Best of ZamBaSulTa: Southern Mindanao cuisine takes spot at all-Filipino food hall

MANILA, Philippines — Palm Grill, the restaurant that offers authentic Southern Mindanaoan cuisine, opened its first mall concept outlet and its second branch at the Palenque, the only all-Filipino food hall in the newly-opened Gateway Mall 2 in Araneta City.

Like a marketplace, Palenque offers flowers, grains, fruits, kakanin (rice cakes) and coffee in stalls around the enclosure.

"It took eight months for us to complete the entire concept of Southern Mindanao — Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (ZamBaSulTa) — as our way of introducing the region to Metro Manila diners. The ceiling approximates those of Badjao stilt houses, the walls reflect the many colors of a vinta's sail, as well as the kite mural from visual artist Rameer Tawasil.

"Chef Claude Tayag invited Palm Grill to be part of Palenque's food showcase and complete the gustatory experience from Luzon to Mindanao. Coconut milk is the base of all ZamBaSulTa dishes. Tausugs include burnt coconut in their food, both as flavor enhancer and as preservative," shared proprietor Miguel Cabel Moreno in an interview with Philstar.com.

During the launch, attendees sampled some of the best dishes from Southern Mindanao. Aside from this author's fave, Ensaladang Talong, guests partook of Tiyula Itum, a savory soup dish cooked like Bulalo but made mildly spicy with the inclusion of lemon grass, ginger, turmeric and burnt coconut.

"While both our restaurants are casual dining experiences, the Palenque outlet is more of a fast food set up while the Tomas Morato resto offers diners a theatrical-like burning of the bone marrow and the serving of food in a tutup (plate cover)," Moreno continued.

Then there was the Pianggang Manok, chicken simmered in coconut milk and burnt coconut. This dish is prepared like how the Bicolanos cook Laing. Another meat dish was the Beef Kulma, curried beef meat cooked with diced potatoes. Diners would observe that the dishes look familiar but tastes differently than how they think they would.

"Palm Grill is an all-sensory experience of Southern Mindanao. That's what we're here for — to give foodies a sense of taste and place of the exotic ZamBaSulTa region. This is not just a business