Tinuno
If you want an authentic, highly Instagrammable dining experience at a more than reasonable price, go to Tinuno. Since 2015, this cozy Filipino restaurant near Sherbourne and Bloor has been serving traditional kamayan feasts, which are served on banana leaves without plates or utensils. (Yes, you eat with your hands, and it’s amazing.) At $15 per person for the basic kamayan — including grilled squid, tilapia, bangus (milkfish), mussels, barbecue pork belly, shrimp, eggplant, okra, mango salad, and unlimited garlic rice — it offers the absolute best value in Toronto. Seafood lovers, rejoice, Tinuno’s got you covered.

Although it’s on the smaller side, this homey restaurant can accommodate large groups for special occasions, but it doesn’t serve alcohol (that’s how it keeps its prices so low). At peak hours be sure to call ahead, because there’s often a crowd of people waiting outside for a table and walk-ins may be unsuccessful.

CASA Manila
CASA Manila is practically an institution in Toronto’s Filipino community. From casual dinners to big celebrations, this is one of the best places to go for homestyle Filipino cuisine. It’s also the place to go if you have any dietary restrictions.

Mila Nabor Cuachon, CEO and Creative Director, believes it’s important to offer an inclusive menu, especially in our culturally diverse city. That’s why CASA Manila gives Filipino food a 21st century update by trimming the fat, removing MSG, offering gluten-free and vegetarian options, and making every last sauce from scratch (they don’t even use sriracha). The menu — which is updated and enhanced every year — is fresh and delicious.

For those trying Filipino food for the first time, Mila suggests starting with the pork/chicken sisig (a sizzling meat dish), kare-kare (peanut oxtail beef stew), or the national dish — chicken adobo (because if an archipelago comprised of thousands of islands can agree on one national dish, you know it has to be good).

Lamesa Filipino Kitchen
On the trendier end of the spectrum is Lamesa, an acclaimed fusion restaurant responsible for introducing Filipino flavours to Toronto’s downtown. Located at Queen and Bathurst, Lamesa has been attracting everyone from foodies to families since 2012.

As a second-generation Filipino restaurant, Lamesa represents the evolution of Filipino cuisine. Bridging the traditional and the contemporary, standard dishes are enhanced with a close attention to their presentation and the addition of seasonal ingredients. In a more customary fashion, all meals are served with a fork and spoon (Filipinos hold the spoon in their dominant hand and use it to cut meat). For dinner, order à la carte or join them on a Sunday evening (from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.), for a kamayan feast priced at $40 per guest. On the weekend (from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) go to Lamesa for a fantastic brunch that includes classic breakfast items, like eggs benny, with a Filipino twist.

Dolly’s Mojito Bar & Panciteria
Dolly’s is a funky resto-bar in Bloordale that specializes in tasty Filipino mojitos and pancit (homemade noodles). Owner/chef Dave Sidhu named the restaurant after his Filipina mother as a tribute to the home cooked meals he grew up with — but the food isn’t strictly traditional.

Like Lamesa, Dolly’s wants to attract a wide audience and uses “Canadian terms” to make many of its menu items more recognizable. The longanisa cheeseburger is equivalent to a bacon cheeseburger, but it’s constructed with Filipino ingredients such as a toasted pandesal (bread roll) for the bun, strips of longanisa (Filipino sausage) instead of bacon, and banana ketchup to substitute the tomato variety. Other dishes on the menu, such as the pancit ginataang (spiralized butternut squash in coconut sauce), include some unexpected ingredients like kale, but the taste is distinctly Filipino — sweet and coconutty. Above all, you have to try one of the mojitos, which are naturally sweetened with fresh-pressed sugarcane juice and given apropos names such as the Filipino, Mestizo (a person of mixed race), and Hinebra (“gin”).

Platito
Platito occupies a trendy spot on Baldwin Street, and serves up classic Filipino “soul food” with a contemporary spin and vegetarian options. It has a tiny patio, so it’s a good idea to make a reservation if you want to sit outside.

The menu is divided into brunch, lunch, ulam (a dish served with rice), pulutan (appetizers eaten when drinking alcohol, literally “to pick up”), and dessert. In the evening, order shareable tapas-style dishes and pair it with a San Miguel beer to match the painted bottle found on the restaurant’s sprawling two-storey interior mural. Vegetarians can get the mushroom and tofu adobo, veggie lumpia (spring rolls), or pancit bihon (noodle with assorted vegetables). For a Filipino dessert that’s to die for, order the the ube waffle (ube is purple yam), which comes with ube ice cream and macapuno coconut. It’s seriously delicious.

Kanto by Tita Flips
Located in one of the retrofitted shipping containers in Market 707, Kanto by Tita Flips offers the best in Filipino street food. At lunch time, Kanto is one of the area’s busier takeout joints, as staff from the nearby Toronto Western Hospital flock there on their break. It’s obvious why. This award-winning food stand prepares fresh, satisfying meals from scratch that will run you less than $10 each. Crowd-pleasers include the sisig fries and lechon kawali (pan fried pork belly) — and you absolutely have to try the tapsilog (a Filipino breakfast of champions).

Chef/owner Diona Joyce (a.k.a. Tita Flips) started Kanto as a catering service a few years after she first arrived in Canada from the Philippines, and expanded it in 2012 to become the successful take-out stand it is now. Kanto is open Tuesday to Saturday.