The best things we tasted in September 2026

September gave us plenty of reasons to eat well, from expertly grilled yakitori and comforting Japanese teppan dishes to inventive Peruvian and Filipino creations. We also found memorable cocktails, creative takes on familiar favorites, and desserts worth saving room for. Here are the dishes and drinks that stood out to us last month.

Celebrated yakitori chef Masahiko Kodama is back in the Philippines, this time cooking for a new audience in a more casual setting. The chef of Tokyo’s Michelin-recognized Yakitori Masakichi, Kodama was featured in Season 1, Episode 5 (“BBQ”) of David Chang’s Netflix series “Ugly Delicious,” where Chang called his skewers “the best yakitori I’ve ever had.”  Now chef-in-residence at Ginza Ortigas, Kodama brings his signature skewers to the table at more accessible price points. 

What to try? My early favorite the chicken wings yakitori that’s best eaten with the Japanese rice with a drizzle of Chef Kodama’s housemade special sauce and finish with a Japanese milk pudding or if you’re not into dessert, a glass of their yuzu lemonade. — Cyrene de la Rosa

I discovered a great dining deal while exploring my neighborhood in Eastwood, Quezon City. Ebi10 is offering Teppan All You Can, with different sets to choose from at different price points. 

One of my favorites on the list was the Mentaiko Pollock, available even in the cheapest option. It comes with a generous serving of flaky white meat from Alaska, topped with a savory, rich cod roe sauce typically made with cream or mayonnaise. A casual restaurant offering hotel-type service. A refreshing addition I can enjoy just steps from home. — JC Cailles Lo

Part of Chef Kevin Uy’s menu that recreates a nostalgic road trip around Peru, this is an interpretation of a traditional Peruvian shrimp Chowder. Local grilled freshwater prawn and mochi sit atop a reduction of rich shrimp head broth that’s already more of a sauce than soup. The concentrated flavors together with out of the usual combined texture of shrimp, mochi, and the cracked rice paper made this a personal favorite of this edition of the Flow tasting menu. — Jeeves de Veyra

Sweet, succulent stir-fried crab meat tossed in Ley’s Kitchen’s fragrant, savory curry sauce, with plenty of crabby goodness and absolutely no shells to deal with. Mess-free, fuss-free, and a deeply satisfying way to enjoy crab. Best eaten with lots of freshly cooked white rice. For orders, text 0917 848 6889. — Cyrene de la Rosa

I recently attended a special lunch wine event at Gallery by Chele, where the restaurant served a course from its current Heirloom Rice Project menu, highlighting indigenous Philippine rice. The dish, Tapuey Grouper with Green Caviar, Green Papaya and White Miso, stood out for its creative interpretation of rice. Rather than featuring rice grains themselves, it explores one of rice’s many byproducts: a traditional fermented rice wine called tapuey.  For me, this restaurant remains one of the best and most elegant in Manila. — JC Cailles Lo

This bite comes from a combination of two dishes from the second movement of Metiz’s current tasting menu. Chef Stephan Duhesme said that the last thing he wants to hear from diners is that his food is bland. These two, when taken separately, can be a bit overwhelming. Break a bit of the hard patis caramel layer with a piece of the ensaymada, then dip that into the super cheesy dish along with a scallop and I got a balanced sweet salty bite with that slight crack of the sugary shell. — Jeeves de Veyra

Last September 25 and 26, Off Menu, Tatler Dining’s flagship food festival, brought together 8 restaurants and 8 bars and 19 of the country’s most exciting F&B talents at the Grand Ballroom of Shangri-La The Fort, Manila where each restaurant was paired with a bar to create an exclusive food-and-cocktail pairing conceived especially for Off Menu. The result: 16 one off creations available for guests to experience for two nights only. 

All of the dishes and cocktails were good on its own as I expected it to be. But, if I am asked for the best pairing, the night’s most memorable pairings was the Green & Two-Three by Celera & Problem Child. Duck keluak and kerabu ulam on leek tostada; Codigo Blanco tequila with charred bell pepper, green tomato, Celera mole and soda water. Celera’s dish met Problem Child’s cocktail in a way that felt seamless rather than simply matched — each bringing out something in the other. Clever, balanced and genuinely delicious, this was a pairing I’d happily have again beyond Off Menu. — Cyrene de la Rosa

A new restaurant at BGC High Street, Wilde is an upscale casual dining spot serving borderless cuisine with European influences. Many of the dishes are contemporary yet comforting, and one that stood out to me was the Wilde Rice. Think of it as a paella, but not quite. This flavorful creation is cooked in chicken and shrimp stock and loaded with chistorra, mussels, fried halibut, chicken, and pork ear chicharon. It gets an extra layer of indulgence from parsley-garlic oil and crabfat calamansi aioli. 

If you’re craving something hearty after a long, hectic day, this could be your go-to order. The kind of dish that makes you feel good! — JC Cailles Lo

Chef Miggy Moreno continues to explore Mindanao cuisine going beyond his usual flavors. Collaborations like the Busog Chronicles at the Admiral Club inside Admiral Hotel MGallery Collection gives him a venue to try out dishes like this Suwan Suwan. 

This is apahap simply rubbed in salt, pepper and turmeric then poached in coconut milk then finished on the griddle to get a crisp skin. Chef Miggy hints that this may be appearing in the menu of his new Palm Grill branch in Gateway Mall opening soon. — Jeeves de Veyra

Holiday Inn & Suites Manila kicks off its chef collaborations at all-day dining outlet Flavors with Chef Christopher Tamayo. That oily texture of salmon is nicely balanced out by the corn sauce with a herby note from gremolata and microgreens. While this is a dish that was created specially for the collab, Tamayo did say he’s considering adding to this to his menu at Textures by Tamayo up in Tagaytay. — Jeeves de Veyra

Truly enjoyed this light and refreshing, layered Middle Eastern style milk and semolina dessert pudding called ‘La Pita Nights’ that is finished with maravillosa leaves infused milk syrup before it is topped with toasted chopped almonds  and a touch of rose syrup.  A nice way to end your meal at the newest branch of Chef Sam Rohana’s La Pita located at Salcedo Village, Makati. — Cyrene de la Rosa

The Grand Hyatt Manila is a hotel that takes its coffee very seriously. For coffee month, they had three-time Philippine barista champion Michael Harris Conlin from long-time coffee partner Henry & Sons come over to create a coffee omakase for the Florentine, its lobby coffee shop. 

This is a very geeky drink with a lot of work behind it like clarified ube and espresso sans the crema from Harris own invention, the Better Vessel.

The result is a very unique drink that’s experiential from watching the espresso slowly seep into the flute, then sipping it slowly transforming from full espresso to a chocolate mint drink. Available at the Florentine for the whole month of October. — Jeeves de Veyra

Dark, boozy, bitter, with an East Asian twist. One of Seoul’s Soko bar signature cocktails that was served at Cebu’s top bar Lost Unicorn. Soko Son, owner/bartender of Seoul’s Soko Bar flew to Cebu for a Bar Takeover at Lost Unicorn last September 4.

Think espresso martini meets bourbon sour, with black yuzu bringing a sharp, bittersweet citrus edge and Ssanghwa rum adding a subtle Korean herbal/medicinal depth. The t gives it backbone while the espresso rounds everything out. A perfect nightcap. — Cyrene de la Rosa