MANILA’S BEST: My Votes for Manila’s Best Restaurants in 2014!

Read the 2014 winners here:  MANILA’S BEST 2014: And the Best Restaurants in Manila are…

What you need to know about Manila’s Best Awards:

It all started one night in 2006 when Inés and Elian decide over dinner at a hidden restaurant in Alabang that the city needed a beautifully laid-out coffee table book featuring Manila’s most loved restaurants. Two years later, their dream became a reality, and their book Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets a success.

On their book tour at various restaurants and bookstores, they were struck by the number of times they were asked this singular question: “which is the best restaurant?” Confident there must be a way to arrive at a satisfactory answer, they surveyed restaurant industry leaders they met in the process of writing their book, and concluded that an Oscars-style awards event may very well be what the city needs.

The rest is history. This year, Manila celebrates its fourth MBKRS Awards (a.k.a Manila’s Best 2014), recognizing excellence in the city’s dining scene. “It’s an awards show of the industry, by the industry, for the industry,” says Elian, who along with his wife Inés manage the growing Chihuahua group of restaurants.

There are some ground rules, however.

• First, reigning champs do not compete this year. They sit this one out. They will be eligible again in 2016.
• Second, MANILA’S BEST is all about homegrown restaurants. International concepts and restaurant brands are not eligible for nomination.
• Third, except for Manila’s Best Newcomer, restaurants may only be nominated for one award category.

What’s new this year? Some new award categories such as

• Manila’s Best Mexican Restaurant (from which Chihuahua naturally recuses itself),
• Manila’s Best Modern Casual Dining (replacing Best Bistro),
• Manila’s Best Pizza,
• Manila’s Best Bar (replacing Best Restaurant/Bar),
• Manila’s Best Nightclub, and
• Manila’s Best Coffee Shop.

What’s also new is Manila’s dynamic restaurant industry, which seems to be in the midst of a culinary revolution, with innumerable new restaurant concepts, foods, and talent. With foodies becoming the norm, rather than the exception, and technological advances making it possible for people to share information like never before, there’s one burning question on everyone’s mind: who is Manila’s Best?

 

AND THE NOMINEES ARE (and my votes ✮)…

Manila’s Best Italian Restaurant:

• Carpaccio Italian Dining
• Caruso Ristorante Italiano ✮
• Cibo
• L’Opera
• My Kitchen by Chef Chris

2012 winner: Va Bene Pasta Deli