The new Locavore branch is located at ground floor of S Maison mall, just a few steps away from Conrad Manila's entrance doors. Photo by author

MANILA — Filipino modern restaurant Locavore recently opened its fourth branch in Pasay City. Located at the ground floor of S Maison mall at Conrad Manila, the restaurant sports a new look and also offers new dishes to its loyal and new customers. 

The restaurant, which first opened in 2014 in barangay Kapitolyo in Pasig City, is known for its modern take on Filipino food. It's popular for its sizzling sinigang and other unique Filipino dishes like sizzling oyster sisig, kare-kare wings, and duck lugaw, among others. 

Locavore is also known for its sustainable dining concept, sourcing ingredients from local farmers and offering local products like craft beers.

Two years ago, the brand started to branch out. In 2016, it opened its second branch at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, then in Makati, and now in Pasay City. 

Locavore's S Maison branch has a new homey look. Photo by author

The private dining are has wall paper accents, light walls, and furniture made from natural materials. Photo by author

The new branch noticeably has a new look. It has a more homey feel, with comfortable couches, wallpapered private dining rooms, and furniture made of natural materials. Locavore's other branches have a more industrial feel. The new branch still has a full bar, which is essential to the Locavore DNA. 

It still offers the regular menu;' however, there are four new dishes that is exclusive to the new branch. According to its head chef Mikel “Kel” Zaguirre, he created the new dishes based on the heritage of the location. 
 
“The direction of the new menu, I tapped onto the old school Filipino-Chinese heritage of old Manila. So the new dishes are mostly seafood,” he explained. 

Pasay is known for its seafood restaurants because of its vicinity to Manila Bay. And it's just a few minutes away from Manila, where Chinatown is located. 

Soft-shell crab negra with alavar sauce, chimichuri, labuyo aioli, and edamame. Photo by author

One of the new dishes is the soft-shell crab negra with Alavar sauce. The soft-shell crab is fried, tempura-style, and served with a sauce made of aligue (crab fat), chilies and coconut cream. It's also served with chimichuri sauce, labuyo (birds' eye chili) aioli, edamame, fried smashed saba (local plantain), and radish pancit. 

“Alta [Lyttle, one of the co-owners of Locavore] requested for crabs but we couldn't find a good supplier of fresh crabs. Instead, there's an abundance of soft-shell crabs in the market. So I played with it. I did a squid ink batter, then fried it, tempura-style,” he shared. 

Pinipig cereal sugpo with salted egg floss. Photo by author

Another dish is the pinipig (popped rice) cereal sugpo which is inspired by the Chinese cereal prawns. It is topped with salted egg floss and also served with fried smashed saba and radish pancit.

“The inspiration behind this is cereal prawns and I wanted to do a Filipino style. This one very fresh and has contrasting flavors,” Zaguirre said. 

Roasted tocino asado served on a bed of romaine lettuce and with fried smashed saba and radish pancit. Photo by author

Then there's the roasted tocino (Filipino sweet cured pork) asado (Chinese barbecued pork). It's pork tenderloin cured like tocino then roasted and served on a bed of romaine lettuce, Dijon mustard, and a generous drizzling of tocino glaze reduction. 
 
“The common factor between tocino and asado is the sweetness. The Filipino style of asado is tocino. We just used a different cut of meat, pork tenderloin, cured it like tocino, roasted it and served it like an asado,” he said. 

Halabos na suahe with the special Kelly sauce. Photo by author

The last dish is the simplest—halabos na suahe (steamed shrimps) with Kelly sauce. Kelly sauce is Zaguirre's signature sauce, which, he explained, is made with soy sauce, cilantro, chili, and garlic. 

“With these dishes we are keeping the identity of Locavore where we are offering something different yet familiar. These dishes we are bringing in are meant to be our piece de resistance at large family gatherings, because in our culture, the piece de resistance is usually seafood,” he said.

He also pointed out that the seafood are sourced from Palawan, in keeping with its focus on sustainability. 

Amid the acclaim, Zaguirre insists that Locavore is still all about family and good food. 

“At the end of the day, what we all want is the ugly delicious dish or lutong bahay (home-cooked meals). And that's what Locavore is all about,” he said. 

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