Photo by Aih Mendoza

With the Yuletide season in full swing, the quest for exciting new dining experiences has already begun. From the city walker’s search for cheap gimmick spots to the family looking for substitutes to cooking noche buena at home, this food report will be your tour guide to the gustatory delights the Metro has to offer this Christmas.

Traditions taken further

When asked what he loves most about Christmas, sophomore Aldwin Dykimching says wistfully, “Spending time with my entire family, opening envelopes of money—but most of all, eating my mother’s Christmas dinner.”

Like Aldwin, most Ateneans spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day snuggling at home with relatives, telling stories, playing board games—but the star of the evening is definitely the Christmas meal.

For professional caterers like Metro Manila-based Classic Chef, sales are six times the usual during the Christmas season. With more households opting to order their Christmas feast instead of preparing it, Classic Chef offers the works. For a catered buffet, their package comes with all the necessary silverware, chafing dishes and service staff to boot.

During the Yuletide season, most catering companies come out with their holiday specialties. Classic Chef serves out Christmas staples like roast turkey with all the fixings, conchinillo, Angus beef and baked salmon with lemon almond stuffing.

Meanwhile, families that still want to make their own Christmas dinner but are looking to break the routine menu can hit up cooking schools with Christmas-themed lifestyle courses. Heny Sison Culinary School teaches short courses like “Christmas Holiday Recipes” and “Christmas Bars and Cookies,” where even the kitchen-phobic learn from professionals to eventually turn out a walnut torte just like those in hotel bakeries. Bonus: the entire family can bond over cooking food.

Hearty homecomings

If you are having some balikbayan relatives over for Christmas and are unsure where to take them, we suggest Silya’t Sili, a hidden gem of a Filipino restaurant situated just in Katipunan Avenue, White Plains. Originally an art gallery, this cozy place mimics the architecture of home, with its many small rooms and backyard patio.

The menu is composed of Filipino meals perfect for your visitors from abroad. Must-tries are their bestselling pinakbet, kare-kare, and crispy pata. They also have staples like beef bulalo, Bicol Express, and lechon kawali, as well as the more experimental sweet Lola Rosang with nuts salad, garlic pusit, and their very own Silya’t Sili chicken.

Aside from the usual Filipino dishes, Ilocano owners Marlene and Isaiah Peña have also expanded their menu to include Ilocos recipes such as ginising-gising, a flavorful dish with the distinct tastes of spring onion, garlic, chili, and other spices mixing with the soft meat of goat. Others under the new tab “Pride of Ilocos” are kalderetang kambing and papaitan, just the thing for relatives on the lookout for new definitions of Filipino food. Their menu also features healthy fusion shakes like “celepino” (celery + pipino) and “banalunggay” (banana + malunggay), as well as some Thai dishes, coffee and pastries.

Although less than a year old, Silya’t Sili has attracted the likes of senators, celebrities and athletes. Its relaxing, homey feel draws families, couples and friends looking for intimate spaces where they can enjoy Filipino cuisine and catch up on each other’s stories.

The foodie’s agora

Food markets have become an extremely popular scene with a slew that have opened this year, such as Il Mercanti (Metrowalk), Distrito (Makati) and Soderno (Alabang). Friends can chill out, search for the much-talked about yet elusive market fare and fill up to their belly’s content. “During [the] Christmas break, I’d just like to pig out with my friends,” admits sophomore Marty Go.  With the holiday season in full swing, food bazaars are going the extra mile to not only catch their patrons’ attention but also spread Christmas cheer.

The food market serves as an international alternative to the traditional Christmas dinner. Imagine sitting in a crowded dining hall with good company, munching on bite-sized tacos, crispy chicken doused in soy garlic sauce, capped off with a cup of frozen kefir, a fermented milk drink originating from the North Caucasus region.

In time for Christmas, concessionaires like Baked by Anita add extra sparkle to their products with Christmas-themed decorations on delicious green tea wasabi cupcakes. However, for Cebu’s Balamban Liempo, keeping the food simple and tasty is the key to calling in customers.

Like any Christmas celebration, even alcohol makes an appearance among the food. Liqueur Bonbons by Joana sells fanciful sweets of varying strength, ranging from “Sober” to “Wasted.” Meanwhile, homemade rum cakes are popular gift options found in most dessert stalls.

But if you’re not feeling very experimental this season and prefer going the traditional bazaar way, old-timers like Tiendesitas, Sidcor Market and St. James the Great Christmas Bazaar are still here to cater to your holiday appetites. In Tiendesitas, Filipino cuisine reigns supreme with stalls like Davao Tuna Grill, Freska Ilonggo Seafood and Wado’s, the store popular for its fresh bibingka and puto bumbong—perfect for the holiday season. Meanwhile, you can sample the homemade pastry creations of housewives-turned-bakers at St. James Bazaar. And wherever you are, you can be sure to find hot castañas to munch on while going around. Walking around these bazaars is sensory experience in itself—Christmas songs blast from speakers while people mill about the food courts and watch local bands play at night.

Christmas is in the air all over the Metro, with bright lights and gleeful shoppers all around. However, as Filipino tradition goes, good food and good company make the season a hearty (albeit not always healthy) time of the year. And while food isn’t everything, it definitely makes Christmas that much sweeter.