In 2023, the best restaurant in the world was in Peru. Pope Leo XIV was still Robert Francis Prevost, then bishop of Chiclayo.
The world’s eyes were on Central, a restaurant serving contemporary Peruvian cuisine in Lima. It was run by renowned chef Virgilio Martinez, who had the honor of leading the first Latin-American establishment to be named in the World’s 50 Best. It was also the first time a restaurant outside Europe and the United States topped the awards.
Two years later, the top prize still belonged to Peru — this time naming Maido in Lima as the number one restaurant in the world.
Peru is riding a wave, albeit a ripple compared to the tsunami of K-Pop; but isn’t it cooler to surf on swells without a million others fighting for the same wave? And now, Cebuanos have the opportunity to taste the legend of Nikkei cuisine: the celebrated fusion of Japanese techniques with Peruvian ingredients, born from the integration of Japanese immigrants into Peru.
The chef
“Nikkei has two souls: the Peruvian and the Japanese,” said Chef Rodrigo Serrano of DIP Nikkei. Despite the playful Nihongo-inspired logo, the restaurant at Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort is not your typical Japanese-food stop. You won’t find ramen or teriyaki bowls here.
Nikkei cuisine is more expansive — and more mysterious. It is the natural blending of Japanese technique and Peruvian ingredients shaped by over a century of Japanese migration to Peru beginning in the early 1900s.
“But since the Philippines is closer to Japan, we try to focus on the Peruvian way here at the restaurant,” Serrano said. “We source local produce. For instance, for our catch of the day, we use Grouper, Maya-Maya, Katambak — the octopus is from Manila but still from local waters. The General Santos tuna was a big surprise when I arrived. Tuna is the most important fish in Japanese culture.”
Since its opening in April 2024, DIP Nikkei has consistently impressed. Under Serrano’s direction, the restaurant showcases refined Peruvian–Nikkei expressions supported by his experience across kitchens from Mexico and Singapore to France and Africa.
That growth has earned it recognition: DIP Nikkei was named a Michelin Selected restaurant in the 2026 Michelin Guide. Serrano once worked under Chef Martinez himself — whose flagship Central holds two Michelin stars, and whose London restaurant, Lima, holds one. Serrano recalls learning how to make cochinillo directly from Martinez, along with lessons from other culinary heavyweights.
Yet despite those credentials, Serrano says it is his work with DIP Nikkei that feels most defining — especially the year the restaurant entered the Michelin Guide.
The food
Fun yet precise. Indulgent but light. Peruvian cuisine excels at this balance and Nikkei even more so. While Peruvian and Nikkei restaurants are rare in the Queen City of the South, the two cultures share surprising similarities: a love for seafood, comfort built on staples and bold, acidic, hearty flavors.
“There is nothing better than local product — it’s seasonal and it’s always fresh,” Serrano said. “Of course, we use some imported ingredients like Hokkaido scallops and hamachi; the beef from Australia is Tajima wagyu — but the rest is practically local.”
This December, DIP Nikkei rolls out a specially curated six-course holiday menu for two titled “Mar-Raíces” (Sea and Roots), a journey through the restaurant’s best expressions.
The meal begins with an otoshi, a seasonal appetizer common in Japanese cuisine.
Then comes the Ceviche Bar, a lively starter of tuna, tamarind and avocado. Next is the Sushi Bar, a shared bowl and a savory reinterpretation of chirashi. Instead of sashimi over sushi rice, the Chirashi del Mar arrives with smoked yellow tiger milk and quinoa crackers.
The third course, Pulpo & Andes, highlights Serrano’s belief that no two octopuses should be cooked the same way. His ideal texture: soft, but not overly tender — with just a hint of snap.
Course four, Shiro Miso & Cod, features Black Cod, Yuzu Beetroot and Chili Miso. Chili is integral to Peruvian cuisine, and Serrano explains the difference from Asia: “We boil the chilis four, five times to get the flavor but not the heat.” The Black Cod is a perfect example of this technique.
While about 70 percent of DIP Nikkei’s menu is seafood, the remaining 30 percent offers equal impact. The fifth course, Seco de Carrillera, presents the restaurant’s famous eight-hour braised beef cheek with cilantro reduction, showcasing the harmony of Peruvian herbs and Nikkei seasoning.
Dessert is Maracuya Mango and Coco — a simple yet stellar trio of Cebu Mangoes, Coconut Sorbet and Dragonfruit foam, topped with nuts and cacao nibs for a final sweet crunch.
The beginning
Even its name, DIP Nikkei, is playful. It nods to sauces and dips, but also, Serrano says, to the idea of going “into the deep” — deep into Peru, deep into produce, deep into flavor.
And perhaps that is DIP Nikkei’s true charm: it is a doorway to a cuisine shaped by migration, memory and mastery; a meeting point between two coasts of the Pacific; a place where Cebu diners can experience both the familiar and the thrillingly new.
Again and again, the dishes remind you: flavors travel. And sometimes, they arrive exactly where they’re meant to be.