The 20,000-seat Coliseum has always been one of the favorite venues for sports events, concerts, beauty contest and religious meetings. It has for the past 40 years, welcomed all types of market from A to D. Renovated three years ago at a cost of P200 million, the Big Dome remains the heart of the Araneta Center.
In keeping with the Araneta Group's thrust to provide total satisfaction to the public, the management has introduced a different dining experience - the COLISEUM CIRCLE. It's a medley of restaurants that complement one another to give patrons more choices like never before. One major reason for the construction of the Coliseum Circle is to make it easier for Coliseum patrons to linger after the show. This would allow them to rediscover the area and to see how much the Center has improved.
The Coliseum Circle is a great place where the public can really loosen up, eat good food and reminisce on the historical Araneta Center.
Starbucks Coffee
Known all over the world as one of the best coffee shops,
Starbucks is the first establishment in the Circle.
It has become the major meeting place of Big Dome visitors.
Cafe Bola
Owned by premiere glam chef Margarita Fores (of Cibo) and Alvin Lim (another prominent restaurant figure). Cafe Bola is a cozy restaurant which offers Italian and Mexican dishes with a pinoy twist. Its menu revolves around entrees which make use of local ingredients like tuyo (spicy tuyo fillets), kesong puti (kesong puti cheesecake) and adobo flakes with kesong puti on top of rice. Also there is the must-try kamias shake (yes, the fruit that's almost ignored by everyone). Its sweet and sour taste leaves a delightful aftertaste. Cafe Bola also offers pasta dishes, and specially grilled sandwiches. For the sweet tooth try their bola flan (leche flan), chocolate or the classic tiramisu.
Sachi
Sachiko Hirano's Sakura Restaurant at Times Square in Subic, has a good following despite its distance from Metro Manila. It attracts people who seek authentic Japanese cuisine at its finest. Recognizing this, Hirano decided to put up a branch at the heart of Quezon City, Araneta Center. "Same quality, same management", Hirano says.
Like its Subic counterpart, Sachi at the Coliseum Circle offers excellent wasyoku or traditional Japanese cuisine, like sushi, sashimi, tempura, gohanmono (rice with topping), noodles, agemono (deep-fried items), yakimono (grilled foods), nimono (simmered dishes), teppanyaki (dishes grilled on hot iron plate), nabermono (one pot dishes like sukiyaki and shabu-shabu), Japanese style steaks, desserts and other house specials prepared by executive chef Tadashi Noda and his staff.
Volare
Let your senses fly with authentic Trattoria cuisine from Volare, the newest treat for your taste buds at the Araneta Coliseum Circle. Choose from their wide array of specials and enjoy the ultimate casual dining experience!
Dencio's
And for those who prefer Filipino dishes, Coliseum Circle's Dencio's is the ultimate resto, serving dishes in a very native yet cozy atmosphere. Dencio's at the Circle is the eighth in the long line of Dencio's chain in the country. Their specialty: sisig. They also offer baked mussels covered with spoonful of cheese and a plate of seafoods grilled to make you crave for more. Other native favorites: adobong kangkong, lechon kawali, beef and pork barbecue, sinigang and the list goes on and on.
Padi's Point
Padi's Point is a byword when you think about drinking sprees, late-night gimmicks, pulutan and all night bands. Now its here at the Coliseum Circle! Coliseum Circle's Padi's is considered as the flagship outlet of all Padi's Point in the country when it comes to sales. Almost every night people from all walks of life jam over this place. A perfect getaway from the irritating traffic in Metro Manila. Besides its bestselling menu, Padi's also presents concerts and movies using their widescreen projector before the usual 9 o'clock performances of their local bands.
Gloria Maris
The newest addition to the restaurant roster at the Circle is Gloria Maris. Known for its delectable Chinese dishes, Gloria Maris is starting to attract food enthusiasts who only go for fresh ingredients. Their dimsum line-up includes: milk cream pao, masachi, fried sesame balls, siao long pao, machang, fried taro puff, steamed shrimp dumpling, ham soy kok and chicken feet in black bean sauce. For the main course, they have beef cubes with fried milk curds, pata tim with black mushroom, fried crabs with salt and pepper, steamed lapu-lapu in soy sauce, roasted duck, fried pigeon and pecking duck. For those who prefer Chinese noodles (for long life, as the Chinese believe). Gloria Maris offers shrimp dumpling noodle. Gloria Maris' special noodle, roasted duck noodle soup, tausi spare ribs noodle, and assorted meat stir fried noodles.
Rasa
The only authentic Singaporean cuisine in town.
Rasa's signature dishes were created with special sauces and flavors to showcase the best of Singapore's favorites - melange of tastes that is truly Asian.
Go Nuts Donuts
People actually queue up and form long lines to buy donuts and buy more than what they can consume, possible to resell. The company achieved this without ANY advertising, which is what makes their success such a wonder.
Go Nuts Donuts is owned and operated by the Trillana family, of Mr. Juicy and Whammo's fame. According to their research, Filipinos do not like the citrus taste of lemons nor do they like very high sugar contents on their donuts. Armed with this knowlege they started the business. They have flavors like peanut butter and pastillas which I admit is something new. The other flavors are just creatively named renditions of old favorites. Krispy Kremes still haven't made it to our shores but even if they do, it is very likely that Go Nuts will give them a run for their money.
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is the most important worldwide chain of ice cream and snacks. Dairy Queen offers a lot of variety presentations of delicious soft serve, like classic and dipped cones, shakes, sundaes, Royal Treats, Moolate, Blizzard, Hot Dogs, and DQ Cakes. Dairy Queen is different, unique and funny because it has an optimistic ambientance that invite you to take life not too seriously.
