Filipino cuisine has been trending globally of late, so Dusit Thani Manila was ready to go all out and turn our June 12 Independence Day into a grand opportunity to celebrate Filipino dishes from all corners of the country. With a suite of popular folk dances ushering in the evening, and a warm stirring welcome from Dusit Thani Manila GM Stanley Lo, there was much to love about how the hotel had turned their main dining area, The Pantry, into a bastion of Filipino cooking that highlights the promotion, Lasa (Taste or Flavors).
To ensure there was diversity and authenticity in the offerings, Dusit collaborated with chefs who would represent particular regions of the country. For Luzon, there’s Chef Hernan Christian de Jesus, and from the Visayas, we have Chef Gil George Jucaban. Providing the Mindanao dishes is Chef Datu Shariff. Working with the regular Pantry kitchen and front of house staff, the Pantry was a veritable showcase of what’s especially exciting about Filipino cuisine.
Nestled among the appetizers, bread and starter soups, I loved how there was such variety in the kinilaw display. There’s kinilaw of tanigue (my personal favorite) of talaba, dilis, hipon, scallops, kambing, and kagayanon. Similar in preparation to the Latin American ceviche, I enjoy these vinegar-soaked preparations, and was happy to try a number of them.
Over at one section, where your favorite "ulam" (main dishes) could be found, I spied the chicken pyanggang (chicken in blackened coconut curry) of Chef Datu. This is a traditional Zamboanga recipe that I found I really enjoyed when I had tried it earlier this year. And I am happy to report that Chef Datu has an excellent iteration. There’s bagnet as well in this section, and I know that some actually prefer this to the more popular "lechon" or roast suckling pig. Pork lovers will be happy to know there’s both lechon and bagnet being served at Lasa, and they don’t have to choose between the two.
A number of dishes I have to confess were unfamiliar to me, and that’s precisely one of the reasons I enjoyed this food festival. The piyaparan a manok and the paklay, are two examples of such dishes. Piyaparan at Pantry was chicken cooked in a coconut-milk based broth, with grated coconut, garlic, onions, tumeric, shallots and chili—all spiced with palapa, and hails from Mindanao. The paklay is tripe, either beef, pork or goat. It’s a sour Hiligaynon dish that employs sautéed bamboo shoots. Both dishes are really interesting.
At the dessert section, you shouldn’t miss out on the durian cheesecake. I’m not a durian fan, but I loved this cheesecake and how the durian flavor added dimensions to the cheesecake without overpowering it. You don’t usually use the word subtle when describing durian, but, in this particular case, the description fits, and it’s a cheesecake I’d go back for.
In short, it’s the variety that I loved about Lasa. It’s a culinary adventure that’s home grown and definitely worth taking. And I fully appreciated how this was transpiring in a hotel that’s part of a Thai-owned chain. It’s like they were joining the Filipino-owned hotels in proudly declaring Philippine cuisine as worth crowing about, and turning heads by doing so. The smiles and happy faces of the guests assembled during the launch of June 10 was testament to how much of a success Lasa should be in the coming weeks. As a cultural celebration, I liked how the works of Filipino artists was also on display at the hotel lobby.
Lasa will be ready just in time for Father's Day, June 19.