A fermentation lab.

Name: Now Now
Address: Ground Floor, 497-C Rosa Building, Calbayog corner L. Esteban Street, Barangay Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, PH
Telephone: +639171646747
Price range: $$

Restaurant Selection, MICHELIN Guide 2027

Calbayog corner L. Esteban
Dinner every night · brunch on weekends

Last hands on the plate. By the time a dish gets here, the lab has already had weeks with it.

Fast food with a slow-food backbone.

Now Now is a restaurant with a fermentation lab behind the pass. Koji, miso, garum and lacto ferments are made in house, then left on the shelf for days, weeks or months until they become something else.

That time goes into the food Manila already knows by heart: sinigang, tinola, machang, dan dan noodles. Every jar on the shelf ends up on a plate. Same dishes. More time.

Amber acrylic chairs in the Now Now dining room — The room

Dried flowers tipped from a glass into a sparkling drink over a clear ice ball at Now Now — The bar

A table at Now Now mid-service — A Wednesday, mid-service

Out of the chamber, onto the board. The cut is broken down the day it is served.

More time. More depth. More acid. More crunch. More of the food we grew up on. Tasting the past is the future. Deeper broths, brighter sour, a crisp that lasts past the last bite. The everyday dishes you know by heart, given more time than they have ever been given.

Familiar food, unfamiliar depth.

Rice in a black paella pan with a roast duck leg, sliced steak with bone marrow and mash, and a bowl of spaghetti at Now Now

Tortang talong okonomiyaki

BaseGrilled eggplant, the way it is made at home

FermentsMiso glaze, koji mayonnaise, lacto chili

FinishBonito, moving in the heat

Koji fried chicken

BaseThigh, brined in shio koji overnight

FermentsShio koji, fermented chili dip

FinishRested on the rack so the crust stays loud

Arancini, pickled shallot

BaseRice, koji butter, cheese

FermentsGarum in the sauce, lacto shallot on top

FinishEaten in two bites, ideally

The menu moves with the ferments, so no two visits read quite the same. Machang, dan dan chao mian, tuna crudo and the gochujang cookie come and go with what the lab has ready.

Portioned by the gram. The same scale the lab uses for salt and koji, now weighing out the night.

A small team, each running their own corner.

Bryan is in the lab as Director of Fermentation, Maxine on brand and incubation. In the kitchen, Executive Chef Mateusz Łuczaj and Executive Pastry Chef Lisane Łuczaj pair Polish craft with the Filipino and Japanese food we grew up with, while Chino Recto, Director of Service and Ethos, keeps the room as considered as the plate.

Bryan and Maxine KongCo-founders · also the team behind Kurimu

Chino RectoDirector of Service and Ethos

Book your seating.

Two seatings every night, brunch on weekends. Walk-ins get the next free table, and the four bar seats face straight into the kitchen.

DinnerEvery night · 6:00 and 8:15 PM

BrunchSat and Sun · 11:00 AM and 1:15 PM

Parties of 7+reserve@nownow.ph

Waitlist+63 917 164 6747 · Instagram

Your confirmation arrives by email with a link to move or cancel the booking yourself.

"Actively applying fermentation techniques to Asian favourites."The MICHELIN Guide

"A fermentation experiment that aims to start a culinary movement in the metro."BusinessWorld

"Fast food flair with slow food science."Philippine Daily Inquirer

"Where food meets art."Esquire Philippines

Also featured in Spot.ph Cosmopolitan PH

Questions people ask before they come in.

What is Now Now?

Now Now is a contemporary canteen and fermentation lab in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, where every dish is built on house-made ferments including koji, miso, garum, tempeh and lacto fermentation. It is selected in the MICHELIN Guide 2027.

Where is Now Now located?

Ground Floor, 497-C Rosa Building, Calbayog corner L. Esteban Street, Barangay Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Street parking is available around the Rosa Building, and ride-hailing drop-off at the corner is easiest at peak hours.

When is Now Now open?

Dinner seatings run every night at 6:00 PM and 8:15 PM, starting November 9, 2026. Brunch seatings run Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 AM and 1:15 PM.

Do I need a reservation at Now Now?

Reservations are free and confirmed instantly through the booking widget at nownow.ph. Walk-ins are accepted when tables are available, and seats are kept at the bar overlooking the kitchen. For parties of seven and above, email reserve@nownow.ph.

What kind of food does Now Now serve?

Asian favorites elevated through live cultures: dishes like tortang talong okonomiyaki, tuna crudo, socarrat rice with river prawn and koji fried chicken, all built on the house fermentation lab. The menu moves with the ferments.

What is koji, and why does Now Now use it?

Koji is rice or barley grown with the mould Aspergillus oryzae, the same culture behind miso, soy sauce and sake. Now Now grows its own and turns it into shio koji, miso, garum and amazake, which add depth, tenderness and savor to familiar Filipino and Asian dishes.

Is Now Now in the MICHELIN Guide?

Yes. Now Now is selected in the MICHELIN Guide 2027, noted for actively applying fermentation techniques to Asian favourites.