How Two Chefs Are Bringing Mindanao Cuisine to Manila

Admiral Hotel’s Admiral Club was especially busy on the night of the 18th. The aroma of spices wafted from the open kitchen, which served as the joint playground of sorts for The Southern Table, a recent collaboration between chefs Mark Tumbale of Admiral Hotel and Miggy Moreno of Palm Grill and Cabel.

We’ve come a long way from the time when most Manileños’ idea of Filipino food was relegated to the typical adobo and sinigang (nothing wrong with the dishes in themselves, to be clear). We now see Mindanao’s culinary treasures finding rightful representation in more areas outside the region—and chef Miggy is one of the key figures behind this shift.

More of Mindanao On The Table

The Jolo-born, Zamboanga-raised chef has long been passionate about promoting the flavors of his hometown and Southern Mindanao as a whole. It certainly helped that his restaurants, Palm Grill in Quezon City and Cabel in San Miguel, Manila, further rose to fame after both received the coveted Bib Gourmand awards. He’s been doing pop-ups at different hotels in the Philippines, as a bit of an extension of what he does at his restaurants.

Chef Miggy giggles as he recounts how Mark had contacted him via direct message. “[Mark] asked, ‘Are you more than willing to do a collaboration with me, because I’ve been really meaning to do Mindanao [cuisine] because I don’t know anything about it.’ And you know me. Anything to do with promoting Mindanao [food], automatically, without batting an eyelash, I said yes of course.”

Zoning into Mindanaoan food was only fitting, of course, given Admiral Hotel’s own mission of uniting Filipino ingredients and traditions with contemporary techniques. The courses each took after a dish from different parts of Mindanao (some are also icons in Visayas).

Chef Mark, who also has experiences cooking for Belmont Hotel and Sofitel Philippine Plaza under his belt, brought a modern lens to their interpretations for the evening.

These Mindanao Dishes Got a Modern Makeover

Belachan Skewers opened the dinner, each smoky piece packing a punch with its marinade of belachan, shallots, garlic, and native aromatics. Lininggil, the traditional Maguindanaon dry curry, served as the inspiration for the chicken liver-based “Lining gil’ Pâté over squares of Chef Mark’s brioche. There was the Sinuglaw, a fish-centric expression of the Davao classic, here using cured mackerel with lashings of coconut cream. 

Chef Miggy brought out his signature Tiyula Itum—his take on the Tausug dish that’s at once smoky yet soothing, its broth tinged with burnt coconut, turmeric and galangal. A contemporary take on Halang-Halang followed, its namesake coconut-chicken stew (which is popular in Visayas and Mindanao) transformed into a roulade of chicken in a blackened coconut sauce perfumed with aromatics.

The next dish had the Tausug beef curry known as Kurma tucked into a warm empanada, Chef Miggy’s favorite snack. Then there was the Suwan Suwan, another remixed version of a Tausug classic with marinated, braised apahap served with its crisped skin and a reduced soy-coconut sauce.

It was in the dessert arc that the two chefs officially joined forces. Pulo was a smorgasbord of treats from the Philippines’ primary island groups: repping Luzon is nilupak na saging or mashed saba bananas; Visayas is embodied in sikwate, and Mindanao comes as putli mandi, mochi-like balls rolled in coconut, and binaki, or steamed corn cakes.

This was the second run of Admiral Hotel’s Busog Chronicles series, following the first edition with Mark welcoming chef Josh Boutwood to his kitchen.

Meanwhile on Miggy’s end, his mission remains the same: to stoke the curiosity of food enthusiasts and help spread awareness about the culinary heritage of Mindanao.

Judging by how all his recent events have sold out, it’s safe to conclude he’s successful in the goal.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio

Frequently Asked Questions

What was "The Southern Table"?

A collaborative dinner pop-up at Admiral Hotel where chefs Mark Tumbale and Miggy Moreno served modern interpretations of traditional Mindanaoan dishes.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio

Who are the chefs involved?

Chef Miggy Moreno is a Jolo-born, Zamboanga-raised chef behind the Bib Gourmand-awarded restaurants Palm Grill and Cabel.

Chef Mark Tumbale is currently the Executive Sous Chef at Admiral Hotel with previous culinary experience at Belmont Hotel and Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio

How did the collaboration start?

Chef Mark reached out to Chef Miggy via direct message proposing a collaboration because he wanted to learn about and showcase Mindanao cuisine.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio

What dishes were served?

Modernized regional classics, including Tiyula Itum, Sinuglaw, Lininggil pâté, Kurma beef empanadas, Suwan Suwan (apahap), Halang-Halang chicken roulade, and a multi-region dessert named Pulo.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio

What event series was this part of?

It was the second installment of Admiral Hotel’s “Busog Chronicles” series, which pairs traditional Filipino flavors with modern cooking techniques.

Patricia Baes

Trish thinks too much about everything—truth, existence, and what to have for dinner. Her early love of experimenting in the kitchen, coupled with a desire to better her relationship with food, led her down the rabbit hole of food media and writing. After graduating with a Psychology degree from UP Diliman, she sharpened her writing skills (and expanded her appetite) at a couple of food websites, where she covered cooking, restaurants, food history, and culture, and ate her way through Manila’s pulsating dining scene as staff writer and eventually as the publication’s food editor. Food, for Trish, is as much a source of pleasure and fuel as it is an outlet for creativity; a medium through which stories can be passed on; and a way to connect with others. And putting her musings into words lets her narrow the gap between her food geekery and background in the social sciences.

See Full Bio