What happened at Off Menu 2026? Your look inside Tatler Dining’s food and cocktail festival

Around shared tables, laughter travelled easily between groups. Guests compared dishes, exchanged recommendations and struck up new conversations over cocktails, creating the kind of connections that have become an essential part of the Off Menu experience.

From Raging Bull Chophouse & Bar, chef Loïc Brun prepared a tender 36-hour slow-braised beef short rib with creamy raifort foam, smoked pickled shallots and Raging Bull bourbon jus, paired with The Grasshopper Bar’s ‘Got the Goods’ cocktail, made by Abby Quilal-lan. The rich, meaty dish was brightened with Malfy Originale gin, honey-infused gamet, green grape verjus and a juicy soursop foam.

‘Oyster & Wagyu’ was a creative pairing by chefs Rodrigo Osorio and Chele González, featuring a plump Gallagher oyster, cava-yuzu espuma, fennel and green apple, served alongside crispy pork trotters, Wagyu tartare and wood-fired bell peppers. This was paired with The Back Room’s ‘Smoked in Secret’ cocktail by Yllaine Payno, made with The Glenlivet 12-year-old whisky fat-washed in beef oil, lemon, honey, pear liqueur, tomato juice, saline solution, black pepper tincture and a smoked rosemary sprig.

‘Kasama sa New Manila’ was a dish and cocktail concocted by chef JP Cruz of Inatô and bartender Cedric Mendoza of Recraft. ‘Kasama’ featured succulent apahap with kampot pepper, aligue sauce, soybean skin, atcharang smoked tomato and malunggay, while Mendoza’s tipple, ‘New Manila’, was fashioned with Jameson whiskey, curry leaf, calamansi, pandan and zingy ginger beer.

Tatler Best New Restaurant 2026, Celera, teamed up with our Best New Bar, Problem Child. Chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar developed ‘Green’, a leek tostada with herbaceous duck keluak and kerabu ulam. Bartender Kevin Corrales crafted ‘Two•Three’ to pair with the tostada, a cocktail made with Código Blanco tequila, charred bell pepper, green tomato, Celera’s signature mole and soda water.

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The charming Josh Boutwood of Helm prepared refreshing raw tuna, lightly smoked over hay, with sourdough miso, ponzu and kimchi pear. This was smartly matched with a cocktail by Niko Tiutan of Ito, titled ‘Bread & Spread’, made with butter-washed Martell VSOP Cognac, Helm’s famed sourdough, fermented carrot, leek and mugwort syrup, pineapple-lemon shrub and black pepper.

Mōdan’s chef Jorge Mendez made a tender pork langka kabayaki puffed spring roll with langka mustard sauce and sukiyaki langka, converting even the most averse to the fruit. Fat Cat responded with a sweet ‘Koji Colada’, pairing Bumbu rum, ube amazake and a shio coconut cordial with the crispy bite.

Metiz’s chefs Stephan Duhesme and Arlo Gregorio developed a playful burger titled ‘The Prawnstar’, with a fried prawn and pork patty, crab fat mayo, atsara, American cheese and homemade prawn-butter-soaked pandesal, wrapped in their own uniquely branded paper. Tatler Best Bar of the Year 2026, Big Fuzz, complemented this decadent bite with ‘Scotty J’, a cocktail featuring Código Blanco tequila, toasted black rice, patis agave, lime and cascara tea.

Lastly, our two Rising Star award winners, chef Charles Montanez of Liyab and bartender David Abalayan of No Entry Cocktail Club, paired an aged cobia fish with burnt santol wood butter, fermented red pepper and mango beurre blanc, kale and sweet pickled ginger, with the ‘Peel Pressure’ cocktail featuring Martell VSOP Cognac, coffee wine, banana and brown butter.

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The experience extended beyond the 16 food and cocktail creations. Guests enjoyed free-flowing wine and bubbly throughout the evening, while DJ Tomas Cabili provided the soundtrack as the ballroom shifted from a lively dinner setting into a late-night gathering. Desserts from Shangri-La The Fort, Manila were passed around the room, offering sweet final bites between conversations, while bars of Auro Chocolate added another indulgent touch to the evening.

More than a food festival, Off Menu 2026 became a celebration of the people who make the Philippines’ dining and drinks scene so dynamic. It was an opportunity to see familiar chefs and bartenders in a different setting, discover new names and, perhaps most importantly, spend an evening surrounded by people who share a love for food, cocktails and hospitality.

Off Menu Philippines 2026 was made possible through the generous support of Lead Sponsor HSBC; Gold Sponsor Pernod Ricard; Supporting Sponsors OpenTable and Shangri-La The Fort; and Patron Make It Makati.

Across two memorable evenings, Off Menu 2026 brought together the best of Philippine food and beverage in one room—not only to showcase what the country’s chefs and bartenders can create, but to celebrate the community that gathers around them.

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