Manila Food and Travel Guide: Adobo, Sinigang and Lechon

Manila is dense, energetic and endlessly hospitable, and Filipino food is finally getting the global attention it deserves. The cuisine balances sour, salty and sweet in ways found nowhere else, shaped by Malay, Chinese, Spanish and American influences over centuries, and it is best enjoyed family-style with everyone sharing.

What to Eat in Manila

The unofficial national dish is adobo, meat (usually chicken or pork) braised slowly in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and bay leaves until tender and tangy. Every family has its own version. Equally beloved is sinigang, a bracingly sour soup soured with tamarind and packed with pork or shrimp and vegetables, the ultimate comfort dish.

For a feast, nothing beats lechon, a whole pig spit-roasted until the skin shatters like glass, the centrepiece of every celebration. And for dessert, the gloriously chaotic halo-halo layers shaved ice, sweet beans, jellies, leche flan and purple ube ice cream into one tall, refreshing glass, its name literally meaning "mix-mix."

• Adobo — meat braised in vinegar and soy
• Sinigang — sour tamarind soup
• Lechon — whole roast pig
• Halo-halo — shaved ice dessert
• Kare-kare — oxtail in peanut stew

Where and How to Eat

For an immersive start, visit a wet market or a weekend food market where vendors sell tropical fruit, fresh seafood and kakanin (rice cakes); many markets have a dampa setup where you buy seafood from a stall and pay a nearby eatery to cook it. The historic core of Intramuros and the lively district of Binondo, the world's oldest Chinatown, are both rewarding food walks.

A practical tip: look out for turo-turo eateries, literally "point-point," where you simply point at the pre-cooked dishes you want behind the glass, ideal when you don't know the names. Menus and market signs often mix English with Tagalog terms, so photographing them to translate the unfamiliar words helps you order confidently and try regional specialities you might otherwise miss.