New restaurant offers a taste of the Philippines in downtown Selma

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

A new Filipino restaurant in Selma is serving up the exotic flavors of southeast Asia in the Queen City six days a week.

The unique taste of the Philippines is on the menu at Bistro Manila in downtown Selma.

“Filipino food is the original fusion cuisine,” said Maria Campo-Nutt. We have the Spanish influence in our food. And then we have the influence of India, east India in our food too, and the Chinese and the Polynesian. Filipinos have a knack of getting what they get from other cultures and turning it into their own.

Filipino food includes the 5 basic qualities of taste. In addition to sweet, sour, bitter and salty — it also includes umami.

“Which is the other taste that is incorporated into our food. And people are like, What is that? Why does it taste so good? So when people come here and they taste the food, they are sure to come back,” said Campo-Nutt.

The restaurant has been open now for about three months. And so far the response from the community has been tremendous.

“To have a good restaurant, a successful restaurant, we’ve learned that it has to be great food, great service, a great atmosphere, said co-owner Ronald Nutt.

“And I think we’re doing pretty well providing those three basics here.”

Bistro Manila is family owned and operated. It’s chance for the Nutt family to share the Philippino culture in Selma — and to help with the effort to revitalize the city’s downtown.

“And a lot of development, centers around the restaurants. There’s a lot of things that go into the development. But having a good restaurant is definitely a key item.

Boba tea is also on the menu at Bistro Manila.

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 2 pm.

The phone number is 760-270-2570.