State of the Adobo Nation: The Adobo Queen and Team Adobo Comes To Holiday Inn Makati's Flavors Restaurant

There is, perhaps, no other local dish that defines our culinary heritage and brings us together like the iconic Adobo. There are as many adobo variations as there are regions, yet the dish binds us together. It's no surprise then that Adobo is considered by many as the undisputed national dish...

The Adobo Queen, Nancy Reyes Lumen, and her Adobo Team brings the much-loved Filipino classic in all its regional variations and creative executions to Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's all-day dining restaurant, Flavors Restaurant for the whole month of October. It's a collaboration that explores and traces the roots of the dish as well as showcase inspired and inventive adobo creations for new flavor experiences.

Think of it as a culinary homecoming, and there's no better place than Flavors Restaurant (for more on Flavors Restaurant, see my earlier posts, The Poke Bowls Are back at Holiday Inn & Suites' Flavors Restaurant on their popular Poke Bowls, Pancakes, Waffles and Rustic Mornings at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's Flavors Restaurant from last year, Poke Bowl Days at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, and All-American: The American Food Festival and Burger Bar at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's Flavors Restaurant on my first visit to Flavors Restaurant back in 2017).

Noted food writer, researcher and home cook Nancy Lumen Reyes (L) is at the forefront of the culinary movement promoting all things adobo along with her team of fellow advocates, chefs Jen Seranilla and Jaja Andal of Team Adobo (R). Together, the Adobo Queen with Team Adobo and Flavors Restaurant team up for a tasty collab...  

Tracing the origins of the dish goes as far back as the pre-colonial period when Malay voyagers showed how to use vinegar and salt to preserve food to the hearty French Daube,  a classic Provencal braised stew, and the Spanish influence on the name of the dish as we know it today. These multi-cultural influences make adobo unique and special, but it's purely a part of the Filipino experience.

"Adobo reflects the Filipino personality, our ability to create different styles based on a centerpiece dish, 'strike anywhere' as they say. The name Adobo may be borrowed, but the flavors, ingredients, and colors of adobo cover the foodscape of this country and is so much a part of our culture that we truly own it. What other dish can you bring and eat for all occasions, whether you're at the airport, dorm, beach, wake, party, meeting, or what have you? Only adobo. Every Pinoy has an adobo story, and that is why it's a part of our lives," explained Nancy Reyes-Lumen. 

Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's Lady Bess Howe (R) and Rhea Castro-Sycip (L) join Nancy Reyes Lumen  in welcoming guests at the exclusive preview of Adobo Nation at Flavors Restaurant. "We chose to cook variants of adobo to show that the dish is neither just a recipe, nor a cooking style...

"...but actually a menu of assorted tastes centered on sour and salty, and sometimes also sweet," explained Nancy Reyes Lumen. Prepared the traditional way with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf and other spices or with creamy coconut milk and chili, rediscover the flavors of adobo in different expressions at Flavors Restaurant this October. The Adobo Queen and Team Adobo's lavish showcase will be featured in the extensive buffet at Flavors Restaurant, known as having one of the best curated buffet selections in Makati alongside Southeast Asian and Western dishes. 

Just ask any Filipino how they like this most quintessential of Filipino dishes, and you'll get as many ways as there are islands in the Philippine archipelago. It's this variety that makes adobo special to many Filipinos, reinterpreted with local and regional ingredients. And this is what diners can expect from Adobo Nation at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's Flavors Restaurant for the entire month of October. Traditional and modern, nostalgic and playfully inventive, it's Adobo the way you like it and more...

Chefs Jen Seranilla and Jaja Andal draw inspiration from local, regional and foreign flavors, spicing it up with the comforting notes of adobo. The result? Diners get to experience both timeless and modern renditions of the traditional adobo in countless and creative ways.  

What's more Filipino than some freshly-baked pandesal...

...stuffed with a savory adobo filling?

Enjoy your savory bites with the refreshing signature cooler of Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, a soothing Mint & Basil Lemonade...

...and you're ready for another round to start your Adobo-inspired feast with some Adobo Saba Turon for sweet and savory tasty bites.

The silky-smooth Adobo Pate topped with cream cheese lays a savory richness to your palate, followed by the lingering hints of the familiar vinegar, soy and black peppercorn infused notes of the classic adobo.

