Celebrate our national history deliciously at the kaBAYANIhan food festival, running until September 2 at The Manila Hotel‘s Café Ilang-Ilang . This special two-week long buffet is created by Chef Jessie Sincioco and will give you a taste of iconic dishes our heroes ate and loved.
The multi-awarded chef has collaborated with The Manila Hotel for this special limited edition buffet feast, where she has personally researched and selected iconic dishes that our Filipino heroes enjoyed.
Every dish the famed chef is featuring at the Filipino food festival will not only nourish bellies, but also our knowledge about our heroes long gone but never forgotten. Melchora Aquino or ‘Tandang Sora,’ for example, was known to feed wounded Katipuneros with her tinola soup — a combination of ginger and native chicken on soothing broth thickened with rice.
for your mains, the chef is also serving Lapu-Lapu’s Sinigang na Tiyan ng Bangus sa Mangga, a wild boar (baboy ramo) carving station, Gabriela Silang’s Pinakbet with Bagnet, Andres Bonifacio’s Litsong Manok sa Saha, and Marcella Agoncillo’s Pork Adobo sa Dilaw with Homemade Achara. Jose Rizal’s favorite, Bistek Tagalog, is given a refined touch by Chef Jessie, as she uses slices of fork-tender premium Angus beef tenderloin and a lipsmacking bistek sauce of calamansi and soy sauce with caramelized onions, served with garlic rice and homemade achara.
For dessert, you can try kakanin such as Sapin-Sapin, a favorite of Bulacan-born Gregorio del Pilar, as he used to sell his mother’s kakain in the streets of his hometown. Other Filipino desserts featured in the festival are Chef Jessie’s versions of Leche Flan and Budin. kaBAYANIhan gives each diner a lesson in food history, one spoonful at a time.
While you feast on Chef Jessie’s delicious interpretations of hero-inspired Filipino dishes, this food festival also allows you access to the wide array of food at Café Ilang-Ilang — it’s a buffet offering, after all! Aside from the specially curated Filipino food selection, you are welcome to have your fill from the restaurant’s eight love cooking stations offering various cuisines, including a carving station, an Italian kitchen featuring wood-fired pizzas, and a decadent dessert station. It is truly a wonderful food experience for guests hungry for both food and our local history, a fitting example that the Filipino is worth dining for.
The Feast: kaBAYANIhan, a two-week food festival featuring a special buffet created by Chef Jessie Sincioco, held at Café Ilang-Ilang. Buffet rates for kaBAYANIhan are as follows (August 20 to September 2):
- Lunch (Monday to Saturday): P2,375 nett
- Brunch (Sunday): P2,550 nett
- Dinner (Sunday to Wednesday): P2,675 nett
- Dinner (Thursday to Saturday): P3,270 nett
Where to Find it: kaBAYANIhan will run from August 20 to September 2, 2018, at The Manila Hotel’s Café Ilang-Ilang, and will be available for lunch and dinner. The Manila Hotel is located at One Rizal Park, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. For inquiries and reservations, call Restaurant Reservations at 527-0011 extension 1261 to 1264, or email restaurantrsvn@themanilahotel.com. Follow The Manila Hotel on Facebook and Instagram: @TheManilaHotel