Private Tour
Private Market Tour and Filipino Cooking Class in Manila with Isi
Overview
Available languages
4 hours 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Enjoy a private and authentic market tour and cooking class with your host Isi, a local food celebrity. This is a perfect experience for anyone looking to connect with local culture over food. Explore a local market and return to Isi's home for a garden tour and cooking class. Isi will teach you to make traditional Filipino dishes from family recipes. After cooking, you will enjoy your meal together in your hosts' beautiful Filipino home, in Taguig, Metro Manila.
• Market tour, garden tour and cooking lesson in a local home
• Introduction to Filipino culture and cuisine
• 100% private activity
• Experience Filipino hospitality in a residential Taguig, Metro Manila neighborhood
• Vegetarian and gluten free options available
This experience is a true glimpse into the Filipino culture and cuisine with a warm and friendly local.
Additional Info
Service animals allowed
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Please note this is not a professional cooking class, rather an insider glimpse into Filipino culture and cuisine with a local expert cook in her home
Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Beer
All Fees and Taxes
Private market tour and Filipino cooking class with your host Isi
Hotel pickup and drop-off
What To Expect
This is a unique opportunity to visit the home of a local and explore traditional culture and cuisine. Visit a local market with Isi and discover local and seasonal produce and ingredients used in Filipino cooking. After exploring the market, ride in Isi's car to her home for your cooking class. First Isi will walk you through her small vegetable garden where she grows lemongrass and calamansi, a distinctive Filipino citrus fruit that she uses to flavor her food. Isi's food is redolent of flavors such as calamansi, garlic, chilies, coconut milk and fish sauce. In her kitchen she will teach you to prepare Filipino family recipes that have been passed down through the generations. You can choose between a hands-on lesson and a cooking demonstration during which you will watch her prepare the meal. Just let her know your preference! After cooking, enjoy the authentic Filipino meal you helped prepare with this warm and fun-loving host at her dining table. Your menu includes a variety of homemade Filipino dishes and concludes with a dessert like calamansi pie.
Sample Menu
starter
Ensaladang pako (fern salad in a calamansi citrus dressing)
main
Ginataang kalabasa at sitaw (squash in a coconut milk stew)
main
Grilled shrimp in a cilantro chimichurri
main
Mechado (soy marinated beef, cooked in an onion and tomato sauce)
main
Inihaw na baboy (grilled pork chops)
dessert
Calamansi pie
Options
Market, cooking and lunch
Reviews
14 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Excellent Culinary and Culture Experience with Isi
NorthStar581019,
Aug 10, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00It was a lot of fun getting to know Isi and cooking with her! As a fil-am, I wanted to learn more about Filipino cuisine an to cook dishes I had not tried before, Isi exceeded me expectations. The day started in a local market and buying ingredients with Isi. Isi is very personable and we both got started talking about our passion of food and the significance it brings to Filipino culture. She asked me about my trip to the Philippines and where I was heading to next. Isi was able to provide great recommendations to the places I would going for the remainder of my trip, including restaurants and artisans. I highly recommend taking this tour at the beginning of your trip in the Philippines so you find gems in the areas you may not have otherwise found. She gave me so many recommendations I'll have to start planning my next trip to the Philippines! As for cooking and the food, it was excellent. Isi provided cooking tips and let me sample several ingredients from around the Philippines. She was able to modify the dishes as there were some ingredients I wanted to try. I came away with a better understanding of Filipino cuisine and my trip was made better through Isi's recommendations. I highly recommend cooking with Isi if you can!
Q4128CPrubyw,
Jul 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00What a fabulous slice-of-life experience! Isi is absolutely lovely and so easy to talk to. This is an excellent activity for the solo traveler (or small group) and awesome for rainy days! I can't recommend the Market tour enough! You get to really see where your food is coming from and get ideas for other meals too. All that before you make it back to Isi's home and get to prepare thoughtfully chosen dishes to suit your tastes. The cuisine is very approachable skill-wise so it is good for all levels of cooking experience. Included in the cooking is plenty of Filipino history and culture that is lovingly shared by Isi. This has to be one of my favorite things that I have done during my time here in Metro Manila.
Such a lovely day 10/10
JoeSummer,
Jun 21, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Isi is incredibly knowledgeable and equally lovely! She is the perfect guide to learn all there is to know about local cuisine as well as endemic produce. I couldn't recommend this experience more, it really was a highlight for me. 10/10 thanks Isi!!
10/10 would go again.
ctlaltboom,
Sep 16, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Isi was easy to chat with very knowledgeable about the cuisine and all of its nuances and the regional differences. All in all it was a great time
Filipino family cooking
Wanderer31600317058,
Jun 8, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Isi had every thing ready so after greeting we got right to cooking. We made several authentic Filipino dishes while learning about the history of the food and its origins. We chopped, stirred and tasted along the way. We made chicken adobo and several other dishes. We can’t wait to cook them at home.
Good Food and a Great Experience.
captainjims2021,
May 20, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Isi's market tour and lunch was fantastic. The market tour gave us a chance to interact with local merchants and see the various meat, seafood and vegetables. We let Isi know what kind of food we wanted (Seafood and Vegetables). Isi purchased the ingredients with us at the Market and we went to her condo to prepare and eat lunch. A great way to spend our travel day in Manila.
Enriching cooking class
Tour11371556454,
May 1, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Isi shared a lot of insights into Filipino cooking and her recipes are unique. The market tour was interesting and the food we cooked were really delicious!
They didn't confirmed the tour, don't book with this operator!
jordipm1,
Mar 3, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
1.00It is incredible, I booked this tour 2 days in advance. I was expected to be on the pick-up place today at 9:30 AM. I asked them a confirmation the night before, got no news. However, it was not until 10:03 AM when I got an email that the tour was declined. What happens if I move to the pick-up location on purpose? Also, who compensates me for having now no plans because I was reserving my reduced free available time for this? In addition to that, they charged my credit card when I booked, they credited it today. However, because the exchange rate I lost money. Really ugly, an horrible service!
Fantastic market tour and cooking class with Isi
187jacobw,
Dec 1, 2022
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Great tour of the market and cooking class with Isi! Food prepared was packed with amazing local ingredients and flavor. Most enjoyable food we had in the Philippines and opened our eyes to Filipino cuisine! Isi is also very friendly and full of Filipino food knowledge being a professionally trained chef and culinary instructor. Highly recommned this tour!
Filipino food cooking, plus a variety of interesting pursuits like Zumba.
Donald L,
Aug 7, 2022
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00Cooking class in a private home was a different experience altogether. Yes, I would do it again but in a different home or place just for the adventure and educational value. My wife does Filipino food cooking on her Youtube channel. Her channel name is called: /emilyleskeglobetrotter if you would like to see a variety of shows from cooking to charity work and she is a licensed Zumba Instructor with free online classes. I am also on Youtube.com as /dleske doing underwater photography, charity work in the Philippines and Mexico plus a variety of odd interests.
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