Coming Soon: After a Successful Restaurant Launch, the Askal Team Is Opening a Filipino Rooftop Bar

In the past few years, Filipino food has finally started to get its dues in Melbourne, as well as in Western food media at large.

Kariton, a chain of Filipino ice-cream stores (founded by Michael Mabuti and chefs John Rivera and Minh Duong), and Exhibition Street restaurant Askal (founded by Mabuti, Rivera, bartender Ralph Libo-on and wine director Carlos Consunji), were both instrumental in raising the profile of Filo flavours, dishes and talent in the city.

Next month, the Askal team will open Inuman, a standalone bar with a rooftop courtyard on the upper level of the restaurant.

Libo-on, who is leading the charge at the new venue, says the drinks will be more experimental and use fewer ingredients than the ones found at Askal. In addition to serving organic and biodynamic wines, he plans to focus cocktails on Filipino ingredients including gumamela (hibiscus) grown in the province of Cavite and tapuy (rice wine) fermented in the city of Banaue.

Lambanog, which is distilled from naturally fermented sap from palm trees and is sometimes referred to as coconut wine, will be mixed with calamansi and durian in a twist on the classic Mai Tai called the Tito Ray. It will also be used to spike young coconut sorbet on Rivera’s menu.

Rivera tells Broadsheet the food will be a “liberal play of Filipino pulutan culture”, defined by snacky dishes meant to be eaten with drinks. He’ll also draw inspiration from tapas, pintxos and antipasti with Marcona almonds fried with a chilli-garlic crisp, and olives marinated in adobo oil.

“Inuman is a Filipino word that revolves around drinking,” says Libo-on. Translations differ depending on where you are in the Philippines, but the word can mean “beverages”, “a place of drinking” and “drinking session”.

Both Libo-on and Rivera were raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, and their Filipino-Kiwi upbringings will come through at Inuman (“Inu” is also the Māori word for “to drink”). For example, there’ll be duck liver parfait with Aotearoa favourite feijoa jam on a toasted youtiao (Chinese doughnut), as well as a cocktail that uses Kiwi soft drink L&P.

Inuman is expected to open at 167 Exhibition Street, Melbourne this October.