TWO Filipino restaurants have made it to Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2023: Metiz at No. 48, and Toyo Eatery at No. 42. Toyo’s placement thus makes it the best restaurant in the Philippines for this year.
Metiz, headed by French-Filipino chef Stephan Duhesme, is a new entry for this year. Located in Makati, the restaurant’s name derives from the French form of the Spanish “mestizo” (meaning mixed-race), reflecting the chef’s own ancestry as well as the food.
Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ website describes the restaurant as: “featuring plenty of fermented produce and lesser-known ingredients, the eight-step menu at Metiz includes courses such as tofu with fermented pineapple, aged tanigue (mackerel) with fermented rice and mushroom, and banana leaf cake with rice and fresh and fermented white bean. There’s also an excellent cocktail menu where the fermentation theme continues, so prepare the palate for bold, funky and bitter flavors.” The restaurant opened in 2019.
Meanwhile, Toyo Eatery is no newcomer to the list: after opening in 2016, it won 2018’s One To Watch award from the same list, and entered the list in 2019 at No. 43. It had also placed as No. 49 in 2021. This year, it had also won the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award.
Headed by chef Jordy Navarra and his wife May, Mr. Navarra had worked at one of the world’s top restaurants, England’s The Fat Duck.
The website says, “With both à la carte and tasting options, Toyo Eatery presents Filipino ingredients in modern ways, playing with fermentation and preservation techniques to create the boldest flavors. The signature dish is a collection of 18 vegetables in a unique salad, named Bahay Kubo after a popular Tagalog children’s folk song. Other highlights include an adaptation of a popular street food pork barbecue dish, served three ways, and the Tortang Talong eggplant omelette with banana catsup.”
As for the sustainability nod, half its menu is now either vegan or vegetarian, and it had eliminated beef from its repertoire in 2022.
Meanwhile, the top restaurant for this year is Bangkok’s Le Du, which has been climbing up the Asia’s 50 Best List since 2017.
The list in full follows:
1. Le Du, Bangkok2. Sézanne, Tokyo3. Nusara, Bangkok4. Den, Tokyo5. Gaggan Anand, Bangkok6. Odette, Singapore7. Florilège, Tokyo8. La Cime, Osaka9. Sorn, Bangkok10. Narisawa, Tokyo11. Labyrinth, Singapore12. Sazenka, Tokyo13. The Chairman, Hong Kong14. Villa Aida, Wakayama15. Mosu, Seoul16. Masque, Mumbai17. Meta, Singapore18. Fu He Hui, Shanghai19. Indian Accent, New Delhi20. Ode, Tokyo21. Zén, Singapore22. Sühring, Bangkok23. Onjium, Seoul24. Burnt Ends, Singapore25. Euphoria, Singapore26. Cloudstreet, Singapore27. Les Amis, Singapore28. Mingles, Seoul29. Neighborhood, Hong Kong30. Avartana, Chennai31. Ensue, Shenzhen32. Cenci, Kyoto33. Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh, Bangkok34. Da Vittorio Shanghai, Shanghai35. Potong, Bangkok36. Born, Singapore37. Wing, Hong Kong38. Raan Jay Fai, Bangkok39. Wing Lei Palace, Macau40. Anan Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City41. Mono, Hong Kong42. Toyo Eatery, Manila43. Sichuan Moon, Macau44. L’Effervescence, Tokyo45. Mume, Taipei46. Baan Tepa, Bangkok47. Born & Bred, Seoul48. Metiz, Makati49. Caprice, Hong Kong50. Refer, Beijing— Joseph L. Garcia
