After seven seasons, Phil Rosenthal finally ate his way through different parts of the Philippines for the eighth installment of his hit Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil.
Since it premiered on the streaming platform in 2018, the travel documentary show has been putting the spotlight on a city’s sights, food, and other things that give it a sense of place. Curious and charming, Phil, while not a professional chef, is just the man to tell us what they are. In every episode, he makes his love for food and travel evident through stories well told—infused with some sense of humor and heartwarming moments in between.
In its eighth season, the well-informed personality continues his gastronomic journey in Amsterdam, Boston, Tbilisi, Basque Country, Sydney & Adelaide, Las Vegas, and Guatemala. He gives viewers a look at our own food scene through his eyes in the seventh episode, where he explores Manila and other Philippine gems like Tagaytay and Pico de Loro.
Prior to his visit, Phil had been familiar with the country, including its culture and food somehow. Remember when he featured Sampaguita, a Filipino-American ice cream store in Florida, in the seventh season of the series? He even tried halo-halo and called it “one of the best sundaes in the world.”
His first introduction to Filipinos, though, was a Pinay named Isabelita, who served as the caretaker of his late parents Max and Helen. “She’s one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever met,” he recalled in the Manila episode, noting how she would always give his father some Chickenjoy, which turned out to be his favorite fried chicken. For that reason, he made sure to drop by a Jollibee store and get an entire bucket of it during his PH trip. “This one’s for you, Dad,” he said after taking a bite of the beloved menu item.
Shooting the Manila episode was his deeper dive into the country and what makes it stand out. In true Phil fashion, he stretched his culinary horizons from roadside eateries to high-end food places. It’s no biggie to him, after all. In a previous interview, he said he’s just as happy “with a great hotdog” as with “a four-star meal”—and even here, it shows.
In Quiapo, for example, he shared a meal with jeepney drivers at the unassuming Aling Sosing’s Carinderia after riding the iconic vehicle and even treating each passenger to a fudge bar. The dishes they savored included pork belly, beef kaldereta, and okoy (shrimp fritter), which he all described as “delicious.” Evidently, Rosenthal is not just for the fancy and the formal. Like he said before, “I’m like everybody else—I just want what’s delicious.”
Filipino warmth and family love
The warm hospitality and family-orientedness of Filipinos interlace in the entire episode.
In the middle of his roadside meal with the jeepney drivers, Phil told them: “You all work very hard.” To which, one replied: “Yes… for the family.”
Family love was also touched on when Phil visited another roadside food spot called Chicks ni Otit in Tagaytay, a “five-star carinderia,” as its owner, model-actress Wilma Doesnt, put it. During their meal, the latter talked about how she has to balance her business with her entertainment career so she can continue giving her family a good life.
After enjoying some of its bestsellers like grilled tuna, crispy pata, stuffed milkfish, bulalo, and grilled chicken, and capping it off with banana split, Phil offered some of their food to people nearby, who then shared the huge plates of comfort dishes with those in other tables without hesitation.
One of the standout moments was taken during his dinner at Toyo Eatery, the best restaurant in the Philippines, which ranked 42nd in 2025 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. At the dining table, he was joined by the love of his life, Monica, as well as May (the wife of head chef and owner Jordy Navarra) and their partner chef JP Cruz.
All four of them were served a garden salad featuring all 18 vegetables mentioned in Bahay Kubo, but it was presented with a worthwhile gimmick: a lovely performance of the entire traditional folk song by the restaurant staff. By the end of it, Monica was in tears, leaving viewers curious and in awe of how delightfully overwhelmed she must have felt by such a simple gesture.
“The food is great enough but you know, if you sing to us, one of us is probably gonna cry. This time it was Monica,” said Phil.
Among the dishes they had were raw meats and fish cooked with tabon-tabon, barbecue skewers with pickled radish, fried bisugo with silog (garlic fried rice with dorado), and grilled chicken braised with garlic chops and chives.
Mid-dinner, May told Phil how Filipinos are always so creative “because we’re not a rich country, so we have to use whatever we have around us.”
“But that’s how the great recipes in the world come about,” Phil said. “From necessity first and creativity, and then you find something that nobody else has and the world comes to you.”
Aside from Toyo, he also visited Chef Claude Tayag’s Trellis for a Filipino dinner with Erwan Heussaff. They had good conversations over Filipino food, with the highlight being the Kapampangan-style sisig served on a sizzling plate, which they enjoyed with some beer. For a pork lover like Phil, it obviously did not disappoint.
When Erwan said that Filipino food has yet to fully enter the international market, Phil emphasized, “There’s a lot to be proud of.”
The foodie went on a road trip to Tagaytay to visit Asador Alfonso by award-winning chef Chele Gonzalez. There, he got to enjoy some authentic Spanish dishes, including gazpacho, croqueta, paella, and lechazo (suckling lamb). “I’m a lucky boy. This is one of the best lunches I’ve ever had in my whole stupid life,” he said with a giddy smile.
The TV host then went to Pico de Loro and took in all its beauty through a snorkeling session with Monica and his brother-producer Richard as well as a fun boodle fight with some Pinoys and his crew. “Thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for being the best crew in the world. I would happily eat like animals with you again,” he told them after their filling lunch.
In the in-betweens, he got to enjoy some halo-halo as well as Philippines’ silvanas and taho.
Adding heart to the episode is a short segment featuring his chosen organization, Childhope Philippines, a mobile school that makes education accessible to kids who can’t afford to go to regular school. He surprised the students, too, with fish balls and ice cream.
Last Manila dinner with a heartwarming tribute
When he came back to Manila, everyone who took part in the show gathered at Grace Park, including Erwan, Chele and his wife Teri, and Wilma. They were joined by the restaurant’s late co-founder, Chef Margarita Fores, who died in February at age 65—just a few months after they finished filming the episode.
The star of their dinner was the Organic Negros Lechon, which is known for having its own craft beer inside. Chef Gaita explained that the beer marinates its stomach as the glass bottle absorbs its heat, giving it a crunchy finish. “So she died happy, and we are dining happy,” Phil joked.
Phil also enjoyed exotic food like Adobong Pitaw, a wild rice field bird from Negros, apart from other Pinoy dishes like lamb adobo, laing, scallops, and more kinilaw.
When asked about his memorable moment in the Philippines, he said, “Every one keeps topping the last one. Toyo was absolutely brilliant. Asador was brilliant. William’s brilliant. It’s phenomenal. Such talent at this table.”
“As I’ve said I’ve had Filipino food before. I love it,” he continued. “It’s having its moment but if you really want the best of the best, I think you have to come because then you get to experience the richness of the culture that embraces its diverse influences and creates the sublime: a unique and undeniably world class cuisine.”
In his interviews through the years since Somebody Feed Phil began, the well-loved host has always said that “food is a great connector, but the laughs are the cement.” Like the rest of its episodes, food and travel aren’t the heart of this Manila entry—human connection is.
“Every Filipino person I’ve met has greeted me in such a warm and welcoming way and been so sweet and caring—it’s that very same love that Isabelita showed my parents. And for this, I’m very grateful,” he said. “Everything I love in life is right here.”
“So to you, cheers,” he concluded. The screen then faded to black and showed a simple but heartfelt tribute to one of the significant connections he made during his PH visit. “The last, for our friend, Margarita Fores.”
Season 8 of Somebody Feed Phil is now streaming on Netflix. Watch the teaser below.
