When in Manila, you have to experience a gastronomic food journey meticulously curated by our talented Filipino chefs. Served in small bites and over multiple courses, tasting menus are a great way to truly savor and enjoy the best of what local restaurants and renowned chefs have to offer.
Tasting menus or degustation menus were once thought to be only for fine dining experiences that cost an arm and a leg. But with more and more talented chefs wanting to share their innovative and creative dishes with us mere consumers, we can now enjoy more tasting menus in many different styles and various cuisines.
So, if you’re looking for highly recommended tasting menus or degustation menus in Metro Manila, here are some you have to check out ASAP:
Metronome
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Metronome is a modern French restaurant situated in Makati’s bustling Legazpi Village. The stylish fine-dining restaurant helmed by Chef Miko Calo offers a tasting menu featuring 10 courses.
At PHP 8,500 per head, this gastronomic degustation dinner features indulgent caviar, beetroot salad, foie gras, pork hock broth, cognac-glazed Maine lobster, steamed turbot, slow-roasted French pigeon breast, fresh Davao pomelo with pomelo marmalade, chocolate textures, and mignardise with coffee and tea.
You can expect to enjoy the best of French cuisine masterfully prepared using French techniques, all while comfortably seated in Metronome’s beautifully designed art deco and modern minimalist space.
Visit Metronome at 160 Bolanos St., Legazpi Village, Makati City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/restaurant.metronome
instagram.com/restaurant.metronome
Balai Palma
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Balai Palma offers a sumptuous degustation menu in their new gorgeous home-style space—Kása Palma—featuring a mix of industrial, tropical, and native designs. Everything in their new “balai” is also handcrafted by local artisans, bringing the natural beauty of local materials and designs into the spotlight.
Balai Palma, created by Chef Aaron Isip, serves a 5-course and a 10-course tasting menu. Some dishes include “Foiesilog”, “Ube in Three Textures”, and “Cherry Valley Duck” featuring organic duck from the famous Esguerra Farms. The creative mind of Chef Aaron Isip created an exciting tasting menu featuring elevated Filipino dishes and local ingredients used in imaginative ways.
Their 10-course tasting menu is at PHP 7,500 per head.
Visit Balai Palma at 6042 R Palma, Makati City. PS. As of writing, they are currently transitioning into their new space, but they’re already accepting reservations for the new location.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/balaipalma
instagram.com/balaipalma
Toyo Eatery
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Toyo Eatery has been hailed the Best Restaurant in the Philippines for 2023 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy and has been on their Top 100 Best Restaurants list for five consecutive years now. That pretty much already tells you what you can expect from an award-winning fine-dining restaurant in Makati.
Toyo Eatery, created by Chef Jordy and May Navarra, is known for its tasting menus that highlight Filipino culture, local flavors, and techniques through their savory dishes. Their space also offers a variety of experiences depending on where you choose to dine—their Kitchen Table offers front-row seats to their talented chefs at work!
You can enjoy Toyo Eatery’s 8-course tasting menu at PHP 5,500 per person.
Visit Toyo Eatery at The Alley at Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces Extension, Makati City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/toyoeatery
instagram.com/toyoeatery
Leo Sea House
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If you love seafood, you’ll enjoy the 8-course tasting menu at Leo Sea House. Leo Sea House specializes in serving dishes highlighting seafood sourced from Panay Island, the owners’ hometown. The menu features oysters, scallops, shrimp, and fish—yes, all sourced from the island.
Leo Sea House also offers an intimate dining experience, with just 10 seats available. Some seats even offer you the best view of the kitchen so you can witness all the action. So, you can only get a taste of their mouthwatering seafood tasting menu if you make a reservation.
Their current tasting menu is available for PHP 1,500+ per person.
Visit Leo Sea House at 339 E. Dela Paz, Marikina City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/leoseahouse
instagram.com/leoseahouse
Gallery by Chele
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Armed with stories from their journeys and experiences all over the Philippines, chefs Chele Gonzalez and Carlos Villaflor have created a gastronomic tasting menu at Gallery by Chele which “is rooted in Filipino heritage but not bound by it,” as stated in their website. The dishes served at this fine dining restaurant showcase the richness of Filipino food, local ingredients, and Filipino culture. For ten years, they have served innovative and creative dishes that combine the Filipino culinary heritage with Spanish-European culinary backgrounds.
