Chef Lee Jan Anicas sees beauty in the mundane—like the everyday objects one is bound to encounter in Filipino day-to-day life. This spans the areas, tools, and knickknacks found in and around the Filipino home; the equipment and essential ingredients stocked in almost every Filipino kitchen; and the tastes and textures encountered in almost every Filipino meal.
His eight-seater dining space in Quezon City—called Bakuran Tasting Club—brings light to these emblems of daily living in the Philippines, building on the idea with creativity, a healthy dose of curiosity, as well as a deep sense of humility.
Behind the ‘bakod’
From the outside, 20 Carmel Avenue might look like your typical nondescript lot in a residential area in Quezon City—that is, until Anicas opens the door to welcome you in. He ushers guests in with a gracious warmth, as if he were just inviting friends and family members into his own home.
The meaning of “bakuran” is twofold, explains Anicas, who previously had stints with The Moment Group and I’m Hotel, and now helms Bakuran with the help of sous chef Tim Yuseco and commis chef Rodina Roque. For starters, it’s the place where people gather—the area of the house where family members and visitors can congregate.
“That sense of warmth and community is something we wanted to bring into the dining experience,” he says.
At the same time, “bakuran” also means to guard—to form a bakod, which mirrors Anicas’ outlook on Filipino cuisine. Not in the sense of gatekeeping but of protecting the stories and lived experiences behind the food and honoring the Filipinos who’ve lived it.
Fittingly, the space—which used to be a pawn shop and nail salon—takes on a look that’s more reminiscent of a traditional Filipino kitchen.
A display of wooden utensils in the foyer evokes cheery memories of summer afternoons spent in the province. This area draws directly from a room in Anicas’ family house in Vigan—the “small, dirty kitchen” that leads to the actual bakuran that’s home to their own pigs and chickens.
Representing said family bakuran is Bakuran’s dining area, at the center of which is a counter; and behind it, a display of Filipino aromatics. Toward the side, cookbooks and jars of housemade ferments peek through from behind capiz-shell windows, while bilao hangs on the walls as decor.
Though he certainly draws from Filipino cuisine in designing the menu, Anicas clarifies that his core inspiration is really more of this Filipino life as it’s experienced every day as well as his own personal experiences.
Asim—beyond sour
The Filipino penchant for sourness is the highlight of their debut menu, dubbed “Asim,” which spotlights different souring agents used in the Filipino household—fruits, vinegars, and so on. The title might conjure the image of an all-acerbic lineup that keeps your eyes squinted from start to finish, but Bakuran keeps things surprisingly balanced.
1. Panaderya
There are a few surprise sources of sourness—like the Sagada honey that’s whipped into butter for the bread plate called “panaderya.”
“A lot of people think Sagada honey is just sweetness, but don’t know that it has a bit of acidity to it,” Anicas explains. At once lush, sweet, and just a touch tangy, the butter is topped with grated aged cheddar for salty contrast, and served with toasted slices of sourdough focaccia made using the liquid from curing tomatoes.
2. Sipit pomelo
The next course is an especially captivating number, flaunting glossy sacs of pomelo fermented in its own juice—a process that seems to brighten the citrus further. Along with patis-dressed Mindoro crab, the citrus is layered over a thin, crackly tart shell, and served with a velvety broth of crab and a peppercorn foam to sip on alongside.
3. Kinilaw biasong
Two distinct souring agents congregate in the kinilaw biasong—a kinilaw dish of tanigue cured in kombu and coconut sap vinegar, topped with Bakuran’s own XO sauce and onions pickled in biasong. Around the fish, a pool of coconut milk and coconut sap vinegar lends creaminess and subtle zing.
Scoop some of the kilaw mix into the squash flower fritters served alongside, like you would a tostada; then pop it in the mouth and go to town.
4. Chicharon sampalok
Tamarind, cooked into a sticky, glossy caramel, coats crisp sun-dried pork belly slices in the next saucer called chicharon sampalok. The two make for a surprisingly swell combo, the tamarind caramel’s sweet-tangy profile rounding out the saltiness of the pork.
5. Kordero kamatis and green mango kendi
Anicas turns the sourness levels to more moderate levels in the kordero kamatis—with no less hearty results.
Here, a gazpacho-like sauce of red peppers and fermented Baguio tomatoes lends a Mediterranean profile to a chunk of lamb shoulder. Adorning the dish are coins of yellow and chocolate cherry tomatoes, which bring a fresh bite that helps counter the richness of the lamb.
Shortly after, rounds of housemade green mango gummies are brought out as a palate cleanser—and small size aside, their mid-level tang does the job of wiping our palates clean in time for the next movement.
6. Pato gumamela
Pato gumamela is nothing short of a showstopper, arriving as a plate of dry-aged duck breast, crisp squares of malagkit rice, steamed kamote tops, and a sauce of gumamela flaunting a deep magenta color. The sauce’s depth of flavor stands up beautifully to the robustness of the duck, which in turn brings a savory edge to the sourness of the gumamela.
7. Pancit, ihaw, lumpia
And who can forget the illuminating powers that suka brings when used as a sawsawan?
Bakuran makes their own sineguelas vinegar, whose flavor circuit of tangy, subtly pungent, and gleefully sweet ties together a trio of viands in the main course. There’s the pancit dish, composed of their housemade miki and pork jus foam brightened by calamansi; smoky skewers of pork neck, muscovado, cacao nibs, and grated cured egg yolk; and lumpia with a pork and shrimp filling, taken from a recipe by Anicas’ own lola.
8. Coco dalandan
Bakuran concludes the Asim menu on a mellow note, perhaps in the sense of reinforcing the feeling of comfort as they send their guests home.
The coco dalandan dessert stars dalandan as the name suggests—but turns the spotlight on its distinct floral note, rather than its tang. The citrus lends dimension to the otherwise all-rich medley of brown butter mamon, a mousse of Sula coconut liqueur, a jelly-like coconut “veil,” and milk powder.
The intricacies of Filipino life, translated into flavors
Through their explorations of the intricacies of Filipino life and the flavors that define it on the daily, the Bakuran team manages to expand their diners’ horizons—which is why a meal here is akin to an adventure, right from a tiny space that feels just like home.
Bakuran Tasting Club is at 20 Carmel Avenue, Quezon City. For more information, visit Bakuran Tasting Club’s Instagram