This New Filipino Restaurant Doesn’t Serve Sinigang, Kare-Kare or Adobo

Like many people, Angelo Comsti and Don Baldosano’s friendship started with food. Chef, author, and food journalist Comsti connected with young chef Baldosano not just over typical Filipino fare, but through regional cuisine that’s not exactly mainstream. They would spend Sundays with friends just hanging out and shooting the breeze, always over food and drinks. 

Offbeat's interiors reflect a fun, vibrant ambiance

The two also went on road trips and eating excursions to far-flung cities and provinces in the country, absorbing the way locals put ingredients together to create dishes specific to those areas. Those trips eventually became the basis for a new concept that came together fairly recently. When a space opened up at the upscale Ayala Triangle Gardens right smack in the middle of Makati’s commercial district, the pair pitched their idea to the powers that be. After a few months of conceptualization, design ideation, and menu planning, Offbeat was born. 

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The name itself is something of a puzzler. A decidedly Filipino restaurant with an unexpected, slightly off-kilter name may be unusual, but Comsti says it’s not a word they just pulled out of thin air. They wanted to capture a feeling, a vibe, not to mention their own personal idiosyncrasies in the food that they serve.

The shelf behind the bar at Offbeat

And so the sign in huge red letters with the two Fs facing the other way went up over the restaurant’s doors. It’s hard to miss, and you’d be forgiven for initially thinking it’s a store that sells knick-knacks and other sundries. But the chairs and tables enveloped in bright red walls, a bar, and an open kitchen, not to mention attentive waitstaff that will press the menu into your hands as they lead you to your seat, will get your appetite going in no time. 

It's important to note that the minds behind Offbeat are no strangers to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Baldosano earned his stripes with the private dining favorite Linamnam in Parañaque as well as the natural wine bar Bombvinos Bodega. Comsti, meanwhile, has sampled countless dishes as a food writer for various titles, including Esquire Philippines. He has also written numerous cookbooks and has also become proprietor of a couple of other dining establishments over the years. Offbeat, then, is a clear attempt to offer something unique to Manila’s diners, the most fastidious of whom are always ready to try something new.

"We want you to sit down, taste something new, but feel like it’s familiar," Comsti says about Offbeat. "You're not guessing the whole time. It’s not intimidating. It's just a different part of Filipino food that we don't get to celebrate enough."

Indeed, the dishes in the menu will only seem familiar if you grew up eating these dishes yourself. There's Monghe, a holiday staple from the Pasig-Rizal area that's like a Filipino meatloaf—except here, it’s given a crunchier texture thanks to a Panko breading and served with a sharp, umami-packed toyo-mansi sauce.

There’s Kilayin from Pampanga, which isn’t your typical vinegar-heavy pork dish, but a more caramelized, pork-and-liver version that sits somewhere between adobo and bopis. Isda con Mayonesa, might turn off some people, but it should hit the spot for those who like their fish torched and served with patis mayonnaise. Even pansit lovers will furrow their brows at the Ginataang Pansit, which is burnt coconut and pancit bato tossed in coconut milk with clams and chili-garlic coconut sauce.

Chef and co-owner Don Baldosano

There are other standouts in the menu—Lumpiang Kulawo (torched eggplant, bean sprouts, and sayote wrapped spring rool-style), Pompano Pinangat (fish wrapped in hoja santos leaves from Bacolod), and Lecho De Crajay (deep fried pork belly with a mushroom sauce and papaya atchara)—which are all guaranteed to test the culinary knowledge of even the most fervent of Filipino cuisine loyalists. No, there isn’t sinigang, kare-kare, or adobo here. 

Chef and co-owner Angelo Comsti

If you find yourself in the area during cocktail hour, treat yourself to Offbeat’s special concoctions, including Icy Gems (gin, soda water, beetroot foam and liquified Marie biscuits) and Marang Spritz (gin, lemon, soda water, and yes, the marang fruit).

The experience is punctuated by classic Filipino disco, Manila Sound-era tunes, which completes the whole “modern retro” vibe (although the giant wooden spoon and fork hanging on one wall, a staple in many Filipino households, does the job just as well).

Bibingka

Offbeat certainly lives up to the name, but don’t call what Baldosano and Comsti are doing an attempt to “elevate” traditional Filipino cuisine. (The word has lost all meaning at this point). No, Offbeat isn’t about elevating anything, rather, it’s about remembering—and reintroducing—flavors and ingredients that many of us have almost forgotten for one reason or another.