Lore Manila is a Filipino Fine Dining restaurant by Chef Tatung in partnership with Jackson Go of The Vikings Group and George Pua of Rico’s Lechon and the former George Town Super Steak. It’s a mainstream fine dining restaurant located in one of the prestigious malls, One Boni High in BGC. It showcases authentic Filipino food in modern presentation without losing its taste and heritage story.
I was amazed at how they were able to successfully execute the concept with the combined award-winning talents of the collaborators, the supply chain leverage, and years of restaurant experience that include surviving the pandemic years.
The dining experience is based on 5, 7 or 10 courses with wine and cocktail pairing. There’s no a la carte so that you can experience the different flavors through a progression of stories.
And the frequently asked question—Is the 10-Course Worth It?
About Lore BGC
LORE is a contemporary Filipino Fine Dining Restaurant located at the heart of Bonifacio Global City. LORE goes deep into the narrative of Philippine cuisine, connecting its roots with contemporary expression.
LORE MANILA
Fine dining restaurant located on the 3rd Level, One Bonifacio High Street Mall BGC
Open daily Lunch 11am-3pm, Dinner 6pm-11pm
📞 +63 977-804-9888/ +632 8804-4739
FB: Lore Manila
IG: @lore.manila
🌏 https://www.vikings.ph/lore-manila
A celebration of interwoven flavors across all generations.
10 Course ₱4,800/person
Wine Pairing – Additional ₱1,600/head (4 kinds of wine)
Lore BGC Dinner Menu:
· 5-Course (Option 1) – ₱2,600/person or (Option 2) – ₱2,600/person
· 7-Course (Feasting Menu) – ₱3,600/person (Pescatarian Menu) – ₱4,000/person
· 10-Course (Tapestry) ₱4,800/person
· Mocktails, Signature Cocktails, Beer, Wine List
10-Course Tapestry Menu
This signature 10-course menu takes you to different Filipino cuisines across different heritage, location and time based on the culinary influences of Chef Tatung.
Chicken galantine with raisin jam, chicken liver pate, calamansi mustard, and tinapa butter served with homemade bread
The pandesal course was served with modern takes on the palaman. Cut the pandesal open; best to mix and match the flavors. Our favorite was the raisin jam with the chicken liver pate with added calamansi for an asim kick.
Rum with ginger, lime and peach soda
House Blend Ginger Tea (₱280)
Ginger Tea with Lemon and Pandan
They have more elaborate Filipino cocktail concoctions, but we enjoyed the simple ones with ginger. Tried the Sarimanok that tasted like Chinese Medicine and the Halimuyak, jasmine tea infused gin with dalandan and strawberry.
A taste of the sea. Raw tuna and sea urchin with pickled pineapple and sweet potato strings
A spoonful of umami from the urchin and raw tuna plus refreshing sweetness from the pineapple—one of our favorites to kick-off the 10-course degustation menu. The string kamote fries were also quite addicting.
A trip to China town. Fried prawn stuffed sausage wrapped in caul fat infused with 5 spice served with childhood favorite candy, haw flakes made into a sauce.
Literally brings you to Binondo with Chinese sausage stuffed with fried prawn and 5 spice and evokes Filipino childhood memories with the haw flakes sauce.
I guess foreigners might find this delicious but they won’t be able to relate, so it would be nice to provide a photo of Binondo or a sample haw flake hostia.
Shrimp, crabmeat and turnip peeking through a tender blanket of squid ink crepe served with a white garlic sauce and dots of cilantro gel
Fresh lumpia served deconstructed with sautéed shrimp, squid, crab meat with white radish and singkamas in a peak-a-boo manner under a blanket of squid ink crepe. The sweet garlic sauce, based on a Cebuano recipe, was a bit too sweet for our taste but can be balanced with the cilantro gel.
A taste of old Pampanga. Smoked Hamachi and seared scallops served with a green puree made with spinach, green tomatoes and almonds.
This house-smoked hamachi and seared scallops course, served with green salsa made from blanched peanuts and roasted green tomatoes, was a bit maasim. This seafood course, based on the turn of the century pre-american recipe, was not too heavy and refreshingly different. There was mixed reaction though on the maasim taste.
Duo of duck, served with a Table infused sauce with a side of grilled corn salsa. Chocolate was used as a savory ingredient in the Philippines as early as the 15th century.
Slow roasted duck legs shredded and pan seared duck breasts cooked medium with grilled corn salsa, chocolate sauce, and sweet kamote puree. Enjoyed how the duck was cooked just right and appreciated the good portions to make the price of the tasting menu sulit.
Our fruits of the season transformed into refreshing sorbet to cleanse the palate
Refreshing and fruity to cleanse and get your palate ready for the next dishes.
Christmas on a plate. Coconut infused Adlai grains topped with homemade jamon de Bulacan and seared foie gras and garnished with clam foam.
This was our favorite, maybe the most elaborate of the courses and perfect for the Christmas season. Pampanga’s bringhe made healthy using Adlai infused with coconut and mixed with suveed corn, with umami from the foie gras, clam foam with clam bits, and Jamon de Bulacan.
Slow braised short-ribs in black and white coconut sauces served with pickled eggplants. The Tausug-style black sauce is made by burning the coconut into charcoal and blending with aromatic spices
A Chef Tatung signature, the Tausug burnt coconut sauce was served with black and white contrast with pickled eggplant to cut through the creaminess. Loved the presentation and the contrast, but it was nothing new if you’ve tried Chef Tatung’s food over the years.
Cloud-like sponge cake drenched in tres leches and served with flambeed mango, lemon sabayon and homemade vanilla ice cream.
The dessert course was flambeed and constructed table-side for added drama. I loved the different textures and flavors of fruitiness from the mango and the tres leches cake to end the 10-course menu with a satisfying finish.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, this is one of the Best Filipino-themed 10-Course Degustations in Manila featuring Filipino food with contemporary presentation but without losing the taste or heritage flavor of the dish. The 10-Course menu is sulit with 7 savory courses plus 1 bread course, 1 palate course and 1 dessert course.
Our favorite courses are the Cameron Relyeno, Pato con Sarsa Tsokolate, Bringhe and Moros Y Kristianos which are also featured in 5-Course (Option 2) and the 7-Course (Option 1). The courses are not one-bite portions, each with satisfying bites but still designed such that you are not full by the end of the 10 courses.
Make sure to reserve the booth tables which are the best ones for a romantic celebration or reunion date with friends. The location is inside the mall which is ironic for a high end dining destination but it is centrally convenient in the competitive BGC dining scene. Also for a Vikings group known for its buffets, they were able to transcend this and offer a fine dining experience that we Filipinos can be proud of, and share with balikbayan or foreign guests.
Congrats to Chef Tatung, Jackson Go, and George Pua for a very successful collaboration!!
LORE MANILA
Fine dining restaurant located on the 3rd Level, One Bonifacio High Street Mall BGC
Open daily Lunch 11am-3pm, Dinner 6pm-11pm
📞 +63 977-804-9888/ +632 8804-4739
FB: Lore Manila
IG: @lore.manila
🌏 https://www.vikings.ph/lore-manila
Live an Awesome Life with Christ,
Founder & Digital Creator, Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: Thank you to Chef Tatung for the Lore BGC Experience. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
P.S. Yugi loved the food, and the courses were approachable and kid-friendly.
