In 2015, over 100 food establishments opened shop. This year will be no different — a new batch of foreign franchises will enter the local scene, new concepts will be introduced, while several food establishments will continue to branch out. Is your appetite ready for this?

Branching Out

Busting out of New York’s streets is The Halal Guys, which opened two shops in Manila during the last quarter of 2015. This year, we can expect four more to pop up, according to owner Chris Yam-Daez. The same goes for the Mothership’s Pink Panda and Sprout, which will undergo further expansion.

Our Spanish favorites — paella and churros — become more accessible as Century City Mall’s Arrozeria recently began operations of its second branch at the Bonifacio Global City. La Lola Churreria, after dominating the city, will start expanding all over Luzon and Visayas.

Longtime brands will also breed more shops. Amici can soon be found in the new restaurant row of SM City North EDSA; Cara Mia in Venice Grand Canal Mall and SM Southmall; Manam Comfort Filipino and Green Pastures in the soon-to-open Net Park at the Fort; LES Bagels in Podium; Raintree Restaurant Group’s Chelsea Kitchen and Saboten will join the gang in Estancia Mall; Brotzeit and Toby’s Estate at the Shangri-la Fort Hotel; Locavore in Fort; Kettle in Resorts World, and Tim Ho Wan, Ippudo and Fely J’s at the Fort’s latest hangout, Uptown Mall.

Osaka Ohsho will set up shop at The Block, bringing its gyozas closer to Quezon City residents, while Japanese bakery Kumori will open four new full stores: in SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, SM City Manila in Ermita and in Unimart Greenhills.

Three beloved restaurants from 2015 will expand fast with Coco Ichibanya branching out to Eastwood and the Burgos Circle, Le Petit Souffle at the bustling SM Fashion Hall, and the Fireside over at the PowerPlant Mall.
 

Foreign Franchise

Manila continues to be a popular food hub in Asia, and proof of which is the entry of international brands in the local arena. Joining the mix of dining establishments at Shangri-la Fort are the long awaited Pink’s Hotdog, American brasserie Sugar Factory, and celebrated Italian chef Davide Oldani’s restaurant, which will open around mid-year (fingers crossed).

Morganfields at the Uptown Mall in Fort recently opened and there’s already buzz about its old-fashioned barbecued pork ribs. And then there’s Wolfgang’s Steakhouse at the Newport Mall, which is now being handled by another company and not the SumoSam Group, as previously reported.

Happy Ongpauco-Tiu of Pamana and Tsokolateria Artisanal Cafe, which by the way will open in Tagaytay, will fly in a popular healthy gelato chain from Japan called Vito, around third quarter of 2016.

Another addition to the growing roster of dessert shops is the Dessert Kitchen from Hong Kong, which the Tuan Tuan Group will bring in.

Rikki Dee, who is responsible for setting up The Food Hall by Todd English in SM Aura, will be doing spinoffs of the restaurant, while Atelier Vivanda by Michelin-starred chef Akrame Benallal, will be brought in from Hong Kong by TV personality Grace Lee.

One of the big restaurant groups that will be extra busy this year is the Bistro Group, which will import American brands Texas Roadhouse, a legendary steakhouse; Denny’s, a family diner; and Moe’s Southwest Grill, offering Tex-Mex specialties.

New Concepts

Just recently opened at The Block in SM North EDSA is Rock & Seoul, a new fast casual concept where you can make your own bibimbap. People can also have fusion combinations like Bistek Bap, Pork Salpicao Bap, and American Breakfast Bap. There’s Alley at The Grove as well, a restaurant which does an artisanal take on classics.

The Shangri-La at the Fort will house some of the most anticipated establishments of the year, 15 in total and seven of which will be run by the esteemed hotel. There’s High Street Cafe, a modern food hall with nine uniquely designed live kitchens; High Street Lounge, which will carry a very extensive array of tea; Canton Road, which will offer southeastern and eastern Chinese cuisine; the Raging Bull Steakhouse and Raging Bull Burgers; Samba for healthy food inspired by the flavours of Spain and South America; and Limitless, a laid back lounge by day that transforms into an energetic club by night.

