Travel bloggers criticize Pinoy food, provoke online backlash—But was it justified?

When something as near and dear to Filipinos’ hearts as their cuisine becomes the subject of harsh criticism, things are bound to get a little messy.
 
Polish travel bloggers Agnieszka “Agness” Walewinder and Cezary “Cez” Król are “food lovers and new flavor hunters”. They recently visited the Philippines to try out local dishes such as kare-kare, lechon, torta, longganisa, and of course, our prized adobo.
 
It seems, however, that their excursion left a bad taste in their mouths.

Filipino food vs. going hungry
 
In a blog entry entitled “I Would Rather Go Hungry Than Eat Filipino Food Again!” —which has since been edited to read "Filipino Street Food"—Agness detailed their experience with the local cuisine.
 
“We were open to new things, we were willing to eat anything locals gave us and we were so curious about new dishes,” wrote Agness. “That has changed after 4 days of stomachache, dizziness and feeling overtired and bloated.”
 
Agness described the fruits they found at local markets. “Bananas (they changed color into black) were the worst (you could see some flies flying around and sitting on the bunch of them). Apples were tiny, oranges and nectarines were extremely sour and pineapples were soaked in some kind of liquid that smelled bad.”
 
She then found fault with the “poor quality of food,” saying, “Most of dishes were left on the table without being covered with a lid, or without a fan to get rid of the flies, as it’s a common practice in other Asian countries. Fish and meat were mixed up together in the same bowl, sausages were displayed on a plate surrounded by flies and bugs, everyone was touching food with their fingers to try before buying and what was the worst the food was left on display for all night long and didn’t disappear from there unless someone bought it.”
 
The entry took issue with Filipino food for being packed with too much sugar, salt, and oil. “The meat we were served was soaking in oil, the fish that supposed to be grilled was full of oil and veggies we wanted to try contained more oil than the fattest meat we saw there.”
 
Agness then blamed this excessive oiliness for making them feel “bloated and tired”. “We not only started feeling fat (literally), but also suffered from stomachache and diarrhea. I had a massive migraine, mood swings and heartbum caused by spicy and oily pork.”
 
Their biggest disappointment, however, was their inability to find any traditional Filipino dishes to eat.
 
“We simply could not find them! We visited enormous amount of local food stands and restaurants asking for balut, adobo, asado, daing and more and we we have heard was ‘Not here. We have some fish and fried pork only.’, ‘Do you want to try noodles instead?’, ‘We have some boiled eggs.’”
 
The entry concluded with: “Based on our experience, Filipino food did not live up to our expectations at all.”

Online backlash
 
The entry has now accumulated over 680 responses, a majority of which are from Filipinos.
 
One frequently-suggested reason for the travelers’ food woes was their lack of a proper guide to bring them to eateries offering authentic Filipino dishes.
 
“Maybe you were just in the wrong place in Luzon,” said Keith. “You should’ve hired a tour guide... you’ll find a delicious filipino food in a home :) well cooked, well organized, very hospitable and etc.”
 
Some chastised the bloggers for not doing more research about Filipino cuisine before coming to the country.
 
“As a person seeking to experience another culture, do your research. And when I say research, it’s about the people, why certain foods are cuisines for them, why they have access to these foods, and lastly the traditions tied to how food is prepared,” stated ThinkCritically.
 
Many pointed out that what the bloggers consumed was not traditional Filipino food, but street food, which a number of local commenters admitted were unhealthy and not representative of Philippine cuisine.
 
“You visited a third world country and ate the street food,” said Anna. “No wonder you had a bad food experience. My family doesn’t even let me eat street food when I’m there.”
 
“Street food isn’t really local food,” explained Bernadine Recrio. “We don’t equate is as such. I mean sure you could’ve tried fishball and kikiam (easiy everyone’s favorites as children), but carinderias aren’t really filled with what we define as local food. It’s what the locals eat, sure, but often the locals who eat at carinderias also have extremely demanding jobs with very little pay and need something to satiate hunger, feel filling and can suits their pay.”
 
Christian provided an interesting analogy regarding the whole “street food” issue. “The analogy of your tour is like a Filipino going to the US and saying, ‘we will experience the average American cuisine.’ Guess what that is? That probably entails going to Subway, Taco bell, and eating microwavable food. You might say that’s not home cooked American food. Well, guess what? Street food isn’t the same as home cooked Filipino food either.”
 
Several commenters opined that Filipino food is extremely diverse, and in order to get a good taste of it, one has to travel to many places, such as Pampanga, Bacolod, Bicol, and Bohol. Others suggested the more posh restaurants in upscale Makati.
 
Netizens were also quick to observe the questionable photos included in the blog, chief of which is the picture of “American-style hot dog”, which the bloggers claim they were served when they asked for “lonnganisa”.
 
“Sorry, but it is kind of stupid to ask for longganisa at 7-11 (noticeable wrapper of 7-11) They DO NOT serve longganisa,” said one irate commenter, Alex. “It is really common sense, 7-11 does not serve longganisa.”
 
“You dont go to 7-11 and ask for longganisa,” echoed Oscar de Leon. “Of course you will (get) an american hotdog, because 7-11 is an american chain of convenience stores.”
 
Some remarks were about the inflammatory title of the entry. “I guess what Filipinos our angry about is the audacity to tell that you’d rather go hungry than eat our food,” explained Queen V. “It’s a bit insensitive knowing that there are a lot of people/children here that are dying because of hunger and poverty. So I hope you understand why Filipinos are reacting badly about your blog.”
 
Even American travel blogger Nathan Allen chimed in on the criticisms, proposing an uncomfortable hypothesis about the duo when he said: “It seems like you might be intentionally trying to antagonize Filipino people in order to bring attention to your blog.”
 
In response to the online backlash, the bloggers have changed the title of their entry to “I Would Rather Go Hungry Than Eat Filipino Street Food Again!”

The good, the bad, and the ugly
 
Not all commenters disagreed with the travel bloggers.
 
“We just spent 23 days in the Philippines and we too weren’t impressed with food,” said Hannah. “There is only so much rice and chicken adobo you can eat. We were shocked on the fruit prices and then the quality was terrible!”
 
“Sadly, I have to agree with you,” said IndieTraveller Marek. “Filipino food is not great… just too much fat, sugar, and salt. There are exceptions of course, but overall it’s a huge step down from any other cuisine in the region.”
 
A few Filipinos even agreed with Agness on some of the points she made.
 
“I agree with the cleanliness comment. I DONT EAT as well on these type of food stalls because I am scared to get sick,” said athens.
 
“I couldn’t agree more,” stated Marvin, “yes food sucks especially those commercially sold along the streets which validates your honest observation.”
 
But Agness herself did have a few good things to say.
 
For starters, she found many of the local diners extremely cheap, selling meals for less than $1.
 
She described some of the local pastries as “yummy” and “tempting”.
 
The bloggers were able to sample binignit, bihon, and lomi, which Agness recommended and also described as “yummy”.
 
Other adventurers, such as Nathan Allen, shares his love for Filipino food on his blog, mentioning halo halo, Bicol express, laing, sinigang, and bulalo as some of his favorites.
 
Renowned food critics such as Anthony Bourdain have also expressed their love for the local food.
 
Andrew Zimmern, Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” host, once described Filipino food as the “next big thing.” — TJD, GMA News