Vinyl listening sessions at OTO

OTO is Manila's first proper listening bar, a low-lit room on a Poblacion side street built around a wall of vinyl, a custom audiophile system, and a raised selector booth where the music is the point rather than the backdrop. Resident selectors play Wednesday through Sunday, paired with a deep list of Japanese whisky and sake and a recently rewritten page of fifteen music-inspired cocktails. It seats around forty and turns up on Asia's 50 Best discovery lists, which makes it a dependable late-evening anchor for anyone who takes sound and a well-made drink seriously. Programming changes week to week, so check OTO's page for the night's selector; it works equally well as a quiet after-work drink or a full evening, and it is worth crossing town for a date.