; mushroom skewers were such a creative spin!
- Crab fat noodles: this was absolutely both of our favorite dishes of the night. The crab flavors were bold and powerful; the sauce was portioned just right so it was not a soupy dish; seasoning was so on point and not too salty. The soft shell crab added another fun to the dish, so yummy! A must order.
- Laing (coconut collard greens): I personally enjoyed this dish, however my friend did not like the coconut flavor. The crispy shallots added to the texture which I thought was a nice touch.
- Pork ribs adobo: a solid dish and meat was cooked tender, although not fall-off-the-bone. The sauce was also seasoned well, not too overpowering and salty. I also loved the bok choy and scallions garnish!
My friend ordered the drink special and loved it.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience dining here. I will for sure be back and recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mom's Crab Fat Noodles
Very bad, I lost my money in this place, the lunch it was horrible and expensive 😤
Recommended dishes: Seafood
The food itself is great, but the experience of dining here has been consistently disappointing on a few occasions. Service is pretty off. After being seated, about 5 minutes later someone came by to ask if anyone had taken our order. We placed a drink order and then waiting about 20 minutes for the two drinks to arrive. We placed our food order when the drinks arrived (roughly 5/6 dishes across the spectrum of categories). The food was all dropped off together about 15 minutes later and that was the last we saw of any server or anyone checking in or taking drink orders, filling water, etc. We decided to bail on a dessert or even a second drink. All in all we were there for about 90 minutes. I had to catch a waiter on my way to the bathroom to ask for the check. In general I didn't feel great about dropping $150 on dinner for 2 where we were sort of treated as an after-thought. I've had better recent experiences elsewhere, so I don't think this is a "state of service industry" situation.
Not impressed. This restaurant has consistently been on best of lists -- and I don't understand why. No one checked in with us for 15 minutes. Once I had a drink order in, I didn't receive my drink for 30 minutes. If the drinks are that hard to prepare, maybe it's time to rethink the recipes. The lumpia was tasty, the squid ink pasta was the highlight. The rest was ehhh okay. I won't be back.
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