Filipino food 101: 15 dishes to try and where they come from

Filipino food is built on sour, salty and sweet: vinegar and calamansi, fish sauce and soy, coconut and sugar. Start with lechon (Cebu), sisig (Pampanga), chicken inasal (Bacolod), sinigang, adobo, kare-kare, kinilaw (Mindanao and the Visayas), La Paz batchoy (Iloilo), bulalo (Batangas and Tagaytay), pancit in its many regional forms, Bicol Express, laing, bibingka and puto bumbong, and halo-halo. Each dish has a home town where it is done best, which is how our food rankings are organised.

Last updated November 4, 2026 · 🍽️ Food rankings →

The big five

Lechon: whole roast pig. Cebu stuffs it with lemongrass and spring onion so it needs no sauce; Luzon serves it with liver sauce. Best lechon →
Sisig: chopped pork mask and liver on a sizzling plate, created in Angeles, Pampanga. Best sisig →
Chicken inasal: annatto-and-calamansi marinated chicken grilled over coals, from Bacolod. Best grills →
Adobo: meat braised in vinegar, soy, garlic and bay. Every family has a version; some use coconut milk, some turmeric.
Sinigang: sour tamarind soup with pork, shrimp or milkfish and vegetables. Best soups →

Regional classics

Kinilaw (Visayas, Mindanao): raw fish cured in vinegar with ginger and chili.
La Paz batchoy (Iloilo): noodle soup with pork, liver and chicharron.
Bulalo (Batangas, Tagaytay): beef shank and marrow soup.
Pancit: Malabon (thick noodles, seafood), Lucban (habhab, eaten off a banana leaf), Batangas lomi, Cabagan pancit.
Bicol Express and laing (Bicol): coconut milk and chili; taro leaves in the second.
Empanada (Ilocos): orange rice-flour pastry with longganisa and egg.
Durian and tuna panga (Davao, General Santos).

See regional specialties and pancit & noodles.

Sweet endings

Halo-halo: shaved ice with sweet beans, jellies, leche flan and ube halaya. Best halo-halo →
Bibingka and puto bumbong: Christmas-season rice cakes sold outside churches during Simbang Gabi.
Buko pie (Laguna), ensaymada, leche flan and turon.

How to order like a local

Ask for sawsawan: the dipping sauces (vinegar with chili, soy with calamansi, bagoong) that finish most dishes.
Silog breakfasts (garlic rice, fried egg, a protein) run all day. Best silog →
At a dampa seafood market you buy the seafood, then pay a restaurant to cook it.
Unli rice is common at inasal and grill houses.

FAQ

What is the national dish of the Philippines?

Adobo is the usual answer, though lechon and sinigang have equal claims; there is no official national dish.

Is Filipino food spicy?

Mostly not. Bicol dishes are the exception, built on coconut milk and chili. Heat usually comes from the sawsawan on the side.

Where should I start?

Cebu for lechon, Pampanga for sisig and Kapampangan cooking, Bacolod for inasal, Iloilo for batchoy, and Binondo in Manila for Chinese-Filipino classics.

Related rankings

Sources

Editorial guide by Best Philippines. Not legal, financial or medical advice; check the sources for current rules and figures.