Occasion · 2026-08-30

Merienda: The Filipino Afternoon Meal That Isn't a Snack

Merienda is the meal Filipinos eat between lunch and dinner, usually around three in the afternoon, and it counts as a real meal rather than a light bite. At Pinoy Tambayan in Al Barsha, Dubai, that means fried snacks, noodles or a tall glass of shaved ice, not a biscuit and coffee.

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Merienda is the meal Filipinos eat between lunch and dinner, usually around three in the afternoon, and in a Filipino household it is treated as a real meal rather than a snack. At Pinoy Tambayan in Al Barsha, Dubai, merienda means a plate of something fried, a bowl of noodles or a tall glass of shaved ice, ordered the same way as any other meal on the menu.

A meal with its own hour

The word came into Filipino from Spanish, and it kept its own slot on the clock rather than folding into breakfast, lunch or dinner. Three o'clock is the rough marker most Filipino households still keep: late enough that lunch has worn off, early enough that it will not spoil dinner. Treating it as a fifth meal rather than a between-meals nibble is the reason a menu built around Filipino eating habits carries dishes suited to that specific hour.

What actually gets ordered

Fried snacks lead the list, built to be shared off one plate rather than served as a course. Lumpiang Shanghai carries a best seller mark on our printed menu and shows up often enough in search that we track the term by name. Kwek kwek, the orange-battered quail egg on a stick, and siomai, the steamed dumpling sold by the piece at Filipino stalls everywhere, both belong to the same hour. Calamari sits at the heavier end of the same list, closer to a shared plate for two than a single portion.

Noodles and something cold

Pancit is the other half of merienda, ordered as often at four in the afternoon as at dinner, and our pancit guide covers all four versions on the menu in detail.

When the Dubai heat is the bigger problem than the hunger, halo halo does the job instead: a tall glass of shaved ice eaten with a spoon rather than a dessert to sit through after a meal. Both are ordered often enough at this hour that the two guides already point to each other.

Ordering merienda for a group

An office or a family ordering merienda for more than a couple of people can send the order on WhatsApp the same way as any other order, with no separate menu and no special hour to hit. The kitchen keeps the same 8:00 AM to 1:00 AM every day, so three in the afternoon sits inside the ordinary window rather than a request that needs planning. Spreads for thirty people or more move onto the catering price list instead, which starts at AED 49 a head.

Building a spread that survives delivery

• One fried item per two people, kwek kwek or lumpia, is enough for a snack-sized portion rather than a full plate each.
• Add a noodle dish, pancit bihon or lomi, if the group has not eaten since morning and merienda is effectively covering lunch.
• Halo halo travels less well than fried food once ice starts to melt. Order it last on the list if delivery is involved, or save it for dine-in.
• Skip a full main course. Merienda is meant to end before dinner, not replace it, and a heavy main defeats the point of the hour.

Merienda questions we get asked

We are opposite Dubai International Academy in Al Barsha 1, open 8:00 AM to 1:00 AM every day, rated 4.5 on Google. Order early. Three o'clock arrives faster than the kitchen expects.