Filipino food in Japan exists mostly in homey, community-driven spaces¡ªfamily-run eateries, small neighborhood spots, and informal gatherings where Filipinos share familiar dishes with friends and fellow expatriates.

These settings are often casual, sometimes with karaoke, and focused more on comfort than presentation. While such places serve authentic bites, their austere setups may not make an ideal first introduction to someone new to the cuisine. Until recently, Filipino residents of Tokyo often struggled to find a restaurant that could showcase their home country¡¯s cooking in a cozy, stylish setting.

¡°Even the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo had such a challenge (when it came to hosting guests),¡± says John Zinampan.

That¡¯s why Zinampan, 60, decided to plug that gap by opening Bananas, a 46-seater Filipino bistro in Shinjuku Ward, last October.?

¡°We wanted it to feel like a proper restaurant, a place where people can sit, talk and enjoy the food,¡± says Zinampan, a former vice president of an eikaiwa (English conversation) school who ventured into Airbnb hosting before the pandemic upended his business. ¡°We aimed to open something more mainstream, the way other Asian cuisines have (done so) and been accepted here.¡±

Bananas was the result of several years of planning. While searching for a location, Zinampan encountered hesitations from landlords who had the misconception that Filipino food was pungent. He chose to open in central Tokyo despite the cost, citing it as a deliberate choice to ensure wider accessibility beyond the Filipino expatriate community concentrated in Kawasaki. Zinampan sees Bananas as part of a broader effort to introduce Filipino food to a wider audience.?

Bananas departs from the usual format of a Filipino eatery: no buffet, no karaoke. Instead, the focus is on carefully plated dishes. Together with head chef Leo Hermosa and consultant chef Mareve Parajillo-Inomata, Zinampan refined the presentation of Filipino dishes while retaining their core flavors.

Classic dishes such as adobo (marinated meat or seafood simmered in vinegar and soy, from ??1,450), lumpia (crispy spring roll, ??1,250), sisig (chopped and grilled pork mixture seasoned with citrus and chili, ?1,800) and kare-kare (rich oxtail and vegetable stew flavored with peanut sauce, ?3,200) remain central to the menu.?

Zinampan says the bulalo (slow-simmered beef shank soup, ?4,200) and champorado (chocolate rice porridge, ?1,200) are popular because they are comfort foods.

Most of the ingredients are sourced locally, but certain tropical produce have to be imported or replaced with suitable alternatives to keep the overall flavor as authentic as possible. To make the Ube mango sticky rice, for example, mangoes are not always available, requiring frozen options.?

For Filipino condiments and seasonings, Hermosa and Parajillo-Inomata turn to Filipino food store Akabane Bussan and Southeast Asian specialty shop Yaosho.?