3 Pinoy-owned restos among Asia's 101 Best Restaurants for 2015
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino food is about to become mainstream internationally.
Three restaurants from the Philippines are among Asia's 101 Best Restaurants for 2015.
Now on their third annual list, the New York-based food website, The Daily Meal officially named Bale Dutung, Purple Yam and Rural Kitchen as newcomers on their list.
To represent as wide a geographical area as possible, the website started with 520 nominees in 43 cities, in 15 countries plus Hong Kong and Macau.
After a thorough deliberation, the website consulted with 50 experts, which included restaurant critics, food and lifestyle writers, and bloggers with wide restaurant-going experience. The experts then voted for their favorites, country by country based on four categories—cuisine; decor, service and experience; and value for money and essentials.
Here's what The Daily Meal has to say about the three Filipino restaurants:
Bale Dutung at #98
Tucked inside chef Claude Tayag’s home, Bale Dutung welcomes diners by reservation only. Consistently positioned on top restaurant lists and praised by the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Bale Dutung serves Filipino cuisine in an old-school house decorated with antiques and a gallery of the chef’s art. The restaurant specializes in Kapampangan dishes prepared from scratch, but Tavag adds a twist to old family recipes and his wife shares a little history and background on each dish as it is presented to guests.
Rural Kitchen of Liliw, Laguna - #64
The entirety of this 14-table restaurant — food, design, branding — is an ode to chef Justin Sarabia’s lola (grandmother). Nearly all of the dishes on the menu are from her recipes and nearly all of the ingredients are sourced from the chef’s hometown of Liliw, about two hours away from Manila.
Purple Yam - #60
The menu is mostly Filipino, but also includes inspirations from across Asia with signature dishes seldom experienced outside a family home. Try the pork cheek pandesal (yeast bread) slider with Kesong Puti cheese, the Sorogon Bay crabcakes with green papaya salad, or the house-cured tuna with organic duck eggs and local greens.
