Highly respected chef and restaurateur Myke “Tatung” Sarthou may have opened a number of successful restaurants with business partners in the past, but he most recently finally opened one that is his very own and simply named it Tatung’s to seal that truth.
Tatung’s recently soft-opened at the Upper Ground Floor B, Gateway Mall 2, at Araneta City, Cubao, Quezon City.
Built around the theme ‘home, remembered,’ it is a restaurant that does not reinvent Filipino food, but, in Chef Tatung’s own words, ‘a restaurant that tries to return you to is – to the smell of something slow-cooking in your lola’s kitchen, to the table where you first understood what it meant to belong somewhere. The concept is rooted in the Filipino idea of ‘Simpol’ – that the most honest cooking is also the most profound. We’re not chasing complexity for its own sake. We’re chasing memory, warmth, and the kind of food that makes you feel like you never left home.’
With such a restaurant concept, diners can expect Filipino heirloom dishes passed down not through recipes written on paper but through the hands of a mother showing a daughter how much is enough, a lola who never measured anything and yet never got it wrong.
‘What I do is honor that transmission while being deliberate about sourcing, technique, and presentation. The food at Tatung’s is recognizable – you will know what you’re eating – but you will taste it more deeply than you may have before,’ the chef said.
Diners will taste love drawn from heritage, family heirloom recipes, and personal knowledge of regional cooking, from flavors the palate has grown to enjoy through the years. Tatung’s is proud to offer these dishes to diners: Kinilaw made with sukang tuba, biasing limes from Mindanao and Tabon-tabon from the Visayas; Chef Tatung’s Lola Juanita’s Whole Pampano Braised in Coconut Milk; his Lola Natividad’s Twice-cooked Humba; Gambas sa Latik curiously topped with toasted coconut curds along with garlic and chili; Santol Wood-smoked Roast Beef Caldereta enriched with Queso de Bola; Bibingkang Talong that reimagines Tortang Talong in the spirit of Bibingka and as a casserole; Pancit Guisado with homemade kikiam sausage and cooked Chinatown style; Relyenong Hipon with sweet chili sauce; the Pinoy version of Bagoong Fried Rice cooked with Burong Mangga; and Okoy fritters with fresh tomato and cucumber salsa.
Dessert is also a major treat in the form of Sizzling Cassava Cake, which arrives at the table still warm and caramelized at the edges, as well as Chef Tatung’s New York-Cubao Bibingka Cheesecake.
Then there is a takeout and pasalubong corner, where diners order and bring home Ensaymada Grande and other deli treats in packs and bottles to enjoy with family and friends.
‘When people come to Tatung’s, I want them to feel less like guests and more like people who have come home, because that is exactly what this place is – my home, made open to everyone who has shared this journey with me. Tatung’s doesn’t just carry my name. It carries my story,’ the chef ended.