While many will argue that the best Filipino food can be found at home cooked by one’s lola, mother, father or loyal family cook, there are a handful of spots in Manila worthy of being dubbed “Best Filipino Restaurant.” According to Chef Him Uy de Baron, one of this year’s Nescafe Gold Spot Award judges, “Filipino food should be fresh, creative, diverse but uncomplicated. Flavors should be familiar with a slight change of hand surprise. The best Pinoy resto should have a familiar but unique character, sort of like an eccentric friend you’ve depended on for years.”

JJ Yulo, also a member of this year’s panel of judges, a trained chef and food writer, shares that, “I look for a respect for the history and original form of the dish, and what interesting directions the chefs take. Of course, it has to be hearty and tasty in true Pinoy fashion.”

This year’s panel of judges whittled down the nominations to five restaurants:

1521's exteriors (left) and 1521's Panini-desals (right).

1521
Named after the the year the Philippines was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan, 1521 is a tribute to good Filipino food, the owners’ love for cooking and to their personal kitchen heroes. Opened in September 2008, 1521 is the brainchild of three friends: advertising maverick Tanke Tangkeko, Nica Miranda and Chef RJ Ungco. The menu includes breakfast fare, appetizers, Pinoy pastas such as Tinapa Arrabiata and 1521’s take on paninis, called Panini-desals, bestsellers with quirky names such as Potchero ni Tankeko, which is enjoying a growing fan base among their patrons, Daimos (Daing na Bangus sa Miso) and Longga Kalabasa Carbonara.

Abe's bestsellers include the Paco Fern and Tomato Salad (right), Arobung Camaru and Betute.

Abe
Dedicated to the late artist-writer and gourmet E. Aguilar “Abe” Cruz, Abe serves traditional Filipino dishes with strong Kapampangan influences. The restaurant first opened in Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, among the resto’s specialties include Lamb Adobo with Popped Garlic, Paco Fern and Tomato Salad and Arobung Camaru and Betute.

Malou Domingo of Abe says, “Many consider Kapampangan food to be one of the best in the Philippines. Abé doesn’t just offer Kapampangan cookery. It features dishes that reflect the favorites of writer, painter and bon vivant Emilio “Abé” Aguilar Cruz, father of LJC Group founder Larry J Cruz. Abé was known for his love of good food in all its forms: gourmet cuisine, peasant fare, exotic delicacies, and comfort food.”

Adarna's menu is host to regional, historical and heirloom recipes.

Adarna Food and Culture
Often compared to coming home to your lola’s house, Adarna Food and Culture is filled with Filipino memorabilia and is home to a replica of a sari-sari store that is filled with candies from decades long past. The menu is host to regional, historical and heirloom recipes, and Chef Giney Villar says that the restaurant is a “delicious way of sharing their vision of Filipino food” with everyone.

Chef Laudico says of his dishes, "Filipino food is at par with the world's top cuisines."

Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino
Touted as unconventional Filipino food, Chef Roland Laudico’s dishes are re-interpretation of classic, well-loved classic Pinoy dishes. Creative, flavorful dishes include Adobo Overload, Lapu-lapu and Prawns in Coco-Lambanog Sauce Coriander, and Crusted Wagyu Beef Fillet Cashew-Humba Sauce with Vegetable Barbecue and Sweet Potato Mash. According to Chef Laudico, the restaurant “puts our traditional cuisine in a whole new light. The freshest local finds and the world’s best ingredients work together with traditional Filipino flavors for a global experience.”

The Corned Beef Sinigang (right) is one of Sentro 1771's bestsellers.

Sentro 1771
Home of the famous Corned Beef Sinigang, Sentro 1771 innovates and reinvents traditional dishes while preserving flavors and adding cosmopolitan elements. A restaurant that claims to offer modern Filpino cuisine, Sentro 1771 holds the record of serving the most number of meals in a day at Greenbelt 3.

At the helm of Sentro 1771’s kitchen is Chef Vicky-Rose Pacheco, who was also invited to cook for the White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford in October 2009. An accidental chef who started out as an assistant manager at Chateau 1771, Pacheco is known for innovating local flavors such as the now-famous Corned Beef Sinigang.

Cyrus Cruz, Marketing Manager of Sentro 1771 shares, “Sentro was the first restaurant to introduce Modern Filipino Cuisine in 2002 and it changed the Filipino culinary landscape forever. We take traditional Filipino dishes and we infuse it with cooking and preparation techniques inspired by French and Swiss methods and using the best ingredients locally and abroad, while maintaining the integrity of the dish.

People must be delightfully surprised on how the food is presented and how it tastes but yet it should be hauntingly familiar.”

Which one deserves to be awarded Best Filipino restaurant?

Click here to start voting.

Images courtesy of ljcrestaurants.com, chotda (Abe), Adarna Food and Culture Facebook page, Henry (Sentro), Dan Dizon (Sentro), Oggie Ramos of happyfoodies.com (1521) and JBS (Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino).

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