Budgie Montoya is showcasing Filipino BBQ with Apoy (which means ‘fire’ in Tagalog) at Market Halls on Oxford Street. The menu is full of the sweet, sour and savoury flavours that make up Filipino cuisine, with pinoy pork, chicken inasal and soy glazed aubergine sitting alongside classics like chicken adobo, lechon, and claypot beef served with rice. You’ll defo want some fried chicken skins to snack on and if you ate at Budgie’s other restaurant Sarap, you’ll know how good the coconut kale is. And don’t miss out on the dipping sauces – options include mang tomas lechon sauce, spicy coconut vinegar, banana ketchup, and soy sauce & calamansi juice,
"Meaning ‘fire’ in Tagalog, Apoy is dedicated to the art of Filipino barbecue. There’s a certain level of finesse in the care taken to turning out simple yet well-executed dishes that owner Budgie Montoya (of Sarap fame) can be proud of. The pork skewers, with their charred globules of caramelised fat, are a firm favourite, but the jewel in Montoya’s crown has to be his pork belly lechon, slow-roasted over charcoal until wonderfully aromatic and juicy with an achingly crispy skin."
Florence Mae Maglanoc and Omar Shah, founders of the Maginhawa group (which includes With ‘dirty ice cream’ brand Mamasons, Filipino bakery Panadera and fusion ramen joint Ramo Ramen), added modern Filipino restaurant Donia to their empire in late 2023. The Kingly Court restaurant blends Filipino flavours and recipes with British produce with dishes like crispy roast pork with liver peppercorn sauce; chicken inasal with a butter emulsion; and prawn & pork dumplings with white crab, lime butter sauce and chilli oil.
"Donia opened to great fanfare at the tail-end of last year, the latest in a series of successes from Florence Mae Maglanoc and Omar Shah of the Maginhawa Group (who also run Bintang, Panadera, Mamasons and Ramo Ramen). It’s an exciting insight into what modern Filipino-British cookery can be like: traditional dishes shaped by culinary expertise and techniques developed in cosmopolitan London, and informed by excellent seasonal British ingredients. Get the prawn and pork dumplings in a silky brown butter lime sauce, follow it up with the warming and hearty goodness of the lamb caldereta pie, and end the meal with the showstopping ube (purple yam) choux."
Adela has been serving carinderia – or canteen-style – Filipino food in Shepherd’s Bush since 2018, though she’s recently relocated to a new location inside Shepherd’s Bush Market. There are daily changing dishes, like chicken adobo, adobong pusit and kare-kare, on the counter and you just point at the ones you want, and on the weekends it turns into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Or you could indulge in the all-day Filipino breakfast menu, which features a range of silogs (meat or fish with fried egg and garlic rice) alongside the likes of palabok (noodles with chicharron and egg in shrimp sauce), lumpia, and beef lomi (beef and noodles in a thick soup). And if you want something sweet, Adela has you covered too with halo-halo, cassava cakes, sticky rice cakes and leche flans.
"Recently reopened in a new location, Adela’s is a classic example of what we call a ‘turo-turo’ (point-point) restaurant: hot plates of daily-changing food on the counter – turning into an all-you-can-eat buffet at the weekends – with you pointing at the ones you want to eat. Quite straightforward, if perhaps a little intimidating to the uninitiated; but being brave (or just asking lots of questions) can reap great and delicious rewards. The a la carte menu, drawing inspiration from Filipino breakfasts, is also pretty strong: the silogs (choice of meat or fish with fried egg and garlic rice) are much-loved, but it’s the pancit palabok, noodles in a rich shrimp sauce that’s reminiscent of the sea, that’s a real winner."
This bakery in Shepherd’s Bush is where to come when you want traditional Filipino bakes. The offering includes pandesal, cassava cake, ensaymadas, ube cake, Spanish bread and asado siopao (steamed buns filled with pork), and there’s a small selection of Filipino groceries to shop from too.
"Quite happily, there are now a decent handful of Filipino bakeries in London. Allan’s, on Shepherd’s Bush Green, is by far the most traditional, relying on simplicity and homeliness to carry the day. Alongside pandesal, the quintessential Filipino bun, Allan’s offers a wide range of traditional baked goods, all of which are worth checking out – but the Spanish bread (soft fluffy buns filled with a sugar-bread crumb paste) and the asado siopao (steamed buns stuffed with savoury and sweet pork) are particularly worth getting."
Lutong Pinoy has been serving traditional Filipino food since 1996, becoming a well-established member of London’s ‘Little Manila’. If you’re going solo, opt for one of the rice meals – especially their silog dishes, your choice of meat or fish served with fried egg and garlic rice. If you go as a group, try one of their bilao sharing platters for a taste of everything.
"A stalwart of Earl’s Court’s ‘Little Manila’, Lutong Pinoy has been serving up its homely take on the classics for over twenty years now. As a solo diner, the rice meals are your best bet, particularly their range of silogs (choice of meat or fish with fried egg and garlic rice). But coming as a group, give their Bilao sharing platters a go, especially their seafood one – not only will you get to try a wide range of dishes, but you’ll also enjoy Filipino food in the best way possible: in copious amounts with friends."