The Adobo Rillette adds even more flavors to the adobo-inspired feast with its bold flavors, and they know how to do rillettes at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati (for more on the signature Rillettes of Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, see my post, Wine, Cheese, a Sunset and More at Oz Bar).

More tasty bites come in the form Tamales ala Adobo (L), steamed rice mash topped with salted egg and wrapped in banana leaves and fresh Cherry Tomatoes filled with flavorful adobo pearls. The creative variations inspired by adobo is impressive, but there's so much more in store at Flavors Restaurant...

At the extensive buffet spread of Flavors Restaurant, the savory mains that day included the Chicken Adobo Pianggan with Palapa Sauce inspired by Mindanaoan flavors from the deep south...

...while the Stuffed Squid with Spiced Adobo Garlic Sauce combines the fresh, clean and briny sweetness of succulent seafood with the familiar notes of adobo in another creative blend of flavors.

Influences from the Spanish colonial experience are also added to the mix with the Adobo Paella, a traditional rice dish reinvented with savory pork, chicken and seafood on soft and fluffy rice infused with the rich notes of adobo.

The tender and juicy Adobo Chicken Roulade with Sisig Stuffing combines traditional flavors in a new and refreshing way, with the pork sisig and adobo seasonings adding multiple layers of rich flavors to complement the delicate notes of the chicken roulade.

Seafood gets an adobo spin with the Adobong Tuna...

...while the savory and fork-tender Beef Tadyang draped in a flavorful adobo glaze offers both hearty and comforting flavors to your adobo feast at Flavors Restaurant.

Go for a second round with even more exciting flavors like the Beef Adobo Roll ala Orange...

...or the melt-in-your-mouth Sinaing na Bangus Adobo. But the classic adobo takes on even more surprising twists at Flavors Restaurant.

How about some Adobo Pizza (L) or Adobo Pasta (R) for that culinary crossover? On pizza or with pasta, the versatile flavors of adobo works perfectly with its subtle sour, tart, garlicky and salty notes with just a hint of sweetness. Who knew you could enjoy adobo in countless ways? 

Nancy Reyes Lumen's signature Rodrigo's Roast is the highlight at Flavors Restaurant's Carving Station. A whole tender slab of Adobo-cooked pork belly, then baked with a savory sweet umami crust that just melts-in-your-mouth draping your palate with an indulgent and savory finish like no other, it's a taste of Christmas at the Carving Station. The Rodrigo's Roast is paired with a special Adobo Sauce with the sharp hints of black peppercorns to complete the adobo theme. 

A glass of ice-cold San Mig Light cleanses the palate with its refreshingly clean and crisp notes, and you're ready for yet another trip back to the buffet for even more adobo-inspired dishes at Flavors Restaurant.

No sumptuous feast at a lavish hotel buffet is complete without a decadent selection of desserts. At Flavors Restaurant, you'll find their signature Ube Cheesecake (probably the best in the metro) along with other decadent selections. But you can indulge in another adobo-inspired dessert with the Adobo Cheesecake (L) too.

The savory and sweet flavors come together in a perfectly balanced and seamless blend with the Adobo Cheesecake, with the hints of adobo more pronounced at the crust. It just shows how versatile and creative the much-loved adobo really is, and you can experience it in all its different forms and variations at Flavors Restaurant. Holiday Inn & Suites Makati in collaboration with the Adobo Queen and Team Adobo makes sure you get to experience adobo in its purest, traditional and classic renditions alongside inventive and even surprising dishes at Adobo Nation in Flavors Restaurant. 

"Adobo is such a big part of Filipino cuisine, we want our guests, especially those coming from abroad, to experience it, as well as how it translates to different dishes and not just the classic pork and chicken,' shared Holiday Inn & Suites Makati's Manager Andy Belmonte. "We hope they come to love adobo as much as we Filipinos do."

Rediscover and experience adobo with a fresh palate at Flavors Restaurant's Adobo Nation for Lunch and Dinner this month of October. Buffet rates start at P 1,825 net per person. Come celebrate the comforting flavors of local adobo and all its flavorful varieties in a sumptuous homecoming at Flavors Restaurant...

Flavors Restaurant is located at the Lobby Level of Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, Palm Drive,  Ayala Center, Makati City or call 632-909-0888 for inquiries and reservations.

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