NAXIONAL - South American Dining Experience!

August 19, 2016

It was the 12th of August, the rain was pouring really hard while we were inside the new mall in BGC, which is the Uptown Mall. The event that we're going to is located beside the mall - Uptown Parade, wherein you have to cross the road just to get there but we have no umbrellas. Haha! So what we did is we booked an Uber just to get there because it was raining really hard and we were late at that time by 30minutes.

Luckily, when we got there, the event has just started...The Eating Part I mean. haha! -which is everyone's favorite part.(I bet everyone was famished during that time because it was a food event. One thing I do every food event is that I don't eat in the morning).

The name of the restaurant is NAXIONAL. It is the newest go-to restaurant for those looking to broaden their culinary horizons. Located at the second floor of the Uptown Parade in BGC.

Naxional was originally conceptualized by Raymund Magdaluyo, of the Red Crab Group, who was inspired by his visits to diners abroad including: Coppelia in New York and Electric Diner in London. Upon returning to the Philippines, Magdaluyo was approached by Jun Sunga and Vanessa Matsunaga to turn his vision into reality.

Many of the founding members were born and raised in South American countries, and are eager to bring the flavors they grew up with in the Philippines. Other well-known South American partners include: Brazilian actor Daniel Matsunaga and his mother, Gege Matsunaga, and Lifestyle Network Venezuelan host and winner of “The Clash”, Cynthia Patos.

Their signature dish, Patacones, is a popular Puerto Rican household dish made of the customer’s choice of meat perfectly seasoned in sofrito sauce, topped with Carne (beef), Cerdo (pork) or camarones (shrimp), served with fried plantains and guacamole.

Another must-try is Elote, a Latino’s favorite, which is a popular street food made of chargrilled sweet corn, dabbed with chili butter, mayo lime, and crumbled cheese. Too bad I wasn't able to take a picture of that! It was soooo delicious! Diners should also get their hands on Ecuador’s Encebollado – hangover fish stew served with cassava and pickled red onions.

I would suggest that you get this when you have your friends with you! We were chomping on this while chatting and laughing, it was such an enjoyable moment.