Filipinos are known to be hospitable and warm, it’s a stereotype at this point, so much so that we’ve even convinced many foreigners to migrate and settle all around our archipelago.
Historically too, Manila was classified as a global city, with many enclaves populated by nationals from Germany, Portugal, Japan, China, and more.
Aside from bars and beaches in tourist hotspots like Makati or Siargao, there are also immigrants in parts of Metro Manila that aren’t always associated as expat hubs. Many of them married Filipinos and have since called the metropolis home, establishing family-run restaurants spotlighting their cuisine.
If you’ve ever wondered how the dish tastes closer to the home cuisine (or less Filipinized, for that matter), this is for you
Here are some places Nolisoli recommends for their authenticity, heart, and, of course, taste. Filipinos are no strangers to many of the dishes featured from each restaurant, but if you’ve ever wondered how the dish tastes closer to the home cuisine (or less Filipinized, for that matter), this is for you.
Swagat
Swagat, which means “welcome” in Hindu, is an OG in Indian cuisine in Metro Manila, run by an Indian woman and her dedicated Filipino staff.
The restaurant saw makeovers through the years and a venue change within Makati all while improving its food quality and portions, and adhering to an authentic flavor profile. A relative based in Singapore often drops by here whenever they’re in Manila, telling me how close it tastes to the Indian restaurants in the Lion City.
I remember building meals out of samosas, vegetable biryani, and mutton curry in the mid-2010s at Swagat’s old venue closer to Ayala Avenue, which felt a lot like a simple, no-frills canteen with framed news clippings featuring the restaurant decking the place as the owner ran operations, already fluent in Tagalog by then.
There’s a reason why Swagat is one of the Indian cuisine institutions in town
I was surprised at the makeover and transfer to Legazpi Village during my last visit in early 2024, and that surprise was especially pleasant when it came to the food, with notably larger portions and an expanded menu compared to last time. There’s a reason why they’re one of the institutions in town.
The layered, savory, complex flavors of Indian cooking, built around roasted herbs and garam masala as they are, naturally blend with the tangy tartness of yogurt, so don’t forget to end a visit here with a glass of lassi.
105 Rada Street, Legazpi Village, Makati
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Ca Phe Saigon
A Vietnamese Filipino couple opened their home in San Roque, Marikina and converted parts of it into this restaurant and cafe serving chicken and beef pho, fried and fresh spring rolls, banh mi sandwiches and entrees from salads to savory pancakes, pork chops, and fried chicken, with many herbs like lemongrass, bean sprouts, and basil harvested from the family’s garden.
The Antipolo branch seems to have been built in an old residential house, too. These days, there seems to be a growing number of Vietnamese restaurants around Metro Manila, many of them run by Vietnamese migrants, too. But Ca Phe Saigon was here, steadily serving authentic Vietnamese food and coffee long before it was trendy. At this point, I think I’ve tried almost everything on their menu.
14 Red Cedar, Marikina and Sumulong Highway, Antipolo, 1870, Rizal
Weekdays: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. / Weekends: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Krung Thai
He fell in love with the Philippines, she fell in love with his homeland’s cuisine. Fronted by a very chatty and wise lola, this institution in Marikina currently has two branches: in the city center between the palengke and heritage district and in Marikina Heights near its interconnected parks.
The pad thai is a study in complementing contrasts—at once nutty, herbed, and Filipino-friendly spicy. It’s not too sweet either compared to other Filipino interpretations of this Thai staple. Pair it with their grilled skewers for a full meal. When ordering the tom yum, stick to white rice to let the sour soup’s flavors sing.
Sometimes, Marikenyos like to drop by just for dessert, especially as Krung Thai’s use of blue ternate flowers—abundant all around Marikina—in their mango sticky rice is a chef’s kiss in cross-cultural dialogue
In 2022, the restaurant received an “authentic cuisine” citation from the Thailand Ministry of Commerce. Sometimes, Marikenyos like to drop by just for dessert, especially as Krung Thai’s use of blue ternate flowers—abundant all around Marikina—in their mango sticky rice is a chef’s kiss in cross-cultural dialogue.
1 W. Paz cor. M. Cruz, Marikina and 76 Liwasang Kalayaan, Marikina
Al-Quds Halal
Stylized in all-caps as ALQUDS (“The Holy”) and named for the Arabic name of Jerusalem, this unassuming basement restaurant has been serving authentic Levantine, Mediterranean, Arabic, and Palestinian cuisine since 1991 when the owners, a Palestinian man and Muslim Filipina met in a Kuwait flight.
Not just a testimony to their love but also to a homeland and land of pilgrimage, don’t miss out on the Palestinian maqluba (meat and root crops on rice) and maqali (stir-fried vegetables in lemon sauce) paired with arguably some of the best toum in town. Start the meal with a falafel and finish it off with a refreshing glass of laban (Middle Eastern yogurt).
Stick around in the evening, and Baba’s friends—many of them from the Middle East—might arrive for a game of cards as the TV is switched from news to football.
