For anyone visiting the Philippines for the first time, the food can be a surprise. A lot of people expect “Asian food” to mean Chinese takeout, sushi, or Thai curry. Filipino food is its own animal entirely. It has influences from China, Spain, America, Malaysia, and the islands themselves, all mixed together into something unique.
Here are ten foods you absolutely should try on your visit.
- Adobo
If the Philippines has a national comfort food, this is probably it. Chicken or pork slowly cooked in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Sounds simple. It isn’t. Every region and family has their own version and all of them insist theirs is the correct one. This has probably caused more family arguments than politics. - Lechon
Whole roasted pig. Crispy skin. Tender meat. Centerpiece of every major celebration. If a pig could understand destiny, this would be its Viking funeral. The skin alone can make grown adults hover near the serving table like hungry seagulls. - Sinigang
A sour soup usually made with tamarind. Americans are often confused by the idea of a sour soup until they try it. Then suddenly they’re on their second bowl wondering what just happened. Perfect rainy-day food. To be honest, it took me about 20 years of marriage to begin to like it. Now it is an every week food. - Pancit
Noodle dishes brought originally from Chinese influence and transformed into Filipino comfort food. Every birthday party in the Philippines appears legally required to contain enough pancit to feed an infantry platoon. - Lumpia
Think egg rolls, but smaller, crispier, and far more dangerous because you keep eating them. Nobody in human history has ever eaten one lumpia and stopped voluntarily. No Filipino party is over if there are any lumpia left on the table. - Sisig
Originally made from chopped pork parts sizzling on a hot plate with onions, peppers, and calamansi. This is the dish that separates tourists from converts. Fantastic with cold beer and loud conversation. - Halo-Halo
Literally means “mix-mix.” Crushed ice, milk, beans, fruits, jellies, ube, flan, ice cream, and possibly ingredients discovered by accident during a kitchen inventory. It looks like somebody lost a bet at the dessert counter, but somehow it works. - Longanisa
Filipino sausage. Sweet, garlicky, salty, sometimes smoky. Different regions make it differently. Filipino breakfast culture alone deserves its own documentary series. - Bicol Express
Pork cooked in coconut milk and chilies. Creamy, rich, and fully capable of setting your mouth on fire while smiling politely at you. - Balut
Yes. The famous one. Fertilized duck egg. The internet treats it like a circus act, but in the Philippines it’s simply food. Rich, savory, and far less shocking once you stop listening to tourists making drama videos about it. I survived the experience. Barely.
The thing outsiders often miss is this: Filipino food is not “fancy cuisine” in the French sense. It is family food. Celebration food. Survival food. Food built for gatherings, birthdays, karaoke nights, typhoons, and feeding unexpected visitors who somehow arrived right at dinner time.
And honestly, the very best Filipino food usually isn’t in restaurants.
It’s in somebody’s house, with an auntie insisting you need another helping whether you want one or not.
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