ASEAN FOOD FESTIVAL is a weekend food fair highlighting the exotic flavors of the Spice Route. Discover the most celebrated dishes from fellow ASEAN countries- Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos and of course the Philippines.
Find the countries most talented chefs Tatung Sarthou, Rob Pengson, Claude Tayag, Vince Garcia, Vincent Veluz and Gene Gonzales reinterpret these dishes through their palette and travels.
The food fair held at Vertis North open parking will be selling your favorite ASEAN dishes, street food, and product from different regions of the country.
ASEAN FOOD FESTIVAL
Ayala Malls Vertis North (Near Trinoma)
Facebook: AyalaMalls360
Schedule: May 11-12 (5pm-2am),
May 13 (4pm-2am), May 14 (4pm-12am)
The ASEAN Food Festival is held at Ayala Malls Vertis North open parking lot. (Parking is free)
Entrance to the Festival is P50 which includes water or soda.
Picnic tables are available throughout the venue.
The four-day food festival is accompanied by indie faves Reese Lansangan, Franco, rock band SUD and DJ’s to keep the beat going.
Vince Garcia from Rainforest Kitchen brings the Kapampangan sisig to the venue. With the classic way of cooking using pork cheeks and ears, onion, calamansi, and the optional chili. Boiled then grilled to get that smoky flavor like Aling Lucing’s.
A generous serving of sisig for P175!
Chef Tatung Sarthou’s Malaysian and Singaporean favorites with dishes found in both two different countries the samosa stuffed with vegetables and mushroom, Peking duck laksa and chicken satay with peanut sauce.
The traditional flavors of Malaysia and Singapore picks up flavors from all their nearby influences- Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Malaysian.
Peking Duck Laksa (P150), Samosa (P110), Chicken Satay (2 pcs P120)
Malaysia’s Beef Rendang (P250 good for two), Lobster and Scallops balls (3PCS P100), Chicken curry (P280- good for two).
Zamboanga City’s famous Alavar Seafood Restaurant! Order their steamed curacha smothered in Alavar’s secret sauce.
The secret sauce is their trademark recipe that goes well with any seafood dish. It’s coconut based and finger licking good. (Curacha with Alavar sauce -P800 good for four people)
Imus longganisa from Cavite is distinct for its savory adobo flavor! Invented in the 1950’s, their longanissa is characterised to be bigger, with lots of garlic, fresh ground pepper, less fat and no preservatives!
(Meal P100), (1 pack P200) 3 pcs Imus Longganisa, rice, salted egg, tomato cucumber, atchara papaya, and vinegar.
Chef Rob Pengson, take on Brunei and Cambodia while combining Filipino fusion. His easy to eat dishes focus on two main ingredients: sambal and chili.
His sambal creation is a mix of local bagoong, fish sauce, and chili.
For Brunei, he made a taco using chicken longanissa, sambal sauce, cilantro, herbs and a soft taco shell. For Cambodia, tamarind glazed pork belly, with cilantro, aioli on top of a taco shell paired with chips and vodka ice tea.
Nasi Goreng Kampung (P150), Roti Canai (P80) and Teh Tarik (P30)
Bale Datung by Claude Tayag’s triangulo spinach (P200) with tinapa and pili nuts, Sisig cups (P200)…
… and lechon taco with shredded pork belly, onions, tomato and kimchi.
Thai green curry (P180), Vietnamese fresh spring roll (P75) with vinaigrette sauce and peanut sauce and bhan mi (P125).
Laos and Myanmar by Chef Gene Gonzales Tam Sung with Sticky Rice (P150), Burmese Wedding Curry with Blue Rice (P130) and Mohingar (P80)
The national dish of Myanmar is the mohinga, a fish base soup with noodles.
Okonimiyaki by Seda hotel is a Japanese pancake filled with scallops, shrimps, okonomiyaki flour, mayonnaise and pickled ginger. (P100)
QC’s Best Chicken and Pork Adobo (P200)
Favorite claasic pinoy adobo marinated until tender and juicy.
Find products from Antipolo, Cainta, Jala-jala and the entire province of Rizal.
Cashew nuts, cashew butter, Jala-jala salted egg, salted egg-puree, polvoron, atchara, halaya ube and rellyenong bangus.
Tskolate batirol now made easy as instant batirol.
Cebu’s best special chicharon w/ laman (medium P100, large P200)
From Pangasinan get a bag of Puto Calasiao from Pinay Decena’s Puto (P50)! Purely made of rice, the bite-size treat is chewy, moist and not that sweet.
Siglo from Tagaytay take on pastel using bulalo which in a favorite dish in Tagaytay instead of chicken. (Ensai Burger P95, Bulalo Pastel P75, Pande Inasal P85)
From the MIMOROPA region (Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Palawan). Get the cashews from Palawan they are whole nuts that’s very creamy.
Arrowroot cookies are the most popular pasalubong from Marinduque made from a root crop that grows on the island. It’s mildy sweet and has a nice crunch.
Estancia de Lorenzo- Whole duck Ham on Special Sauce P1199, Lechon de Leche (100g) (P99), Sizzling Balut and Penoy (P159), Salty Sweet Potato (P169), Duck Tortilla Wrap (P149).
Empanada and Ilocos longganisa
The food fair won’t be complete without your classic street food!
Find a good meal and discover exciting flavors this weekend at the ASEAN Food Festival this May 11-14 at Vertis North!
Congratulations to Ayala and Department of Tourism for this successful event!
Live an Awesome Life,

ABI of Team Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: We were media guests at the ASEAN Food Festival. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.