Everything You Wanted to Ask About Filipino Food

Filipino cuisine brings together indigenous traditions and centuries of regional and international influence. Expect grilled meats, rich stews, noodles, seafood, rice, sharp citrus, vinegar, garlic and a distinctive balance of savoury, sour and sweet flavours.

Sour, salty, sweet and smoky, usually in the same meal and often on the same plate. Vinegar, soy, garlic and citrus do most of the heavy lifting, balanced by rice. It is bold without being fiery, and comforting rather than delicate.

Not all Filipino food is hot. Many dishes focus more on savoury, sour, sweet and smoky flavours. Mark genuinely spicy dishes on the menu and let guests know where heat can be adjusted.

Filipino cooking shares noodle and dumpling traditions with China and a rice-and-seafood backbone with its neighbours, but it leans on vinegar and citrus where Thai cooking leans on chilli, lemongrass and coconut. Three centuries of Spanish rule also left their mark, from adobo to leche flan.

Adobo is the closest thing the Philippines has to a national dish: meat braised in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and bay until it is tender and glossy. Every family makes it slightly differently, and every family is convinced theirs is correct.

Sisig is chopped pork, traditionally from the head and cheek, cooked until crisp then finished with onion, chilli and citrus and served sizzling. It started in Pampanga as a way to waste nothing and became the most ordered dish in the country's beer houses.

Pancit is the Filipino family of noodle dishes, stir-fried with vegetables, meat or seafood and finished with calamansi. It is traditionally served at birthdays, where the long noodles stand for long life.

Halo-halo means mix-mix. It is a layered dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, sweet beans, jellies, fruit and often ube or leche flan, served in a tall glass and eaten by stirring everything together.

Kamayan means eating with your hands, the traditional way of sharing a Filipino meal. Rice is gathered with the fingers and eaten alongside grilled meat, fish and sauces. It is informal, sociable and entirely optional.

A boodle fight is a communal Filipino feast, traditionally arranged over banana leaves for the whole table to share. It is informal, abundant and ideal for groups and celebrations. How the boodle fight works →

It comes from the Philippine military, where officers and enlisted soldiers ate the same food from the same table with no rank, no cutlery and no queue. The name stuck, and the format moved out of the mess hall and into family celebrations.

No. Eating by hand is part of the Filipino kamayan tradition and guests are welcome to join in, but cutlery is always available.

It is arguably the best introduction, because you taste a spread rather than committing to one dish. Grilled meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and sauces arrive together, so a table of first-timers can work out what they love without ordering blind.

Yes. The full menu is on the site, including sharing plates, grills, sambals and desserts, with dietary markers against each dish. View the menu →

We sit in the mid range, and portions are built for sharing rather than for one. Current prices for every dish are listed on the menu. See prices on the menu →

Send the details through the group bookings page — party size, date, occasion and any dietary needs — and we will come back to you with formats and timings. Send a group enquiry →

Boodle Fight is at 1421 Pershore Road, Stirchley, Birmingham, B30 2JL, on the main high street run through Stirchley. Directions and opening hours →

Bournville station on the Cross-City Line is roughly a ten minute walk away, which puts us a few stops from Birmingham New Street, University and Selly Oak.

The 45 and 47 run along Pershore Road between the city centre and Cotteridge, and the 11A and 11C Outer Circle services pass through Stirchley.