After starting out as a street food stall in 2014, the Cacho brothers have grown Filishack into two permanent shops, one in Peckham and one in Elephant & Castle. Filishack is all about fast and fresh food – you choose your base (rice, burrito, fries or salad), fill it with chicken adobo, beef adobo, crispy tofu or chicken insalal (this is the one to go for – the marinated chicken is smokey and full of flavour) and then load it up with salad and sauces.
"The Peckham-bred Cacho brothers cook up some of the best inasal (grilled chicken marinated in annatto, calamansi and other good things) in London: tender, aromatic, flavourful and smokey. Served in generous portions either over rice or in a burrito (a nod to centuries of Filipino-Mexican cultural exchange under the Spanish Empire) and with an array of home-made sauces, the Filishack inasal makes for a mighty fine and affordable meal. These South London boys have done good, now with three sites all south of the river."
Get a taste of Manila right here in London at Soho’s Kasa and Kin. The modern Filipino joint comes from the same team behind Kensington’s Romulo Cafe & Restaurant, so you know it’s legit, and it’s got you covered from morning to night as it’s part bakery, part restaurant and bar. Kasa and Kin is known for its spin on popular street food dishes and home-cooked faves, with the likes of ube cream cheese pandesals and ensaymadas on offer at the bakery and confit duck adobo, prawn lumpia, beef kare kare, crispy pata, lamb shank kaldereta, and Filipino BBQ on the restaurant menu.
"Conveniently located just off Oxford Street, Kasa & Kin is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades: a bakery and patisserie counter, a takeaway food spot, and a classy restaurant and bar. It’s a playful (and very Instagrammable) take on Filipino food, but it’s also delicious too. The ensaymada, delicate and fluffy brioche buns coming in a variety of flavours, are a great item to take home from the bakery counter, but staying for the confit duck adobo (a vinegar and soy sauce braise) and the tsunami cheesecakes is also a great idea."
Mama’s Kubo is an authentic Filipino restaurant on Finchley Road, run by husband and wife team Rommel Bustarde and Claudine Bleza. Rommel used to be a key figure in Busaba Eathai and, along with Claudine, has created one hell of a restaurant with Mama’s Kubo, complete with a menu of unpretentious and satisfying dishes. Don’t miss the pancit guisado (stir-fried noodles), sisig (sizzling spiced diced pork) or biko sticky rice cake. But if you’re in luck, Rommel’s homemade longaniza (cured sweet and garlicky sausages) may be on the menu – he only makes them when he’s in the mood – definitely get them if you can.
""Along an unlikely stretch of Finchley Road, chef Rommel Bustarde (formerly a key figure in Busaba Eathai) has created a beacon of warmth that presents the best of Filipino hospitality. Hearty and unpretentious, the dishes are satisfying and soothing; the pancit guisado (stir-fried noodles) and sisig (sizzling spiced diced pork) are done particularly well, as is the sweet-but-not-too-sweet biko sticky rice cake. But if Bustarde’s stunning home-made longaniza (cured sweet and garlicky sausages) are on the menu, definitely get them: he only makes them when he’s in the mood and has the time.""
Rapsa is a Filipino fusion spot with a couple of sites across town (one in Hoxton and one in Archway) as well as two sister sites (The Rambling Pig, a pub, and Sugarlandia, a Tiki bar) and they’ve got another concept (Tin & Fins) in Margate. Yeah, they’ve got a lot going on. They’ve also got killer kinilaw on the menu – a classic dish often referred to as Filipino ceviche – which is what started the whole thing. If you’re sticking around for dessert, make sure you grab the bibingka, which is a coconut rice flour cake baked in banana leaves.
"Since starting life as a pop-up focusing on kinilaw, the primal Filipino dish of raw fish quick-cured in vinegar that just screams of freshness, Rapsa has become a firm fixture in Hoxton with its modern and fusion-leaning takes on Filipino classics. Of course, the kinilaw is a must – try the salmon and sea bream versions for wonderful zing – but the slow-roasted lechon pork belly, tender yet crispy, also holds its own. Do stick around for dessert and treat yourself to bibingka (coconut rice flour cake baked in banana leaves) as well."
While Earl’s Court is known as ‘Little Manila’, Romford seems to be becoming east London’s/Essex’s hub for Filipino communities and cuisines. One of the newest additions to the scene is Tilaw, which stands out amongst the others, with a menu that emphasises the Visayan roots of its owner JJ Franco. Make sure to get the Humba, which is a braised pork dish of tender pieces capped with melt-in-the-mouth fat; it’s sweet with hints of fermented black beans and star anise.
"Bustling Romford has become a bit of an unexpected hub for the Filipino communities in the London/Essex borderlands, with a smattering of shops, ice cream and bubble tea parlours, and restaurants. But Tilaw stands out, not just as one of the newer openings, but for its menu that emphasises the Visayan roots of owner JJ Franco. Order the Humba, a braised pork dish, which is all tender pieces of belly capped off with melt-in-the-mouth gelatinous fat, infused with sweetness and the flavours of fermented black beans and star anise."
