Toyo Eatery

I was excited when my brother Dino made reservations at Toyo Eatery as it is the only restaurant in the Philippines that made it among Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019. With all that hype, my expectations were high. There were 12 of us; 3 kids and 9 of us opted for the Tasting Menu. The owner Chef Jordy Navarra was out of town so we were left in the very capable hands of Chef Durell. Our servers Joey & Coco did a good job in letting us know what to expect and further explained with enthusiasm what constituted the various dishes.

They started us with several amuse bouche. The first one was a Tomato Meringue with Ginataang Lanka (jackfruit with coconut milk), dried fish and pickled radish. I know this may not sound good to some but believe me, it was delicious. The next one was Nilopak; sweet potato kasava (which I normally do not care for), sea urchin, nata de coco, cashew butter and a slice of dalandan. This was just as delicious as the previous one. The third amuse bouche was a Rellenong Pusit (squid) with sticky rice with rice wine and coconut vinegar inside.

The next category was Kilaw, better known as ceviche. The presentation of this variety of ceviche was impressive. There was mackerel in a small bowl with coconut vinegar dressing, yellow striped bass with chili paste and ginger, seaweed, some wild fruit. Again, it was just very good. Tinola Soup was next. This was unlike any other tinola, it had chicken balls and sayote, also known as pear squash. The first layer of the soup had ginger flan topped with malunggay. Upon presentation, our server Joey poured chicken broth with patis (fish sauce). The soup was wonderful.  It was then time for palate cleansing so we had Pineapple Sorbet with grapefruit and ginger syrup garnished with the flower, cadena de amor (chain of love).

Buro, which means pickled usually refers to pickled mango. The dish was fish scales that looked a bit intimidating. It had fermented pajo (looks like a little mango but it is not a mango), sayote, kamote, sea grapes, salted egg, and grilled eggplant underneath. Everything came together beautifully with the calamansi (Philippine lime) and patis dressing.

Banana Ketchup was the choice for the Tortang Talong (eggplant). This had 2 layers; crispy fried eggplant and eggplant puree, scrambled eggs, crab meat topped with fried leeks. The main star of the show was the Silog. Barbecue Pork with 3 different cuts; leg, shoulder and belly.The sauce of the lovely barbecue was coconut vinegar. Just as I asked myself how can anything be better than what I previously had, along came another succulent dish. A couple of people opted for the Bangus instead of the pork. That looked just as good.

Finally, it was time for dessert. We had Sampinit ice cream, the Philippine raspberry. The dessert had toasted rice pudding, topped with banana crumbs and candied hibiscus. The next dessert was Mango with coconut cream, candied cashew, and edible flower. The last dessert was Casava Cake that was grilled so it was crispy outside. The cake was delectable. It was served with Ube with pastillas made from pasteurized milk topped with Latik (residue of coconut milk). We all finished our share. Last but not least was a Dulce de Leche Caramel with patis and dillies (dried fish). Sweet and salty and it was a nice way to end this feast.

I had to meet Chef Durell to give him our seal of approval. This restaurant exceeded our expectations. Thank you Chef Durell, Joey, and Coco for making our experience unforgettable. (Chef is in the middle)