Kanto Bistro ᜃᜈ᜔ᜆᜓ — Restaurant in Stockholm

I finally made it to the first Filipino Bistro Restaurant in Stockholm. We ordered the sample platter that consisted of Spring rolls, "Lechon" roast pig meat, and Fried Chicken. That also includes the Mango Salad. And then we ordered Pumpkin with coconut milk on the side as well. And then, we ordered the "Buko Pandan" Chiffon cake for dessert. The overall presentation and the food color combination, when it was served of the dishes, were nice. However, the aroma that I was expecting to smell was not the same as any other Asian food, there was no aroma of the food when it was served. I was expecting more of the alluring and inviting aroma from a local Fil food back in the Philippines. As for the taste of the dishes we ordered, there was no wow moment in my palate I'm afraid :-(, the dishes can be of any Asian dishes and there was no touch of the iconic taste of authentic Filipino dishes. I was expecting to order Iconic dishes like "Chicken or Pork Adobo" and or the iconic "Pinakbet" when I got the chance to go to a Fil Restaurant away from home but this time was just a normal dish that any restaurant can cook and serve. There was no distinction of a dish served.

Filipino dishes are full of exciting and beautiful flavours to use especially when a dish comes from different parts of the Philippines. If a restaurant has a cook who is from the South or North of the Philippines, I think it is good to capitalize on their expertise in the way of cooking from that part of the country so we can taste the beauty of what has to offer from the authenticity part of the Phil. to market it here in Sweden.

I have been to several Asian restaurants here in Stockholm, for example, Indian food, All curry dishes can be anything but if an Indian Restaurant can serve Curry in a real Indian way makes a difference and that was what I was missing here for the Filipino dishes, there was no difference or exceptional qualities of a unique dish as compared to other Asian dishes in Stockholm. It has to offer a USP -Unique Selling Point dish to stand out and a unique experience, like I mentioned earlier, offer an iconic Adobo or Pinakbet to stand out from the rest and make use of the chef's expertise of the authenticity of the dishes. Not sure if the restaurant is promoting a Fil fusion restaurant or authentic Filipino dishes so my palate is confused and a bit disappointed.

All the staff is very friendly, and kind and I believe the cook behind the closed door is also friendly. I also saw several Swedish who dined in there when I was there which made me so proud (hopefully a repeat customer in the future) since this is a pop-up kind of restaurant, the curiosity level of people is high, and if we give the taste of love at first taste will be one of the keys to the future permanent home of this restaurant in Stockholm and to put the country Philippines on the map of culinary expertise in the Nordic Region. On another point, I also would like to suggest reviewing the pricing level of each dish. This must be according to the price level of a restaurant. I find it a bit pricey – as an example, a starter dish must have a price level of a starter dish and not a full-price meal. In that way, it can be good to compare with the other restaurants in that area, it must be comparatively priced.

I believe the owner and the staff of this Fil bistro are doing their best to make this restaurant to be considered a “to go to dine authentic Filipino dishes”. I hope that this review will be considered constructive, as this is the purpose of this review. Mabuhay and More Power to a new place soon and new perfectives towards a successful Filipino cuisine place to...

This resto popped up on my IG feed and the lechón and Ube caught my attention so immediately made a reservation for dinner.

Have never been to Philippines myself hence can’t judge how authentic this place is, however they do have a very thoughtful disclaimer on the printed menu, saying that the dishes are their own interpretation of the food all around the 7,000+ islands in the Philippines.

Let me start with the many positives this place has.

The flavors! They sure know how to make food.

We started with cocktails, the Ube Colada is like I was being transported to one of the islands in Philippines, and again I’ve never been there. You could taste the Ube, the condensed milk and the coconut. Very tropical drink.

We went for the shared platter of two appetizers and one main course. Spring rolls were pretty decent, tasty but the real star of the show were the fried chicken and the lechón.

Man, oh man! That fried chicken was tender, juicy, crispy and packed of flavor! If I’m guessing correctly the coating has some turmeric in it, which added tot the flavor and texture.

Lechón was crispy, fatty (in a very good way) tender and meaty. Just like you would expect a good lechón would taste.

The platter comes with rice, salad and dipping sauces, being the spicy coconut lemongrass the best one of them. It’s absolutely delicious and something completely different. They should consider selling that dipping sauce, trust me I’ll be first in line.

Unfortunately, they’re couple of things that made me give this place only four stars.

Isn’t full pet friendly. Although you can sit outside with your dog; considering the weather in Sweden there won’t be too many days to do that. I hope they’d reconsider their pet policy in the future.

Even though we were satisfied with the service in general, our server was very friendly, we noticed that the servers couldn’t answer some of the questions about the menu, which in all fairness is the employer that should focus more on the training.

We also had to remind our server about our drinks and the place wasn’t that busy.

We got bit confused by the price of the shared platter. For the two appetizers and lechón would have paid 585sek but the server recommended us to go with the shared platter for two which had a cost of 690sek.

When you received the platter, you notice that it’s the same portions as the individual ones, with the only difference of one extra rice portion and one more dipping sauce, which in my opinion doesn’t justify the extra 100sek. Rice is one of the cheapest produce.

So that was a tad disappointing, you kinda feel overcharged for rice and sauce.

My recommendation is skip the shared platter and go individual.

Ube ice cream was also a let down. Not only did the consistency is grainy but it also had a lot of food coloring and unnecessarily over sweetened.

My teeth were purple (Ube doesn’t stain your teeth) and sensitive from all the sugar. Didn’t finished it. I hope the chefs revisit the recipe because it has so much potential if done correctly.

Despite of these minor inconveniences, I’d highly recommend this place. I’m thinking on going back and try their...

Kanto serves Filipino food that cures every Pinoy homesickness! The place offers a vibe that is definitely Manila - hospitality at its finest from the moment you walk in to the restaurant, the whole dining experience until the moment we left the place! Thank you! I felt like I was home while dining - Kanto definitely gave me that homey feeling.

My favorites were pork barbecue and lumpia! I also thought that the lechon sisig was rich and very much had authentic flavor! I appreciate that they have condiments on the table so you can make your own dip - banana ketchup, soy sauce, spiced vinegar and chili oil! You can adjust the food to your liking - make it a little more tangy or spicy. Also, DO NOT miss out on their ube cheesecake! Even people who are not into desserts will never not like it. It is worth every calorie!

Let us talk about drinks! This has got to be one of the best places in the country serving tropical drinks! An ubecolada that is reminiscent of a halo-halo - this is genius! I cannot choose a favorite among their cocktails because everything we tried were extremely good! If you can, try the ube colada, mangojito, manila sunrise and puny*ta! Each one was never too strong nor too weak - it was just the right amount of alcohol and you will surely appreciate the tropical flavors. If you drink for the taste, this is your place!

This pop-up is also famous not just for homesick overseas Filipino workers… Anyone who is in for an adventure surely has a place here. In a country with not so much exposure to different cuisines, Kanto offers a taste of the tropics - it is an experience worth checking out and worth coming back! Thank you again for a great...