Toyo Eatery — Restaurant in Makati

3/5 A place to experience new and nice taste of Pilipino.

Walking in this trend restaurant, seeing all staff with style, I thought this is a nice dinner place, until they serve the very French cuisine finger foods like appetizer to start our tasting menu.

I’m really not gonna list out the ingredients they have mentioned, mostly local which is what I’m expecting, but mostly I here to taste. The first three finger food already blew my mind, each have great and playful texture when you eat it, of course flavor too, some familiar and new, love it. I personally love the stuffed squid most, cooked in sweet soy to perfect texture, this is where to start like I’m hving japenese fusio dinner.

Next with a three plate’s appetizer, oyster with lovely seasoning, but not sure about the freshness of the oyster. Two nice vinegar maintained fish pieces, yuzy, picked cucumber, like I said nice, but not as surprising as the starter.

Then is a very cute presentation chicken in 3 ways, steamed egg custard, meatball and broth. A little salty, taste nice and getting more like a Izakaya dishes tho.

After a light sorbet to freshen up. The famous Philippine pork dishes, i thought I’m gonna be very happy eating this, but the flavor is flat and the meat part is actually abit dry and tough. Skin should be very crispy, yet I forgot everything about it.

Eggplant pancake with banana ketchup, is getting really Izakaya bar snacks, but I enjoy this one a lot. All flavor and texture with the fried shrimp and scallion too, I need a beer.

Our table choose the teriyaki and milk fish for main, both ingredients are good, cooked well, yet too much sauce, is salty. And is just very ordinary flavor, soy sauce. The rice with fried pork skin and egg yolk is actually the best of the night, great balance with flavor and perfectly cooked rice, simple yet elegant.

There’s three more desserts after we ate two, some are good, some are a little extreme for me, but overall this restaurant worth a try. My mood was builded really high up when they start serving, then it goes down and down, you didn’t expect they serve that way by this environment and atmosphere, especially that chair is not good for sitting that long. Is just I think they might need to find a better balance of do they wanna be a 4 hours fine dinning restaurant or is maybe just a good dining place.

Oh, forgot to mention they have really nice cocktails, remember to try.

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Visited in April. The Philippines. BGS

This restaurant posed a challenge to make a reservation, and it was certainly on our must-visit list during our time in the Philippines. Having come across numerous glowing reviews, I eagerly anticipated our dining experience at this establishment. First of all, I want to note that WE expected high end Filipino’s cuisine famed for its refined presentation and fusion of distinctive flavors. However, I unknowingly booked dinner without finding out that they serve two different formats on the same day and ended up in a dinner format where they serve street and casual food formats, so with high expectations, we were a little disappointed. Nonetheless, it proved to be an intriguing experience as we dove into dishes meant to be savored just with hand, allowing us to immerse ourselves in authentic Filipino flavors. Food: The food was quite simple, greasy, without complex flavors, just the way it is. A standout for me was the oysters baked in cheese mousse, setting a promising tone initially, but quality of another food was a slight decline. For instance, the shrimp stomachs were left uncleaned, it was quite unpleasant to remove it with bare hands - an unexpected surprise. I think it would be better to separate it in advance. The pork dish was overly fatty, lacking sufficient meat content and predominantly showcasing lard, which was impossible to eat. Eating mango with sauce and rice by hand was also less than ideal. While the other appetizers were decent, they failed to elicit that wow factor. Among the highlights was the initial dessert, where the delectable cream and varied textural elements, including the icy component, offered a delightful treat. Service: Impressively, the service was top-notch, marked by a warm ambiance and attentive waitstaff who adeptly guided us through the menu. Conclusion: The dining experience spanned a little over an hour and left mixed impression. I would recommend this restaurant, particularly the Kamayan Menu for communal indulgence in authentic Filipino flavors, ideally suited for larger groups seeking a shared culinary adventure. This menu is available at 6 pm. However, I advise approaching it with a sense of curiosity rather than lofty expectations, embracing it as a cultural exploration. Given the chance, I would opt for their haute cuisine menu ahead of time for a more refined...

This place really is a hidden gem. The Toyo restaurant is hidden away within a complex of builders that you'd never think would include this fantastic restaurant. Once you have found it, you will find yourself in a little oasis of greenery and trendy shops. Inside the restaurant itself you'll be welcomed by the friendly staff and your waiter for the night. It's a small place but feels big inside with limited tables well spaced out. The atmosphere is so casual you left like you were at home but in a special moment we loved it. If you take the tasting menu, highly recommend, you'll be taken on a journey of local produce and even some story telling. Your waiter will explain each dish's main local ingredient and even show photos if you aren't familiar with it. 11 course of magic with each dish being modern but still so authentic, no wonder they said Toyo is the one to watch for top 50 in Asia. You are taken on a true journey so it becomes more than just a meal. The quality of the food is amazing, well sized so at the end you aren't busting at the seams but feel very satisfied. They are very accommodating to allergies which isn't always the case no matter where you go. For me as I'm allergic to dairy they easily modified a few dishes but without destroying the quality and for the final sweets which they couldn't modify they gave me an extra savoury dish plus a free tea or coffee. I couldn't believe how cheap the meal was considering the quality, quantity, accommodating staff and high class environment, I'd definitely be willing to pay more for it. My partner is Filipino and she rated this "The Best restaurant" we have been to and we have been to many hatted and Michelin star places over the years. All the staff are so friendly and at the end you are offered to have photos with the chef and kitchen staff who stop to thank you and pose for a photo in the open kitchen. This was truly the end to a magical night. I'll be going back again and recommending this little gem to everyone either local or from overseas in Manila. If anything I wanted them to slow down the pace of the dishes so I could spend more time there. I just hope as they become more known they stay true to themselves as this friendly, family atmosphere is what really results in making it an amazing night....