How to Choose a Steak Delivery in the Philippines: 8 Things to Check

Last updated: 29 August 2026. Prices quoted for other shops were accurate at the time of writing and move often. Verify before you buy.

The short answer. Check eight things before buying steak online in the Philippines: where the shop dispatches from, whether there is a minimum order, how the courier fee is handled, whether the grade and producer are named, the slice thickness, the packing method, the real lead time, and whether they publish cooking guidance. Dispatch point and minimum order matter most.

Every shop's homepage says roughly the same four things: premium, imported, fresh, delivered. None of that helps you choose. Here is what actually separates them.

We sell steak, so read this knowing that. We have been specific below about where we are not the right answer.

1. Where does it dispatch from, not just where does it deliver

The single most useful question, and almost nobody asks it.

A frozen steak has a budget of cold. Every minute above freezing in a courier bag spends it. What determines arrival condition is not the shop's total delivery radius, it is the time and heat between their freezer and your door.

A shop in Quezon City delivering to Lipa is a long hot run whatever they promise. A shop nearer to you is structurally better positioned, regardless of marketing. Ask where they dispatch from and measure it against your own address.

We dispatch from Silang, Cavite, which is good for CALABARZON and the south metro, and mediocre for northern Metro Manila. That is a real limitation and we would rather say it.

2. Is there a minimum order

This is the term that quietly changes what you actually buy.

The common structures are a free-delivery threshold, often around ₱2,000, and a hard dispatch minimum, often ₱3,000 to ₱4,000. The difference matters: a free-delivery threshold means you can still order one steak and pay for shipping. A hard minimum means you cannot buy one steak at all.

Put in decision terms, a hard minimum turns a Tuesday craving into a four-thousand-peso commitment. Most people either overbuy or do not buy.

We have no minimum order. Packs run ₱669 to ₱1,649 and one pack is a complete order.

3. What a kilo actually costs

Per-pack prices are not comparable across shops because pack sizes differ. Per kilo is. Here is our full range worked out, as of 29 August 2026:

• Foodlabo Saikoro Steak 1kg: ₱1,299, so ₱1,299 per kilo. Our cheapest wagyu-format beef per kilo.
• Foodlabo Saikoro Steak 500g: ₱669, so ₱1,338 per kilo.
• NK Foods Beef Cubes 1kg: ₱1,499, so ₱1,499 per kilo.
• NK Foods Beef Saikoro 500g: ₱769, so ₱1,538 per kilo.
• Classic Giant Ribeye 1kg: ₱1,599, so ₱1,599 per kilo. Butter-aged USDA Angus.
• Classic Gold Ribeye 1kg: ₱1,599, so ₱1,599 per kilo.
• Gold Artisan Ribeye 1kg: ₱1,649, so ₱1,649 per kilo. Our most expensive.

Our bone-in Classic Porterhouse (₱999) and Classic T-Bone (₱949) are sold by cut count rather than weight, at four quarter-inch cuts per pack, so a per-kilo figure would be misleading. We would rather say that than invent one.

For context on the wider market: the Philippine Statistics Authority (psa.gov.ph) publishes retail beef price monitoring, and in observed August 2026 listings, premium local ribeye ran from roughly ₱795 per kilo at the value end, imported USDA Choice Angus ribeye around ₱1,850 per kilo, and retail Meltique in supermarket two-slice packs worked out near ₱2,800 per kilo. That is a very wide band, and the honest reading is that per-kilo price tracks grade and format more than it tracks brand.

Run this arithmetic on any shop you are considering. It is the fastest way to see through packaging.

4. How is the courier fee handled

Three models, not equally transparent:

• Shouldered by you, quoted upfront. You pay the actual Lalamove or Grab fee for your distance. Transparent, and cheaper if you are close.
• Free above a threshold. The delivery cost is inside the pack price. You are paying for it either way, you just cannot see it.
• Flat rate. Simple, and near customers subsidise far ones.

None is wrong. But if one shop offers free delivery and another quotes a fee, you are not comparing like with like until you add the courier cost to the second and compare totals.

We use the first model. You shoulder the courier fee, quoted with your order before you pay.

5. Do they tell you what the beef actually is

The biggest honesty gap in this category is the word wagyu.

Meltique is not wagyu. It is real beef injected with fat to mimic natural marbling, a technique descended from the French larding method known as piquage. It is a genuinely good product at its price, but it is not a Japanese breed and it did not grow that fat itself. Some shops sell it as wagyu, or as wagyu-style, and let you draw your own conclusion.

Saikoro describes a dice cut, not a grade. Saikoro means dice in Japanese. A pack labelled Saikoro Wagyu tells you the shape. It does not by itself tell you the grade or the producer.

Check whether the shop names the producer, the origin and the grade, or whether it just says premium. We label Meltique as Meltique, print the brand on every wagyu pack, and wrote is Meltique real wagyu and what is Saikoro wagyu rather than leave it vague.

6. Slice thickness, which nobody lists and everybody should

Two shops sell you a kilo of ribeye at a similar price. One gives four half-inch slices, the other two 1.25-inch steaks. These are different products that cook differently.

Thickness determines method. Thin cuts want a fast hard sear and are unforgiving of a minute's inattention. Thick cuts want a reverse sear and reward a thermometer. Neither is better, but you should know which you are buying before it arrives.

If a listing does not state slice thickness or cuts per pack, that is a meaningful omission. Every one of our packs lists both.

7. How is it packed, and are ice packs included

Vacuum-sealed and portioned is the baseline. Below that, walk away.

Beyond it: are ice packs included by default or on request, is there an insulated bag option, and will they tell you honestly when a route is too long to guarantee a frozen arrival.

That last one is the tell. A shop that will take any order for any address on any day is not managing a cold chain, it is taking orders.

8. Lead time, and whether same-day is real

Same-day delivery is the headline feature in this category and it is worth understanding what it costs.

Same-day usually means dispatching from stock on hand, on whatever courier slot is free, at whatever hour your order lands. Next-day means the shop can prep your cuts and book a cooler route. For a frozen product, next-day planned is often the better steak, even though same-day is the better advertisement.

If you genuinely need steak tonight, use a same-day shop or a supermarket. We ask for a day's notice and we are not the answer for a 4pm emergency.

9. Do they tell you how to cook it

A soft signal, but a reliable one. A shop publishing real cooking guidance, with temperatures and honest limitations, expects you to come back.

The benchmark worth knowing: the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (fsis.usda.gov) sets 63°C (145°F) followed by a three-minute rest as the safe minimum internal temperature for whole cuts of beef. Steak cooked medium-rare sits below that, at roughly 52 to 54°C, which is a widely accepted culinary practice for intact whole muscle rather than a food-safety endorsement. A shop that explains that distinction is being straight with you. We cover it in is medium rare steak safe.

The quick checklist

Before ordering anywhere:

• Where do they dispatch from, and how far is that from you
• Is there a minimum order, and is it for free delivery or for ordering at all
• What does it cost per kilo, not per pack
• What is the total including courier
• Does the listing state grade, producer and origin
• Does it state slice thickness and cuts per pack
• Are ice packs or an insulated bag available
• What is the real lead time

Where we fit, and where we do not

We are a good answer if you are in CALABARZON or the south metro, you want one good pack rather than a big basket, and you can order a day ahead.

We are the wrong answer if you need it today, if you are in the far north of Metro Manila, or if you want a wide range of proteins rather than a short, deliberate list of steak. In those cases a same-day Metro Manila butcher will serve you better, and we would rather say so than waste your time.

Browse the range, read the grades explained, or ask us anything on Messenger.