Kusinata: A Culinary Gem in the Mountains of Negros Occidental

Kusinata is a gorgeous restaurant located in the mountains of Don Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental, Philippines. This roadside restaurant offers fantastic views along with great food. This is definitely worth the 45-minute drive from Bacolod City.

Kusinata is not just a restaurant; it also provides livelihood to the local Ata indigenous people of Don Salvador Benedicto. They have an area where their products are displayed, as well as employing them as cooks and waitresses!

The best place to sit in Kusinata is actually out on the viewing deck, where there are tiny tables. The tables are just enough for two people, so if you have a big group, you can sit at one of the larger spaces and then go two at a time out on the viewing deck. Likewise, since this is the most scenic spot in Kusinata, you can have a fantastic view of the Matan-og waterfall and the mountain rainforest out on the viewing deck of Kusinata.

The food at Kusinata is awesome! The food is best described as a native fusion; modern Asian cuisine and European dishes are blended together using local ingredients harvested from the mountain. Surprising, delicious, and it works! We ordered the chicken curry budbud. It is an Asian chicken curry with assorted vegetables and shoots with a side of sticky rice cake (budbud) and all served on a banana leaf. Overall, the dish was plated attractively and beautifully. The curry wasn’t spicy—more like a Japanese curry—and the combination with the budbud was interesting.

Kusinata has the most amazing salad. We highly recommend their Paco Paco salad topped with crispy pork (bagnet)! Paco Paco is called the vegetable fern in English, and the young and tender tops are harvested from the rainforest to make a salad. If you’re new to eating Paco Paco salad, the ferns are slightly more fibrous than normal vegetables but still tender and good to eat. The salad dressing makes the ferns super tasty, and if you pair it with the crispy pork, it’s a heavenly match. Crispy Kare Kare is a popular dish that deconstructs the ingredients of the popular Kare Kare (a Filipino peanut stew).

Kusinata’s version serves a massive hunk of deep-fried pork on top of a bed of peanut sauce, eggplants, and vegetables. To add a bit of taste is a dollop of bagoong or shrimp paste. The kare kare is very different from what you’re used to due to the local ingredients. There’s less salt, and the peanut sauce doesn’t taste like it came from a powdered mix.

Kusinata also has a popular Asian dish on the menu: the salted egg fried chicken. These are chicken strips, breaded and deep-fried with a sauce of salted egg (from a mix) and a side of paco paco salad. We love fried chicken, and the combination of the salty egg and breaded chicken is extremely good. Kids will like the fried chicken and might be tempted enough to try a few bites of the paco paco salad. This is a very cheerful and attractive-looking dish.

For dessert, we had Kusinata’s bread and butter pudding with their dulce de batwan. It’s a slice of pudding with a sweet-sourish sauce made of milk and batwan. Batwan is a native fruit that is commonly used as a souring agent in soups like Kansi. It’s a nice dessert and one of the things you must try when you visit Kusinata. Kusinata is a great place that offers awesome dishes along with a great view. It is definitely a must-visit place whenever you’re in DSB. However, it can get a little too crowded, especially during the holiday season and on weekends. The best time to experience Kusinata would be on a weekday to be truly “far from the Madding crowd.”