Starting at PHP 2,700 per head, Gallery by Chele currently offers a six-course and a ten-course tasting menu, with the option to choose a vegetarian tasting menu.
Visit Gallery by Chele at 5F Clipp Center, 11th Ave. corner 39th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/gallerybychele
instagram.com/gallerybychele
Metiz
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Metiz was awarded the 49th spot in the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and was called “a vibey new spot celebrating all things Filipino.” Metiz is known for shining the spotlight on seasonal plant-based ingredients found locally, as well as for experimenting with old methods of preservation. The gastronomic restaurant takes pride in utilizing local ingredients as much as possible, highlighting our very own biodiversity.
At PHP 4,500+ per head, the 8-course tasting menu serves traditional Filipino flavors in non-traditional forms and is “grounded in the staples of a traditional Filipino diet, rice, vegetables, ulam (protein staple), and sawsawan (sauces/dipping sauce),” their website says.
Visit Metiz at Karrivin Plaza, Ground floor, Building A 2316 Chino Roces Ave, Extension, Makati City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/metizresto
instagram.com/metizresto
Modan
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Modan offers a neo-Japanese tasting menu in their intimate omakase-style space in Quezon City. Chef Jorge Mendez serves a thrilling progressive Japanese degustation menu that features local and Japan-flown ingredients. He regularly changes up the tasting menu to serve more and more creative dishes.
For February, Chef Jorge Mendez calls the tasting menu “GLOBAL: Asian Leg” and is inspired by the Asian countries that he visited while refining his craft, including Thailand, Hong Kong, Bali, and Singapore. According to their website, the fresh new menu will “feature his favorite Asian dishes with progressive Japanese inflections and techniques” and will be available for PHP 7,000+ per person.
Visit Modan at Unit 5 Level 1 Escalades East Tower, 20th Ave., Cubao, Quezon City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
instagram.com/modan.mnl
Helm
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Created by Chef Josh Boutwood, Helm is a chic modern minimalist restaurant in Makati City where “dining becomes theater”, as Chef Josh puts it. The intimate restaurant seats up to 24 people at a time, creating a more intimate culinary experience for every diner. Their tasting menu is said to be “an expression of Josh’s life experiences and culinary training,” and each dish comes out picture-perfect with minimalist-style plating featuring palettes of black, copper, and grey.
Helm’s 8-course and 12-course tasting menus constantly evolve, so be sure to be on the lookout for new menus, dishes, and experiments from Chef Josh.
Visit Helm at 3/F the shops at Ayala Triangle Gadens, Makati.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/helmmnl
instagram.com/helmmnl
Alegria Manila
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Alegria Manila serves the best of Filipino-Latin American fusion dishes at their stunning fine-dining restaurant in BGC. Alegria Manila is the brainchild of Chef Charles Montanez and is serving his creative Filipino-Latin American “transcultural” dishes in a 10 to 16-course degustation menu. Yes, you read that right. You can enjoy 16 deliciously satisfying and mouthwatering courses at this vibrant food space.
(RELATED: LOOK: This New Food Spot in BGC Serves Latin American All-Day Breakfast)
At Alegria Manila, you can expect to taste and see how Chef Charles beautifully combines two cuisines into his dishes. Some menu items include the Ilocos Empanada Birria, Okoy Tostoda, and the Squid Silog. If these dishes don’t scream “perfect combination”, I don’t know what will!
Visit Alegria Manila at G/F Uptown Parade, 9th Ave., 38th St., BGC.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/alegriamnl
instagram.com/alegriamnl
Ninyo Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge
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Ninyo Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge has been one of the go-to date places in Quezon City for more than a decade now. They’re known for their romantic ambiance, their private dining gazebos with romantic table settings, a wide wine selection, and their satisfying tasting menus that are perfect for special occasions and normal weekend date nights.
Ninyo Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge offers four kinds of tasting menus, all featuring an 8-course meal served with a glass of house wine. Chef Nino Laus is responsible for creating these European-Asian fusion menus that have made Ninyo a household name when it comes to romantic fine dining restaurants in Metro Manila.
Visit Ninyo Fusion Cuisine & Wine Lounge at 66 E. Abada Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
Follow them on social media for updates:
facebook.com/NinyoFusion
instagram.com/ninyofusion
Which tasting menu are you trying first? Got any other recommendations? Share it with us!
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