Chef Janu Belardo Puts a Filipino Spin on Modern Dining at Quezon Club

There is something unmistakably Filipino happening inside the kitchen of Quezon Club at Solaire Resort Quezon City.

Behind the scenes, jars of fermenting chilies, fruits, rice, and vegetables line the shelves. Bottles of coconut vinegar and garlic infused oil sit within reach. Calamansi, atsara, panutsa, pinakurat, and other familiar Filipino ingredients are being transformed into sauces, condiments, marinades, and finishing touches.

At the center of it all is Chef January “Janu” Belardo, whose new menu brings Filipino flavor and culinary tradition into a contemporary Western setting.

As Solaire Resort Quezon City’s youngest and first female Chef de Cuisine, Chef Janu is helping shape the next chapter of Quezon Club, a destination that has spent nearly a year establishing itself as one of Quezon City’s lively dining and nightlife spots.

The venue has become known for nights filled with food, music, dance, comedy, and performances by local and international acts. Now, its culinary direction is taking an exciting turn.

A Filipino Point of View on Western Cuisine

Quezon Club’s earlier culinary program focused largely on European and American cuisines. Chef Janu is now bringing a distinctly Filipino perspective to the menu without simply recreating traditional Filipino dishes.

Instead, she starts with the ingredients and techniques that are deeply familiar to Filipino kitchens, then gives them a contemporary setting.

“Instead of focusing solely on Western or American cuisine, we’ve infused Filipino influences, not by replicating traditional dishes, but by highlighting local produce and applying techniques like fermentation, preserves, pickling, and marination. From vinegars and sauces to doughs, everything is made in-house,” Chef Janu shares.

It is an approach that allows Filipino flavors to take center stage while giving her plenty of room to play with texture, acidity, sweetness, spice, and depth.

And much of that creativity begins long before a dish reaches the dining table.

Inside Chef Janu’s Flavor Filled Kitchen

Step inside the kitchen and the process behind the menu quickly becomes apparent.

Fermenting chilies and vegetables are carefully monitored. Fruits and rice are given time to develop deeper flavors. Homemade vinegars and sauces are prepared in-house, while traditional Filipino ingredients become foundations for new dishes.

Spicy buro, for example, brings the character of fermented rice and spices to the Grilled Octopus.

Calamansi adds brightness. Coconut vinegar brings acidity. Panutsa contributes a natural sweetness. Atsara provides a familiar tangy note.

Each ingredient has a purpose, but together they tell a larger story about Filipino cooking and the possibilities that come with looking at familiar flavors from a different angle.

Filipino Street Food Gets a Sophisticated Makeover

Some of Chef Janu’s most playful ideas can be found among Quezon Club’s bar bites.

The menu takes inspiration from Filipino street food and turns those familiar flavors into polished plates designed for a modern dining room.

Oysters draw inspiration from isaw and come with Chef Janu’s signature SAUCE MARIA!, her take on a house vinegar blend. Grilled pork barbecue becomes an elevated pica-pica, while kinilaw-inspired flavors add a bright and refreshing element to the menu.

Even dessert gets a Filipino touch.

The Burnt Basque Cheesecake is finished with grated asin tibuok, adding a savory contrast to the rich and creamy dessert.

These are not straightforward recreations of Filipino classics. Instead, Chef Janu uses familiar ingredients and flavor profiles as creative starting points.

The result is food that can feel nostalgic in one bite and completely unexpected in the next.

Designed for Long Nights and Good Company

The new menu also reflects what Quezon Club is all about: bringing people together.

Chef Janu has created the mains with sharing in mind, making them ideal for groups who want to order several dishes and enjoy them around the table.

The new Grand Seafood Tower takes that idea even further, creating a centerpiece made for gathering, conversation, and leisurely dining.

It fits naturally into the atmosphere of Quezon Club, where dinner can easily turn into drinks, live entertainment, and a night that continues well beyond the last course.

Whether guests are coming in for a full dinner or dropping by for bar bites before the evening's entertainment, the menu gives them plenty of reasons to stay a little longer.

Filipino Ingenuity Meets Modern Culinary Craft

What makes Chef Janu’s approach particularly interesting is the balance between technique and familiarity.

Her kitchen may use contemporary Western methods, but the ingredients tell a very Filipino story.

Fermentation, preservation, pickling, marination, homemade sauces, and local produce become part of a larger culinary language. Rather than treating Filipino cuisine as a separate category, Chef Janu incorporates its flavors and techniques into the broader identity of Quezon Club.

For her, the kitchen is both a playground and a laboratory, a place where ingredients can be tested, transformed, and given new life.

That spirit is reflected on every plate.

Quezon Club Enters Its Next Culinary Chapter

After nearly a year of establishing its place in Quezon City's dining and entertainment scene, Quezon Club is continuing to evolve.

Chef Janu Belardo’s new menu adds another layer to that evolution, combining Western culinary techniques with the bold, bright, savory, sweet, sour, and deeply familiar flavors of the Philippines.

It is a menu built for sharing, conversation, late nights, and curious appetites.

And perhaps most importantly, it shows just how much room there is to reinterpret Filipino ingredients without losing the character that makes them special.

For reservations at Quezon Club, visit https://www.quezonclub.com/, call +63 2 8888 8888, or email snrestaurantevents@solaireresort.com.

Quezon Club at Solaire Resort Quezon City

1 Solaire Way, Vertis North, Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City 1105, Philippines

+63 2 8888 8888

solaireresort.com