Kingsford Café has extended its Pinoy Food Festival until the end of July so diners can experience the mix of nostalgic and elevated Filipino dishes prepared by executive chef Angelo Timban together with his talented pool of chefs.
Timban told Malaya Business Insight that he curated all the highlighted menu to showcase some of the sought-after local dishes from the provinces of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“Together with the culinary and F&B service team, we brought the Pinoy Food Festival to the table of Kingsford Hotel Manila,” he said.
Patrons can fully enjoy the inihaw, prinito, buwad, pulutan singles, carving, sinangag, pasabawan, street food manga, santol and singkamas on bamboo skewer, sorbetes and a variety of local kakanin, among others.
“Of course, any dish will never be complete without an appropriate ambiance and people in service to set the entire mood and overall experience for the promotion to be a total package,” he added.
For starters, the festival offers an array of soup options like tiyulaitum from Sulu, lanciaosalorega from Cebu and sinanglaw from Ilocos, while a longganisa station presents different versions from the cities of Lucban, Alaminos, Vigan, Cebu and more.
At the carving station, litson tapang baka and pinatasan at hinurnong liempo sa laing can be found. Other local-inspired bar chows are inihaw na liempo, tenga (pig ears), lumot (seaweed), atay (liver), tuna buntot, tahong (mussels),shrimps, chicken inasal and pinaputok na tilapia.
Filipinos generally love rolled lechon belly and laing— two of the treasured dishes in the country, Timban said.
“We created a twist to these dishes by combining them, stuffing our lechon belly with laing instead of the normal herbs and spices that made the entire dish more savory and distinct,” he related.
There is also the roast beef belly served with tapa style curing, dinuguan with crispy bituka and the lanciaosalorega known as soup number five incorporated with balbacua.
The prinito (fry) station features tadyang ng baka, shrimp or kangkong rebosado and sinangag to complete the whole Filipino food experience.
The hot section dishes out bulkachong from Davao, kalderertang kambing from Pampanga, San Nicolas dinuguan from Pangasinan, dinakdakan from Isabela, kare-kareng baka at libro libro, manok pianggang and inihaw na lamang-dagat with Alavar sauce from Zamboanga.
Each region in the Philippines will always have something special to offer that features its exquisite style and history.
Timban attributes Luzon to the saltiness of bagoong from Ilocos as well as the acidity of sasa vinegar sourced from the local nipa palm. He noted the use of tanglad (lemon grass), ginger and other spices in Visayas, evident in the locals’ farm-to-table philosophy.
Diners should make room for panghimagas (desserts) and enjoy novelty dishes like leche flan sa kalabasa, ginataang halo-halo, halo-halong suman and more.
“As a Filipino chef, we would like to showcase the beauty of our proud heirloom dishes and the story behind the people, the culture and our history,” Timban said.
The Pinoy Food Festival is open every Friday and Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. for the entire month of July for P1,588 per person.
