Filipino Food Guide in Manila

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Filipino food is a mix of sour, salty and sweet flavours. Rice is part of almost every meal, even breakfast. Manila is the best place to try dishes from all over the country, from street stalls to modern restaurants. This guide lists the main dishes to look for, the best areas to eat, and simple tips for ordering.

Dishes to try

Adobo is meat, usually chicken or pork, cooked slowly in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and pepper. Sinigang is a sour soup, most often made with tamarind, with pork, shrimp or fish and vegetables. Kare-kare is a rich stew in peanut sauce, served with a salty shrimp paste called bagoong. Lechon is a whole roasted pig with crisp skin, served at parties. Sisig is chopped pork, often served sizzling on a hot iron plate with egg and chilli. Most dishes come with plain white rice. Many restaurants serve these classics, so they are easy to find.

Breakfast and snacks

A popular breakfast is the "silog" plate: garlic fried rice (sinangag) and a fried egg (itlog) with a meat. Tapsilog comes with cured beef, longsilog with sweet sausage and tocilog with sweet pork. Bakeries sell pandesal, a soft bread roll eaten warm in the morning. On the street, look for fish balls and kwek-kwek, which are quail eggs fried in orange batter, served with a sweet or vinegar sauce. Fresh mango, banana cue (fried sugared banana) and taho, a warm soft tofu snack with syrup, are also common.

Halo-halo and sweets

Halo-halo is the best-known Filipino dessert. The name means "mix-mix". It is a tall glass of shaved ice with sweet beans, fruit, jelly, milk and often ube (purple yam) ice cream and leche flan on top. You mix it all together before eating. Ube is a common flavour in cakes, breads and ice cream. Leche flan is a rich caramel custard. Buko pie is made with young coconut. Many cafés in Manila now make modern versions of these sweets, so it is worth trying both old and new styles.

Where to eat

Binondo, an old trading district near the Pasig River, is famous for dumplings, noodles and small family restaurants. Food walks there are popular. Maginhawa Street in Quezon City is a long strip of small, low-cost restaurants and cafés loved by students. Makati and BGC have many modern Filipino restaurants that use local ingredients in new ways. Weekend markets, such as the Salcedo and Legazpi markets in Makati, are good for trying many dishes in one visit. Food courts in big malls are also a simple and clean option for first-time visitors.

Simple tips

Filipino meals are often shared, so order several dishes for the table. Many places give you a spoon and fork, not a knife. You cut food with the side of the spoon. Small dipping sauces, such as vinegar with garlic and chilli, or soy sauce with calamansi lime, are part of the meal. "Turo-turo" places let you point at cooked dishes on display, which is easy if you cannot read the menu. Drink bottled or filtered water. Street food is popular, but choose busy stalls with fresh, hot food.

Filipino Food Guide at a glance

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