Uma Nota has a new eight-course tasting menu, and it wants you to think about where your food comes from.
When Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in the early 20th century, they brought their techniques with them, but their ingredients were often unavailable. What emerged from that displacement was Nikkei cuisine, a culinary form shaped as much by necessity as by creativity. Uma Nota Manila, the Michelin-selected restaurant that has made Nikkei cooking its whole philosophy, is now leaning into that history more directly than ever with its latest offering, an eight-course menu called A Journey Through Brazilian Japanese Cuisine.
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What’s On The New Tasting Menu At Uma Nota?
Helmed by Chef Andrés Rendón, the menu opens with Pastel de Carne, a Brazilian street snack elevated with Wagyu. Here, two ingredients with very different cultural registers share the same plate. From there, the raw courses introduce kombu and dendê oil, two ingredients that carry the umami of Japan and the earthiness of Brazil respectively, in dishes like Hamachi Kobujime Tiradito and Atum Nihon. Cassava, arguably the most Brazilian of all starches, comes through the middle of the menu in Tapioca Bread and Lobster em Moqueca.
The grill course comes with Uma Nota’s own version of furikake, using herbs, citrus, and spice. In the context of everything that preceded it, the substitution carries weight. Furikake is pantry food, the kind of seasoning blend you keep on the table; yet making a new version of it from local or adapted ingredients is exactly what Japanese cooks in Brazil would have done out of necessity, making it an act of homage at Uma Nota.
Dishes Made With A Clear Vision And Purpose
The visual design of the menu has been reconsidered alongside the food. The menu’s story is about provenance and transformation. Rather than photographs of finished dishes, the new format foregrounds raw ingredients like kombu, cassava, dendê, yuzu, açaí, and tonka bean, reflecting the menu’s priorities.
The à la carte menu is available for guests who prefer not to commit to the full spread. However, the full journey, as the restaurant calls it, is designed to accumulate, each course adding something to the one before it. “This next phase is about clarity,” the Uma Nota team explains. “Not changing who we are, but expressing it with greater intention.”
Explore more of the new tasting menu below.
Uma Nota’s eight-course tasting menu is priced at ₱5,900 per person. Reservations for “A Journey Through Brazilian Japanese Cuisine” are open now at uma-nota.com.ph.
Photos courtesy of Uma Nota
Frequently Asked Questions
Uma Nota Manila is a Michelin-selected restaurant in the Philippines that specializes in Brazilian Japanese cuisine.
The new menu is called A Journey Through Brazilian Japanese Cuisine, an eight-course tasting menu that traces the culinary and cultural dialogue between Brazilian and Japanese food traditions.
The menu includes dishes such as Pastel de Carne with Wagyu, Hamachi Kobujime Tiradito, Atum Nihon, Tapioca Bread, and Lobster em Moqueca, among others.
The tasting menu is priced at ₱5,900 per person.