Robby Goco is currently scouting for a location and working with a French sommelier to come up with Odds, a restaurant that will serve nose-to-tail dishes. Also in the works for the busy chef is a yet unnamed Greek organic gyro joint.

Locavore’s Mikel Zaguirre will be busy this year with the opening of Taqueria 101 in Parañaque; Empingao!, a Latin American joint on P. Burgos, Makati; and Carnivale, a burger shop at the Conrad Hotel come April. And speaking of the Conrad, a Japanese teppanyaki, steak house, and a Korean restaurant are rumoured to also be housed in the hotel.

Happy Ongpauco-Tiu is collaborating with a fellow Filipino chef based in Singapore. His name is Edward Esmero of My Little Spanish Place and the promising tandem is concocting cochinillo dishes for their upcoming project.

Already starting construction in Bonifacio High Street is the team behind Hole-in-the-Wall and Wrong Ramen. The latest addition to its growing roster of establish-ments is Fowl Bread which will serve fried chicken sandwiches, noodles, dump-lings, and frozen cocktails.

Meanwhile, the Moment Group will set up Moplex, the company’s headquarters and central kitchen that can house private parties and events.

The Raintree Restaurant Group will continue to add players to Manila’s bustling F&B scene with Provedore (name not final yet) in SM Aura. Its food will be similar to Chelsea Grand Cafe and it will house a retail area selling local products. Also in the lineup are Chotto Matte, a sushi joint slash bar, and three new concepts in Boracay where it will set up the Coast Hotel in Station 2. There will be an all-day dining restaurant called Cha-cha’s, a game and bar lounge named the Coconut Club on the third floor game, and a beachfront parrilla food truck called Cafecito.

The Relish Group, which is responsible for bringing in Kumori Japanese Bakery and Wee Nam Kee, is opening two new food hall concepts. One is called Bird-house, which will specialize in Asian fried chicken, and the other is Seoul Station, which will serve Korean fare. Both restaurants will be situated at Uptown Place Mall in BGC. It will also launch Gyoza Bar by Osaka Ohsho to be located at the Food Choices in Glorietta. It will allow diners to customize their own bento sets, with specialty gyoza flavors like bacon and cheese, kimchi, and Japanese curry.

A variety of cuisines will be made more available to people this year. There’s Mexican care of Gringo in SM Megamall, Thai via Madame Ginger in Shangri-la Mall, and Roll’d, a Vietnamese fast food concept by the Cravings Group. The guys from Borough, Skull and Bones, and The Bowery, will open Lucky Chick, a restaurant similar to Pies ’n Thighs or Amy Ruth’s in the US, offering southern fried chicken.

While Bryan Tiu of Peri-Peri Chicken and Wafu is working on setting up Ichiba, a Japanese market, and a promising tie up with a Hokkaido-based company pro-ducing delectable cheese tarts.

The Tasteless Group, which got busy in 2015 with the opening of Le Petit Souffle, Garde Manger and Scout’s Honor Craft Cookies, will find itself no different this year with a bunch of projects in the pipeline. There’s Milk Trade, a Hong Kong-style milk and egg pudding shop in Century City Mall; Freezer Burn, a vintage diner cafe in Bonifacio High Street selling ice cream paired with hot desserts; Serious Dough, which will serve Italian, Sicilian and Neapolitana-style pizzas in Hole-in-the-Wall; a yet unnamed Japanese-American bistro in SM Aura to be spearheaded by chefs Noel Mauricio and Him Uy de Baron; and a super affordable American diner breakfast joint by chefs Miko Aspiras and Kristine Lotilla in Eastwood Mall.

Time to loosen those belts as we have got a lot of eating to do this year.

This article was republished with permission from TasteandCo.ph