Michelin expands in Philippines

Michelin’s first Philippines guide has moved beyond Metro Manila, naming 108 restaurants across Manila and nearby provinces plus Cebu in its 2026 selection. (guide.michelin.com) The guide was unveiled on October 30, 2025, at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Newport World Resorts as the inaugural edition of Michelin Guide Manila and Environs & Cebu 2026. The list includes 90 restaurants in Manila and its environs and 18 in Cebu. (guide.michelin.com, michelin.com) Michelin gave one restaurant two stars, eight restaurants one star, 25 restaurants Bib Gourmand status for strong value, and 74 restaurants a Michelin Selected designation. It also added one Green Star for sustainability and three special awards for young chef, service, and cocktails. (guide.michelin.com, michelin.com, guide.michelin.com) The expansion started on February 18, 2025, when Michelin said its inspectors were already surveying Metro Manila, Cebu, and Manila’s surrounding destinations, including Pampanga, Tagaytay, and Cavite. The 2026 release turned that plan into a guide that covers more than one Philippine city. (michelin.com, spot.ph) That geography matters because Michelin did not frame the country through a single capital-city dining scene. Its own launch materials highlighted both urban restaurants and “street-side eateries,” and the Bib Gourmand list split 19 picks in Manila and environs with six in Cebu. (guide.michelin.com, guide.michelin.com) Helm in Makati led the debut with two Michelin stars, which Michelin reserves for restaurants with “excellent cooking” worth a detour. Michelin said chef Josh Boutwood’s tasting menu drew on his half-British, half-Filipino background and Spanish influences. (michelin.com, guide.michelin.com) The one-star group included Asador Alfonso, Celera, Gallery by Chele, Hapag, Metiz, Toyo Eatery, and two Cebu restaurants, Anzani and Il Primo. That gave Cebu immediate representation in the starred tier, not just in the broader selected list. (guide.michelin.com, cebudailynews.inquirer.net) Michelin’s Bib Gourmand write-up also pointed to the kind of food it wanted to surface: family-run dining rooms, neighborhood spots, and moderate-price restaurants alongside formal tasting counters. One cited example was Cabel in Manila, which Michelin said focuses on dishes from southern Mindanao. (guide.michelin.com) For the Philippines, the first Michelin edition now exists as a map as much as a ranking: Manila, nearby food destinations, and Cebu all entered the guide at once. Michelin said inspectors found enough range there to build a national debut around 108 establishments instead of a single-city list. (michelin.com, guide.michelin.com)