Restaurants In The PhilippinesIn the Philippines, people would eat five times a day, two in the morning (breakfast and early snacks), one during lunch, another snack in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening. Some even extend this habit by taking midnight snacks, and munching light snacks in between the day. This is the reason why restaurants are good business opportunities anywhere in the Philippines. Because Filipinos are always willing to try something new, foreign brand names find less difficulty introducing their food items to the Filipinos, though they may have to adapt their recipes to the local taste, and even come up with menu items that cater exclusively to Filipinos.
Eating and merry-making are a significant part of the Filipino culture. Known for their close family ties, Filipinos enjoy dining out with the entire family. Family gatherings like birthday celebrations, wedding receptions, and family reunions are often celebrated in restaurants. Friends and business associates discuss matters while having their coffee at a nearby café. In the good old days, scrumptious Filipino cuisine was prepared by housewives using the recipe she learned from her mother or an aunt and she would intend to pass onto the next generation. At present however, a decent meal may mean going to the family's favorite restaurant, perhaps due to the fast-paced lifestyle of the modern Pinoy and the new role of the wives as additional financial provider. In the 70s, Filipino restaurants mushroomed all over Metro Manila, catering to the Filipino's craving for home-cooked food. Many of these restaurants still exists today, while others even ballooned into huge chain of restaurants. They offer a variety of food of different culture and ethnic groups. One of the most popular family restaurants is Kamayan which opened in 1977. Kamayan means "eating using the hand". Kamay means "hand". In Kamayan, spoons and forks are available (upon request), but using the hands in eating is easier especially if you order seafood like crabs and prawn which have shells that you still have to remove. Reasonably called the "The Philippines' Most Popular Restaurant", The Aristocrat was the epitome of Filipino dining at its best, with its native motif and authentic Filipino food. Its menu includes traditional fare like crispy pata, caldereta, sinigang, dinuguan and adobo. Its house specialty, the Honey-cured chicken barbecue, has been a favorite of generations of Filipinos. During the late 70s, American fast-food restaurant chain giants slowly penetrated the Philippine market starting with the Mc Donald's entry in 1978. At present, fast food joints have a greater share in the food industry. Fast-food restaurants are common in business districts where people who are always on-the-go troop to these outlets and get a quick bite. In busy cities, competing restaurants are a stone's throw away from one another, sometimes located right in front or beside each other. The leading foreign brands include Mc Donald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Shakey's, KFC and Starbucks while top homegrown brands include Jollibee, Max's, Greenwich, Chowking, Goldilocks and Pancake House. With the seemingly unending desire for food of the Filipinos, setting up a restaurant business is a sure-fire undertaking. |