The best Filipino dishes
The top 3 according to 36 votes from people: Sinigang · Dinuguan · Kare-kare. (Updated Sep 26, 2026.)
The Filipino dishes locals want visitors to try, from adobo to halo-halo, chosen from Filipino food guides and food bloggers' must-eat lists.
Top 12
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1
Sinigang
Sour tamarind soup with pork, shrimp or fish and vegetables.
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2
Dinuguan
Savory pork stew cooked in pig's blood with vinegar and chili, often eaten with puto.
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3
Kare-kare
Oxtail or beef in peanut sauce with vegetables, eaten with bagoong shrimp paste.
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4
Pancit
Stir-fried noodles (canton, bihon, palabok), eaten for long life at birthdays.
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5
Lumpiang Shanghai
Thin fried spring rolls with pork, a party must.
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6
Chicken inasal
Bacolod grilled chicken marinated in calamansi and annatto.
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7
Bulalo
Beef shank and marrow soup from Batangas.
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8
Tapsilog
Cured beef, garlic rice and fried egg: the silog breakfast.
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9
Adobo
Chicken or pork braised in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaf and peppercorns; the unofficial national dish.
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10
Lechon
Whole roast suckling pig with crackling skin; Cebu's (especially Carcar's) is said to be the best.
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11
Halo-halo
Shaved ice with sweet beans, jellies, ube, leche flan and evaporated milk.
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12
Sisig
Sizzling chopped pig's face and ears with calamansi and chilli, from Pampanga.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 12… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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13
Laing
Dried taro leaves slow-cooked in coconut milk with chili, from the Bicol region.
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14
Balut
Boiled fertilised duck egg, the famous street snack.
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15
Kinilaw
Raw fish cured in vinegar or calamansi with ginger, onion and chili, the Filipino cousin of ceviche.
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16
Bicol Express
Pork in coconut milk with lots of chillies, from Bicol.
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17
Pinakbet
Ilocano vegetable stew with bitter melon, squash, okra and eggplant in shrimp paste.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
Adobo at #1, every family has their own version and they're all the best 😂