Up until very recently, for reasons unknown, Filipino restaurants have been extremely rare in the US, outside of maybe a few Fil-Am enclaves in NYC, the West Coast, or Hawai'i. So, when I discovered Manila Bay in Philly, around the time I was getting divorced, it was a great comfort to me to be able to go there late at night, and enjoy good food and good company. My house in New Jersey was just across the Tacony-Palmyra bridge from North Philly, so it was easy to get there.