For a city that embraces global flavours, the range of Filipino cuisine on offer is criminally stunted, especially when compared to Adelaide’s love affair with Italian, Indian and Asian fusion restaurants.
Bringing the authentic flavour of a cuisine as rich and beloved as Filipino food isn’t always easy to replicate. But Adelaide’s newest Filipino restaurant, Ditobi, believes it has done just that, and it already has the approval of Adelaide based Filipino’s to back it up.
Whether you’re craving Pinoy BBQ pork belly or something classic like Tapsilog, the team behind this family-owned restaurant promises you won’t leave disappointed. Built around Filipino cuisine made with “love, tradition and just the right twist,” the menu feels both playful and self-assured.
Originally from the Pampanga province of the Philippines (often nicknamed the country’s culinary capital), owner Jensen and his family “used the flavours [they] grew up with”, but reimagined them for the new menu.
“Traditional Filipino cuisine, while absolutely delicious, doesn’t always look very aesthetic. With our new menu, we’ve included some fusion elements from other cuisines and given authentic dishes a new take, to elevate them to restaurant quality.”
The team gave me an example of this, showcasing their hot new-take on a ‘Crispy Pork Belly Binagoogan’ – transforming what normally is a delicious stew, into a deconstructed creation, topped with pico de gallo for a fresh injection of colour and flavour.
The family behind the restaurant are already familiar faces in Adelaide’s food scene. They were the minds behind the much-loved Sweet Lemon Patisserie on Unley Road, which developed a loyal following across Adelaide. After closing the doors in 2024, the team took time to reflect, listen to feedback, and refine their vision for their next venture.
“Sweet Lemon did both food and desserts, but we realised it would be better to separate them so we can really focus on traditional Filipino dishes.”
Fans of their original store won’t be left disappointed. The new restaurant brings back several savoury favourites from the original menu, while the team hopes to revive their famous desserts at a new location sometime in the future. But for the minute, they’re focused on delivering Filipino flavours to Grote Street.
“Melbourne and Sydney, and even the United States, have growing Filipino food scenes. We want to bring that to Adelaide,” Jensen explains.
“We’ve been watching what makes those restaurants so popular and now we want to share that with the Adelaide community. Many Filipino restaurants in Adelaide have closed over the years, and the Filipino food scene is… dying”.
Hopefully, with unusual desserts like the Halo-Halo – a traditional Filipino shaved ice dessert layered with sweet potato, banana or jackfruit, beans, jellies and ube jam, literally translating to ‘mix mix’ – it won’t take long for the word to start spreading; Filipino cuisine is something that everyone needs to try.
Alongside the Halo-Halo, guests can also find favourites like Ube cake slices and Ube cake shakes, utilising the traditional Filipino Ube to create that eye-catching purple colour and nutty vanilla flavour that you really can’t get anywhere else. With any luck, could Ube become the next viral flavour like Matcha or Taro, and take over the streets of Adelaide? Well, the Ditobi team are sure hoping that purple is (or will become) the new Green.
Family and Filipino culture are deeply embedded in the restaurant’s concept. Growing up, the team recalls Filipino family dinners as lively affairs filled with large, comforting dishes placed in the centre of the table, with everyone reaching across each other to grab their favourites.
“That’s exactly how we designed the menu,” they say. “You order a range of dishes and place them in the middle, while everyone has their own rice and sides. That way you get to try a bit of everything. That’s how it works at a Filipino table — everyone just grabs bits and pieces. It really brings connection”
That same warm, home-style feeling extends to the restaurant’s interior.
“We wanted the space to feel cosy. Sweet Lemon had a lot of white and more of a retro feel, but here we wanted something warmer and more neutral. We avoided busy patterns and focused on creating a welcoming colour palette.
The result is a space that feels effortlessly inviting. Surrounded by warm timber slats, lush indoor greenery, deep browns and soft greys, all bathed in warm lighting, it’s the kind of place designed to feel like a home away from home.
Find Ditobi at 279 Grote Street.
Ditobi
Where: 279 Grote St, Adelaide SA 5000
When: 11 am – 9pm Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 9 pm Sunday
For more information, click here.
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