Quezon City is one of the best places in Metro Manila to eat Filipino food at its most honest and least expensive. The dining scene ranges from market eateries near the Quezon Memorial Circle to the independent restaurants packed along Maginhawa Street in Teachers Village.
Maginhawa Street is the city's unofficial food district — dozens of small restaurants and themed cafes in a compact strip, most of them good value. The food runs from Filipino home cooking to Japanese, Korean, and dishes that resist any single label. Katipunan Avenue near the UP campus has more of the same, aimed at the student population and priced accordingly.
For traditional Filipino food in a market setting, the eateries in and around the Farmer's Market in Cubao are excellent — turo-turo (point-point) counters with daily specials of adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, and grilled fish. Cheap, fast, and genuine.
Xiao Bai on Maginhawa is a reliable spot for Filipino-Chinese comfort food — congee, dimsum, and pork dishes at prices that have barely changed in years. Silly Korean on Katipunan is one of the better Korean restaurants in the Metro. The Aristocrat on Commonwealth Avenue has been serving classic Filipino cuisine since 1936 and is still one of the most satisfying places to eat chicken inasal or kare-kare in the city.