Toyo Eatery reopens with refreshed space and new menus after three-month hiatus
Since it opened in 2016, Toyo Eatery has been on an upward trajectory—from opening a now beloved panaderya and hosting multiple pop-ups to doing one-off dinners with internationally acclaimed chefs and receiving accolades, including the best Philippine restaurant recognition bestowed by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. They have been at it nonstop, which is why last April, owners Jordy and May Navarra decided it was time to take a much needed three-month hiatus to recalibrate and give both customers and their own staff something to look forward to—including a better working environment.
“There were a lot of things that needed restoring and upgrading, such as exhaust, plumbing, the airconditioning and the restroom, among many others, and so we took this time to look into how we could improve the flow of the kitchen, and also how to better utilize the restaurant spaces, not just for our guests, but for everyone in Toyo,” says May.
It wasn’t a total facelift that they were after, though. It wasn’t their intention to do an overhaul and come out with an entirely new establishment. They still wanted to retain the vibe Toyo’s legions of followers have enjoyed over the years.
“When you step inside, it still feels like the same restaurant, with a few noticeable changes peppered around the space,” she adds. “We always tell our regular guests that we are focused more on the ‘boring, but essential operational things,’ and kept the guest space downstairs the same, then added another private dining room upstairs.”
The kitchen was also extended, giving it more room to breathe, and the pastry team now has its own enclosed area. It’s the same old Toyo Eatery we have all come to love, only with a more dignified style.
‘Kamayan’
June 28 was when the restaurant started welcoming guests again, and along with the fixes came two new menus. First was the kamayan, where diners are asked to eat with their bare hands. It was followed by the degustacion days after. Customers who choose the former are asked to come in at 6 p.m.; for the tasting menu, they are let in at a later time.
“Having that time away from the restaurant gave us the chance to really think about how we wanted to approach this style of Filipino dining,” says Jordy. “We had time to conceptualize new dishes as well as revisit ideas that haven’t been fully realized, and work them into a brand-new tasting menu.”
The kamayan starts off the way an everyday inuman would—with a tagay of drinks poured from a single bottle along with snacks in the form of steamed corn and peanuts from Davao. Then comes the meatier fare, which is brought out in batches per table and laid out on banana leaves—kinilaw na tanigue, halabos na hipon, fried oyster with keso, inihaw na pusit at baboy, prinitong pata, hinog na mangga at bagoong, along with pandan rice and two kinds of ensalada, lato and labanos. It is capped with three desserts: halo-halo, grilled cassava cake, and dulce patis bonbon.
“It’s our way of providing something fun and casual in our setting, but still having high quality ingredients and food technique, as well as providing the best hospitality,” says May of this more playful format. She confesses that it was tricky at the start, but their pop-ups during their break (Orosa at Balmori Suites and Papi Jepe at Karrivin) helped the staff adapt to the changes, while maintaining their kitchen and hospitality practices.
‘Degustacion’Toyo’s degustacion, much like before, presents Filipino flavors and ingredients in a totally new and enriching light. The only difference now, and which I totally appreciate, is the show-and-tell part where their naturally amiable servers acquaint guests to the multiple produce and condiments they use such as asin duldul and tibuok. It is something they have done before but not to this extent.
The multi-course menu features three kinds of kinilaw using tanigue, tuna and talaba; a soybean and tomato number studded with morsels of grilled mushroom; a delicious log of crab meat held together by coconut milk and crab fat and liberally crowned with fried shallots; kakigori with corn custard showered with brown butter polvoron; sweet potato dipped in balicucha; and leche flan ice cream seasoned with artisanal salt.
We can expect a lot more new offerings from the busy team of Toyo in the coming weeks, including several collaborations and renovations for their panaderya. They also have a new concept in the pipeline.
The Navarras are not done showing the aces up their sleeves.
Toyo Eatery is at The Alley at Karrivin, Karrivin Plaza, 1231 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati; tel. no. (0917) 720-8630.Follow the author at @fooddudeph on Instagram.
Angelo Comsti writes the Inquirer Lifestyle column Tall Order. He was editor of F&B Report magazine.
