Filipino cuisine has a lot of Spanish influences. Filipino food depends more on garlic, onions and ginger to add flavor to dishes. Painstaking preparation and prolonged cooking time is also a characteristic of most Filipino dishes, and when done properly is often what brings out the flavor of the food, as opposed to a healthy dose of spices. As with the rest of Southeast Asia, rice is the staple food of the Philippines. To experience how the Filipinos eat in a budget way, carinderias (eateries) and turo-turo (literally “point-point”, buffet-style restaurants where you choose the food to be served to you) are some of the options. Mains cost less than ₱50. Carinderias serve food cooked earlier and it may not always be the safest of options. You’ll be hard pressed to find a mall without the requisite American fast food chains.
Attributions for Photographs:
Phantomsea2005 [Public domain]
Ace Morandante for the Presidential Communications Operations Office [Public domain]
Adrian Biblanias (Wikipedia Takes Manila participant) [CC BY-SA (
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CRESPO-AZORIN [Public domain]
Eat Bulaga [CC BY (
EUTification [CC BY-SA (
FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands [CC BY (
Jaafgie at English Wikipedia [CC BY (
Jamesbucu77 [CC BY-SA (
Judgefloro [CC0]
KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO [Public domain]
Migsmigss [CC BY-SA (
Patrickroque01 at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA ( [CC BY-SA (
Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas
Ramon FVelasquez [CC0]
Rosengurtt [CC BY-SA (
stevepb [CC BY-SA (