No Reservations Philippines

Anyone catch this show last night? I thought it was pretty good considering that filipino cuisine is kinda below the radar. Having not been to the Philippines in 12 years it made me long for those foods again not readily available here such as sisig. I also thought it was neat that Bourdain claimed the roast pig in the Philippines the best he's ever had among all the roast pigs he's ever had around the world!

I thought it was ok, Tony didn't seem all that interested in some of the segments.

The episode that was on before it about Spain was fantastic though (I'm pretty sure it was a repeat but I hadn't seen it yet).

damn, I missed this episode.. Ill have to search out & see if it is airing again for my Filipino wife to watch.

As a side note, I dont think there is any roast pig that beats lechon. Lechon, and Pancit are the things I look forward to most when going to a Filipino party.

Josh, I agree that Bourdain didn't seem really excited in some of the segments like when he was in the wet market where they cooked the ingredients you picked right on the spot. I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of the dish pinakbet which they had cooked at the market. I was also surprised that they didn't feature dinuguan, better known as pork blood stew.

Bourdain's blog at the Travel Channel said he knew he missed a lot of things (visiting just two islands out of hundreds), but was sure it was at least good things he showed.

He also put Philipino lechon at the top of his pork hierarchy, beating out Bali and Puerto Rico in the whole roast pig department.

I haven't watched the last two eps yet, they're crowding up the DVR.

Even with the 15 minute psycho therapy bit with that guy who tricked Bourdain into paying for an all-expenses paid vacation, this episode exceeded all my expectations. I'll say it bluntly -- Augusto contributed nothing to the episode. Bourdain was misled by his enthusiasm.

A better candidate would have been the guy behind Burnt Lumpia (he also submitted a video but didn't make it).

The rest of the fixers covered as much as can be expected in 40 minutes of TV. I was really impressed with the bits on pinapaitan, sisig, and traditionally prepared lechon.

What I really liked is how they were able to feature Filipino issues and customs related to food:

The "my region is better than yours" mentality. You might as well be from a different continent if you're not from the same area.

The "suki" system, where you form close relationships with vendors.

Discussing why Filipino food has a low profile everywhere else.

Here's the full menu for the lechon lunch:
http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/full-menu-of-the-no-reservations-philippines-lechon-lunch-cebu

i saw it. the skin off the roast pig looked delicious.

I was waiting for Bourdain to call out Augusto, does Augusto realize how lucky he is/was?

The skin on the pig looked awesome.

I caught the episode and it did bring to mind this earlier post and I am thinking about heading over there this weekend if my schedule permits.

Travel Channel re-aired this episode at noon today I believe. I set the DVR, and will enjoy watching it tonight with my wife(from Manilla), and her cousin(from the province(country) area of the Phillippines) and hear their reactions.