Tagpuan, at the corner of Princes and Dowling Sts, opened its doors for its first day of business yesterday.
The premises formerly housed Anatolia Turkish Kebab House, whose operating company was placed into liquidation late last year.
The new business officially took over around the end of last month.
Co-owner Joana Dela Pena said she and her husband emigrated from the Philippines and had both worked in hospitality in Macau for 12 years.
Their head chef had experience working in the United Arab Emirates and Rarotonga.
"We would like to share the good things that we grew up eating with other people and let them experience what we have seen and tasted all throughout our careers."
The restaurant would offer primarily Filipino food as well as a mix of Western and Asian dishes.
They might also put a "Filipino twist" on select food they liked from other countries and serve those up too, Mrs Dela Pena said.
The lease for that premises has now been taken over by the owners of Alto Cafe.
Mrs Dela Pena said they had been searching for a new location for a long time and it would be a big step up from what they were used to — plating and menu-wise.
It all began during a chat over dinner.
"Our head chef’s dream is ... to have a restaurant.
"My husband was already dreaming as well to have one even before we met them as friends.
"So I’m like, ‘since we’re already here, we might have an opportunity to do this’."
The name "Tagpuan" came from the Filipino word for "meeting place".
"We would like our restaurant to be something like a meeting place for everyone to experience not only good food but having good memories as well."