1533 Del Pilar St., Ermita, Manila
9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Luyong Restaurant
What we know as Filipino panciteria food has a largely Southern Chinese, specifically Cantonese heritage. Found in almost every town in every province, panciteria fare is the epitome of Filipino comfort food, the flavors of Cantonese cooking subsumed into the salty-sweet-sour (see also: asim kilig) Filipino flavor profile.
Enter Luyong (or Boy Luyong, depending on which branch).
Founded by Cantonese immigrants Luyong (short for Luy Yonk) and his wife Luisa who both met in the Philippines and built a life together in Marikina, the restaurant has long been “a trusted name in Chinese and Filipino cuisine” since the 1950s.
Order what you always order in most panciteria: a family-sized pancit canton paired with a plate of lumpiang Shanghai, veggies like chopsuey or Marikina’s homegrown take on hototay soup (egg drop soup with mixed vegetables), or more filling entrees like steamed fish and beef broccoli finished with yang chow. At this point, you may notice a flavor profile different from the usual but not deviant—comfortable, familiar, but also new, fresh.
801 J.P. Rizal Avenue, Marikina / 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
251 Shoe Avenue, Marikina / 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Big Mike’s Chicago Style Food
Mike Jacobs, with roots in Chicago, brings his city’s unique barbeque heritage to the east of Metro Manila with croquettes, salmon, grilled ribs, and chicken wings all served with homemade, heirloom sauces he learned from his African American parents and grandparents.
Jacobs divides time between the US and the Philippines while his partner Hilda Ajero runs day-to-day operations in the restaurant, sourcing a number of ingredients from the Marikina palengke.
The African American communities in Chicago largely migrated from the Southern states amid lingering discrimination and in the process bringing their cuisine, also called “soul food” to “the windy city” and its many migrant communities, birthing a distinct genre of barbeque with African American, Slavic, and Mediterranean influences.
Now, Filipinos east of Manila get a taste of real-deal soul food, windy city-style.
61 Katipunan Street, Marikina
7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Crazy Ramen / Crazy Katsu
In many eateries serving Tokyo’s salarymen, which cluster around the Tokyo Metro’s myriad stations, well-known Japanese staples like udon and soba noodle soups and kastu-over-rice dishes are served as paired combo meals, the meaty, carby pairings fueling the working class that built Japan’s economic miracle.
Despite such hearty food, the usual career path of many Tokyo natives wasn’t what Shinji Tanaka wanted, so he moved to the Philippines and fully embraced life here, buying his own jeepney, plying the Caloocan route once, and eventually getting his own sound recording studio to work with bands like Apo Hiking Society, Asin, Eraserheads, Taken by Cars, Pedicab, and more.
Oh, and he also runs a chain of ramen and katsu restaurants that first opened in 2011: Crazy Ramen and Crazy Katsu.
Their katsu curry in particular has that distinctly Japanese umami, like the bentos that kept me warm during a winter vacation in Tokyo. Whenever I try to make Japanese curry at home, the roux in Crazy Katsu is one of my references. Don’t forget to order an extra bowl of cabbage.
Their ramen isn’t too fancy, either, no gimmicky concoctions, just good ol’ shoyu, miso, and tantanmen done right like a mom n’ pop in a Tokyo neighborhood, almost as if Tanaka knows that his shop is one of those that set the standard in Manila.
Crazy Katsu: 81, Maginhawa St., Quezon City 48, Lilac St., Marikina
231, Aguirre St., Paranaque
Crazy Ramen: 88 Lilac St. Marikina
Seoul Restaurant / LG25 Korean Grocery
Don’t be fooled by the simple name, if anything, this is one of the OGs of Korean food in Metro Manila long before P199 samgyeopsal became a thing.
Run by a Korean family, and owing to the fact that it also doubles as a Korean mart where they source ingredients, the flavors here really do echo what’s found in their namesake, serving Korean dishes cooked with authentic methods and ingredients.
I’ve been going since the mid-2010s (and even then the place already looked storied) and when I visited Seoul for the first time in the early 2020s, lo and behold, the food tasted no different between Ortigas and Korea.
Run by a Korean family, and owing to the fact that it also doubles as a Korean mart where they source ingredients, the flavors here really do echo what’s found in their namesake, serving Korean dishes cooked with authentic methods and ingredients
They have dishes here you can’t find in most Filipinized Korean restaurant: grilled mackerel best paired with makgeolli (rice wine), a complete and generous seafood jjigae, and samgye-tang (analogous to arroz caldo but using Korean ginseng) Their samgyeopsal is obviously properly done, but served per plate and not unli, and it doesn’t have to be, because the dishes—and banchan—stand on their own.
While Seoul Restaurant says “permanently closed” on Google Maps, “LG25” may not have the seating capacity it used to have pre-pandemic, but it still serves the same quality when it comes to food. Best to drop by in the late afternoon to be sure.
1&2, 8137 Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
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It’s great that Filipinos are open to cuisines from other cultures, and we’ve easily made many dishes from places like the Middle East, the States, and other Asian nations our own.
It’s even greater that now, Filipinos can access the authentic flavors and panlasa of these very cultures thanks to spaces—and people—in and from the country that have enticed those from outside to build homes and lives in Las Islas Filipinas.