New Dishes from Siglo Modern Filipino - Tagaytay

“There's no better way to understand a culture than through food”. I think I’ve said this several times already in a couple of my blog posts, and it can never so true enough. We associate a certain taste to a region or a country. Say for example in the Philippines, Bicol Region is easily a place where cuisine is known, most often than not, spicy. Mediterranean food is packed-full of spices; Japan is known for raw food; South East Asia has rice as its staple fare. There is more of a connection between food and culture than we may think; it operates as an expression of cultural identity.

Specific cuisines in specific countries or region may have evolved but what stays the same is the extent to which each place’s unique cuisine can reflect its unique history, lifestyle, values, and beliefs. The Philippines is no exception for that. Being a country colonized by several other countries for years and have made trade relations with other neighboring Asian countries, some can’t put their finger as to what Philippine cuisine really is. I would say our cuisine is a fusion and relatively congruent with the livelihood of a region. But what excites me is that it is that it is the next cuisine the world is going to rave about. 

View Park Hotel Tagaytay’s Siglo Modern Filipino Restaurant is one of those places that has a concept built around presenting food to introduce the Filipino cuisine and culture. At Siglo, one can experience a wide variety of Filipino-inspired cuisines while travelling the Philippines through food. They promise that you can stay on one of their tables and be able to get a taste of Filipino food without really travelling or boarding plane or getting on a boat. 

Siglo Modern Filipino is passionate about bringing to your table heritage Filipino dishes from different regions of the country. They commit to promote Filipino culture and ideals, preserve heirloom recipes, support the Filipino farmers, innovate classic Filipino dishes using modem techniques and creativity.

Their restaurant’s interiors portrays the essence of the Philippines, with wooden decorations, tables and chairs; Capiz and stained glass windows, which are all reminiscent of the Filipino-Tagalog culture with intricately detailed design and warm ambiance. I think they patterned the design of their interiors after the vintage homes you can find around Laguna, Cavite and Batangas. 

Siglo Modern Filipino invites you to travel the archipelago with bestsellers from each of the major Philippine island groups. I've been here before and we tried their Blockbuster Bilaos which you can read about here: Travel The Philippines Through Food: Siglo Modern Filipino - Tagaytay. I went back there again a couple of weeks ago with fellow foodies and wherein we tried a few of the new dishes on their menu:  Adobo Lagitik sa Pinya - pork belly adobo with sweet Tagaytay pineapple. An adobo version called Adobong Iga or Adobong Palagitik which is cooked with pineapple which is commonly served in households of South Luzon. I actually like this dish, not only of the pretty plating or presentation (I mean just look at that) but also that we cook this at home. I didn’t even know this was already an old dish even before Del Monte suggested us to put pineapples in our adobos.

Tawilis Malunggay Pasta - freshwater sardinella and moringa pasta. There's nothing more than you can associate with Taal or Tagaytay than the fish tawilis since I believe it is only found and grown in this area in Luzon. I love that both the taste of tawilis and malunggay are very distinct in this pasta.

Inasal Skewers - a Filipino variant of roast chicken, marinated in a mixture of calamansi then grilled over hot coals while basted with the marinade. Siglo's version are smaller cuts of chicken with a sweeter flavor and skewered together with veggies and leafy greans. A refreshing and (probably) healthier take on this grilled favorite.

Maruya with Barako Jelly - banana fritters and Barako coffee jelly. South Luzon is also a flat plane so you would find here a lot of plantations, thus banana is somewhat abundant in this area and of course coffee, especially the well-known Southern Tagalog variety: Kapeng Barako. Love this 2-in-1 dessert/snack.

Uray-mansi Juice - mint, amaranth and calamansi juice. Not only that this drink is refreshing and tastes good, it also very healthy. Amaranth is a good source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. The amaranth that they use here is a local species and grown at garden found at the back of the hotel/restaurant. 

They say second time's a charm and with my second visit at Siglo, it truly is! I like how enthusiastic and very familiar their staff when it comes with what the restaurant has to offer. Also I find it commendable that they constantly innovate their dishes.  Inspired by hundreds of years of Filipino cooking and a kitchen team with a collective years of expertise, Siglo Modern Filipino enables you to enjoy a personal gustatory getaway. Without investing a lot of time, effort and expense. Start your food travel adventure now. Check them out on your next trip to Tagaytay!

SIGLO MODERN FILIPINO GF View Park Hotel, 3500 Tagaytay-Calamba Rd., Sungay East, Tagaytay City, Tagaytay City Contact Nos: 02 2469069 ext:932 / 0943 1316625 0917 5446396 / 0999 8839460 Website: www.siglofilipino.ph

Facebook: facebook.com/siglomodernfilipinotagaytay

Instagram: instagram.com/siglomodernfilipino

For more information, complete menu and restaurant reviews, check out their Zomato profile: 

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