Smackdown: What's the Best Cinema Popcorn in Metro Manila?

(SPOT.ph) What's poppin'? With cinemas back in action for a few months now, we've gotten back to treating ourselves to the classic movie theater snacks that we've been missing out on for the better part of two years. We truly missed movie theater french fries, nachos, and candy, but most of all... movie theater popcorn.

With the classic movie theaters now regularly open, we've decided to revisit the timeless debate of what's the best movie theater popcorn in Metro Manila. We hit up six popular movie theaters in the Metro, bought ourselves a good ol' big bucket of butter-flavored popcorn at each of their snack bars, and sat down for a couple of hours to witness the glory of snacking—er, we mean... cinema.

Also read: 10 Movies Released This Year You Should Have Watched By Now

What is the Best Movie Theater Popcorn in Metro Manila?

Ayala Cinemas (Movie Snackbar)

Ayala Cinemas' official popcorn vendor Movie Snackbar does not have butter-flavored popcorn. The only popcorn flavors on their menu are Sour Cream & Chives, Texan BBQ, and Blazing Cheddar. As such, they're disqualified from this competition. Butter luck next time.

Rating: N/A out of 5 Spots.

SM Cinemas (Snack Time)

SM Cinemas' Snack Time has three size options to choose from; Regular (P80), Large (P110), and Bucket (P130). As their Bucket size was sold out at the times we visited the cinema, we checked out the Large instead, which comes in a simple paper bag not that much smaller than the bucket sizes of other cinemas on this list. Not too bad. 

SM Cinemas' butter-flavored popcorn is served already salted. It's generous with its saltiness and butteriness, but not overly so. It's the Goldilocks "just the right amount" in both regards. It's crunchy as well but leaves too many kernels in your mouth for it to be regarded as a fun munch.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Spots.

Gateway Mall Cinemas (Snaxx)

Gateway Mall Cinemas serves their Snaxx Popcorn Bucket (P119) in a sizable cardboard box with a handle on it. Easily the best packaging for any bucket of popcorn on this list. It's just incredibly convenient to have a popcorn container with a lid and a handle on it.

Unfortunately, their packaging quality doesn't translate to the taste itself, as the popcorn comes off as mostly bland. Try fishing for the singular, most yellow-colored popcorn in the bucket, and you'll only catch a slight hint of butter in your mouth. Also, the popcorn starts to get chewy after a mere hour of watching in the cinema, so the impressive volume of the bucket is wasted on a snack you can't preserve.

Maybe you can dig into their snow cones instead. Yes, they serve snow cones at their snack bar. We don't know why, either.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Spots.

Shangri-La Cinemas (Red Carpet)

Shangri-La Cinemas' Red Carpet popcorn bucket also comes with a lid and a handle. If you've finished watching your movie and still have popcorn in the bucket, you can easily carry it around if you're, say, still walking around the mall and shopping. Plus points always for the lid and handle.

The popcorn comes already salted, but it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more just for extra seasoning. Most of the salt trickles down to the bottom of Shang's tall bucket anyway. Nothing particular stands about its butter-flavored popcorn, but their's is a movie snack you can't go wrong with. It could get a bit harder to chew if you decide to save it for home after your trip to the movies, but we wouldn't go as far as to say a few hours makes it inedible.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Spots.

Greenhills Cinemas (Cine Snacks)

Greenhills' Cine Snacks popcorn bucket (P120) is a mixed bag. Actually, it's a plastic bag that holds a simple popcorn bucket. While it is fun to finish out the bucket and discover that there's still way more popcorn caught within the exterior plastic, the general use of plastic is just questionable.

You can relish in the buttery smack of Greenhills' popcorn, because it's undoubtedly the second-most flavorful option on this list. The most compelling argument for Greenhills' popcorn is that its generous serving, coupled with how it curiously just seemingly never gets chewy, makes it our favorite popcorn to bring home after the movies and munch on, even until the next day.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Spots.

Ultimate Winner: Power Plant Mall Cinemas

We will start off by saying Power Plant Mall's current popcorn packaging is disappointingly unremarkable. For both the Tumbler (P110) and the Bucket (P130) sizes, it's just a brown paper bag that's filled to the brim with popcorn, which almost always causes some to fall out of the bag. Frustrating, we know. No one likes looking messy with their popcorn, especially at Power Plant's pristine cinema.

The popcorn itself, however, is top quality. It's the entry on this list with the strongest butter flavor, but the way it's easy to chew and only lightly salted makes its potent flavor come off as almost casual and easy. Power Plant Mall's popcorn is the type of movie snack you go to the cinemas for. Hands down, a-maize-ing.

Rating: 4.999999 out of 5 Spots. (Please bring back the old packaging.)

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