Manila tasting‑menu buzz

Manila’s newest tasting menus are getting fresh attention as chefs in Makati and Bonifacio Global City turn multi-course dinners into tightly staged, highly personal meals. (lifestyle.inquirer.net) Lifestyle.INQ’s March 16 report singled out three new menus and said they pair “provocative courses” with quieter plates, a mix now circulating in local food media and social posts. The same report pointed to Flow, which opened in December 2025, and Singular, a newer fine-dining concept tied to Bolero chef Fernando Alcalá. (lifestyle.inquirer.net; lifestyle.inquirer.net) At Flow in Makati, chef Kevin Uy serves a nine-course menu built around Peru and the Philippines after a five-year stint in Peru and training at Central and Mil under Virgilio Martínez and Pía León. Lifestyle.INQ said the menu includes spirulina as puff and granita, a nod to chupe de camarones, and a cacao dessert made without chocolate. (lifestyle.inquirer.net; lifestyle.inquirer.net) At Singular in Bonifacio Global City, Alcalá and chef Edu Fuentes run an 11-course menu that moves through Spain’s regions rather than a standard tapas format. Lifestyle.INQ described dishes including bollo preñao, tuna with pipirrana, Spanish mackerel with warm gazpachuelo, lamb with fermented grapes, Iberico pork, and cured pigeon from Tierra de Campos. (lifestyle.inquirer.net) The timing lines up with a broader reshaping of Manila dining since the Michelin Guide’s first Philippines selection was unveiled on October 30, 2025, at Manila Marriott Hotel. Michelin said the 2026 guide covered Manila and Environs and Cebu, giving the city’s chefs a new international benchmark just months before this wave of menu launches and coverage. (guide.michelin.com; guide.michelin.com) That guide already includes a dense cluster of Manila restaurants built around chef-led tasting or set-menu formats, including Toyo Eatery, Hapag, Helm, Celera, Gallery by Chele, and Taupe. Michelin’s Manila listings also include Bolero, linking one of the city’s established Spanish restaurants to Singular’s newer, more stripped-down format. (guide.michelin.com; guide.michelin.com) The format itself is spreading across niches, not just white-tablecloth dining rooms. In February, Lifestyle.INQ framed Birdjovi’s yakitori omakase in Comuna as another intimate, course-by-course concept, showing how Manila diners are moving beyond the old split between casual meals and formal degustation. (lifestyle.inquirer.net) Recent April coverage suggests the appetite for chef-authored menus is still broadening. Lifestyle.INQ and F&B Report have run new pieces this month on Moderna, Ootoya, Yawaragi, and Ember collaborations, each centered on set experiences, limited runs, or tightly edited menus rather than sprawling all-day lists. (lifestyle.inquirer.net; lifestyle.inquirer.net; lifestyle.inquirer.net; lifestyle.inquirer.net) For diners, the latest Manila buzz is less about one single restaurant than a city where chefs are using nine, 11, or more courses to tell a story in public. The result is a dining scene where a special-night tasting menu now sits closer to the center of the conversation, not the edge. (lifestyle.inquirer.net; guide.michelin.com)