“Tadhana: A Meal Seasoned by Fate”
If tadhana means “destiny” or “fate,” then it was only a matter of time before I was meant to dine at Tadhana in the Lower East Side. I’ve seen this particular restaurant circulating on my social media accounts over the last couple of months, and I’ve attempted to bookmark it every single time – only to realize that I had already done so. Not only is the food attractive and well-plated, it looks intriguing – in a way that makes one wonder what the dish you’re staring at through the screen actually tastes like.
So when our Editor-In-Chief, Milly Lee told me she secured a Resy for Tadhana on October 10th, it was an immediate yes. At $165.00 per person, you’re served 13 courses over the course of the entire evening.
Here’s a rundown of everything we got:
At the moment they only have mocktails, so we started off with two non-alcoholic drinks: a Dalanghita Sampaguita Iced Tea, with notes of tangerine, orange, lime, and jasmine, and a Guyabano Pineapple Gazoz, which had soursop, roasted pineapple compote, vanilla, and Topo Chico. Between the two drinks, I slightly preferred the iced tea. Although a bit safer and predictable in flavor, it drank more smoothly than the Gazoz, which had chunky pieces of very sweet pineapple that kept getting stuck in the straw.
photography by Calvin Hu
We started with bread service featuring a Pan de Sal (Filipino Bread and Butter), a soft Hawaiian-roll like bread that was served with cultured butter and itlog na maalat, or salted egg shavings. It was a nice way to start the meal and opened us with a very friendly and familiar first bite.
Our next dish was a Sinuglaw (Ceviche) of kanpachi and jowl, which was served with pinakurat, a fermented coconut sap vinegar. This dish was definitely one of our favorites and was a great first bite. It was nicely balanced: the acidity had a great floral and punchiness, and you could tell that there was a great amount of care and detail put into every element of this dish. For me, this is where Chef Frances’ expertise and many years working in a sushi restaurant really showcased itself.
Next was their famous Inasal Na Relyenong Pakpak (Stuffed Grilled Chicken Wings), which is a dish that simply looks enticing. The filling was made with a Filipino meatloaf called embotido, papaya, and “tender, juicy hot dogs!” (see the top comment on her Bon Appetit video). One of the most eye-catching dishes, this was one of the dishes I felt had one of the strongest reimaginings. There was a slight nostalgic flavor profile to the meatloaf stuffing in a way that kept us scratching our heads, wondering what was actually familiar about it. On top of that, this chicken wing had a perfect texture and flavor, which made me want to abandon my fork and knife, and just dig in with my hands to clean this bone dry.
After this was arguably the most iconic and refined dish of the evening, the Penoy (Duck Egg Custard), served with Ostera Noir Caviar, kabute (mushroom) veloute, and a pickled jicama flower. A younger version of the famous balut, it’s kind of a play on chawanmushi, but served arpége egg style in the actual eggshell! The custard had a strong earthy note but finished super smooth on the palate.
Our next dish was the Inihaw Na Liempo (Grilled Pork Belly) which is served with banana ketchup and bansik vinegar. For both me and Milly this dish was quite good – the pork was well cooked and the presentation was beautiful– but the house-made hot sauce they paired this with really stole the show!! It was heavily vinegar-based and spicy in a way that made us whisper … “Do you think they’d give us a bottle of this to go?”
The next dish, was the Maya Maya (Snapper), was served with a burong mustasa, or a marinated pickled mustard green, a smoked kamatis (a Filipino heirloom tomato variety), and peekytoe. Out of all the dishes of the evening, this is the one I would’ve picked to be the least successful. There was something overwhelming about the sauce – that left me really full after a bite or two of the fish. Maybe there was just an unfamiliar flavor profile, but it was the only dish from the entire menu where I didn’t want to lick my plate clean!
After this, we had a trio of more dishes called the Ka-Si-Lay Trio, which included kanin (rice), sabaw ng bulalo (bone broth), and gulay (seasonal Filipino vegetables). These presented themselves as more humble dishes, not serving the same star-studded quality as the two dishes before, but… tell me why we enjoyed these so much! (And perhaps even more than some of the proteins before) At this point in the evening, I didn’t realize we'd had so much food unaccompanied without a starch pairing – so when they lifted the lid to their rice dish, it was a glorious moment … which didn’t last long since we scarfed that rice down!
We ended our savory dishes on a high note with a modern take on Kaldereta, which featured a Koji duck breast cooked to perfection, a side of sweet peppers, and toyomansi (Filipino dipping sauce). It’s hard to go wrong with a hearty dish like this, and I can see why they chose to end with something so classic. In case any guest was still a bit hungry or wanted something more filling, this did the job.
Then we moved into dessert with a small frozen bite of Halo Halo (Mix-Mix) with langka, evaporated milk. Honestly, we should’ve known something frozen with liquid nitrogen would be so cold, but this item could’ve come with a trigger warning for sensitive teeth! A fun spin on the traditional concept of the famous dish, this version was made from jackfruit. I will say that while this was wildly creative, I felt slightly misled as a guest. I was kind of looking forward to something that I’d actually be able to mix together, as opposed to a small one-bite situation. In a way, I was kind of reminded of a certain bibimbap dish that Chef Edward Lee made on an episode of Culinary Class Wars Chef, where the essence of the dish – the core action of mixing the elements together – was missing.
This feeling of wanting more was easily swept to the side our next course because it was my absolute favorite bite (and MIlly’s as well!) of the entire evening – the Ensaymada (Buttercream, and Brioche) with kinako, coconut Marshmallow fluff, and chevre. The perfect balance of sweetness, saltiness, and funk, it’s hard to describe how good this bite actually was! The marshmallow fluff was almost meringue-like and was so satisfying that I would immediately want to go back for the next bite. Honestly, I would go back to having this dish alone.
Congratulations are in order for Tadhana, which was added to the Michelin Guide in September 2024, only five months after opening. We wish them the best of luck in potentially nabbing a coveted star in the future. Fingers crossed! To learn more about Tadhana, check out Bon Appetit’s feature check out this video here!