By HERMES JOY TUNAC, GMA Integrated News
While puto bumbong and bibingka are available all year long when you crave them, there's just something about these two Filipino delicacies that make the Christmas season even more special. With their aromatic smell and savory taste, they can invite nostalgic memories to your mind with every bite.
Bibingka is made with rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, and eggs and is typically cooked in banana leaves. Puto bumbong, meanwhile, is a purple-colored rice cake steamed in bamboo tubes. It's usually served with grated coconut and sugar.
This Christmas season, feast your palate with these traditional Filipino delicacies available in these five cafes and restaurants.
1. Bo's Coffee
Homegrown coffee shop Bo's Coffee launched its "Paskong Pinoy" menu just in time for Christmas. Aside from seasonal beverages like Dark Mocha Macadamia Froccino, the coffee shop also offers Pinoy treats, including bibingka, in three variants: original, cream cheese, and ube cheese.
2. Via Mare
Nothing beats the original, and no other Filipino restaurant screams tradition more than Via Mare. This restaurant's puto bumbong is made with steamed black glutinous rice cooked perfectly in bamboo. It's served with butter, grated coconut, palm sugar, and your choice of cheddar cheese or queso de bola.
3. Army Navy
Fluffy pancake is a staple in the menu of Army Navy, but for the holidays, the Mexican restaurant chain made a unique twist to its pancake with the release of its Bibingka Pancake and Puto Bumbong Pancake, best paired with a cup of hot chocolate. Both pancake variants are topped with shredded cheddar cheese, grated coconut, and a scoop of butter.
4. Le Chon by Happy Ongpauco-Tiu
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Happy Ongpauco-Tiu offers the classic take on puto bumbong at Le Chon at The Grid Food Market. It features the purple-colored rice cake with grated coconut, torched cheese, and a special sauce on top served in banana leaves.
5. Bibingka Manila
The Christmas season is synonymous with gift-giving, and what better gift to give someone than a savory box of bibingka reminiscent of the most wonderful time of the year in the Philippines? Bibingka Manila offers different variants of bibingka, including salted egg and cheese, ube halaya and cheese, and suman latik.
—MGP, GMA Integrated News
