Haliya, located at City of Dreams Manila, offers a unique dining experience by presenting classic Filipino recipes with a modern twist.
Executive sous chef Edmundo San Jose plays a crucial role in the restaurant by using high-quality ingredients and local produce to reimagine well-loved dishes and give them new and exciting interpretations.
For the month of May, the restaurant pays tribute to the Lucban Pahiyas festival of Quezon province known for its colorful celebration in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. Reimagined well-loved fiesta dishes were recently launched for this special occasion.
Hardinera but make it Beef Wellington-style? I’ve never seen this before. The classic Lucban meatloaf is usually cooked and placed into a llanera for steaming until done. In Haliya's modern take on the dish, the hardinera is wrapped in a puff pastry that seals its flavors and creates a delicious combination of textures. Asparagus, taro root fondant, and micro greens were also added to make this dish a standout.
The popular Lucban longganisa is recreated to become a spring roll. The local sausage made of ground pork, vinegar, oregano, paprika, and other spices becomes the filling of the lumpia wrapper. A touch of cream cheese was incorporated to give dimension to the flavors, and this is served with pimiento aioli sauce on a bed of crispy kataifi pastry, and topped with fried talbos ng sayote.
The traditional pancit Lucban has been recreated to be a crispy noodle dish. Egg noodles are used instead of pancit habhab to achieve the perfect crunch. The sauce is made with pata bones, leeks, onions, and soy sauce and then topped with crispy pata slices, sunny side quail egg, prawns, and perfectly consumed with a splash of pinakurat vinegar served on the side.
I recently took my parents to try these new dishes and we had a fantastic experience. The food was served with much elegance and the service was full of warmth. I could see this place as perfect for people looking for refined but comforting family-style Filipino food, in the company of loved ones, especially with our balikbayans.
Catch these three special sharing dishes only until May 31.