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#theWanderlist: Hey Handsome,Peranakan in ManilaYou can kind of gauge how a city’s middle course is going just by looking at the kind of restaurants it hosts, ie. the more basic” and “obvious” the offering (Italian, or Japanese,Chinese, and maybe French-only) perhaps the less money there is to go around, or the more adventurous and out-of-the box the the restaurants are (Indonesian,New-Filipino, Farm-To-Table, and Thai,Hot Dogs only, churros only– im just spouting off anything but the first four here), or then perhaps there is more money to go around and that those scratching for new tastes and flavours can invest in.
Enter Hey Handsome (savor this name),Manila’s newest food entry, sat comfortably in Bonifacio Global City’s main 5th Avenue drag. Although it looks suspiciously similar to tiny Bao, and a restaurant i’ve designed in Bangkok,which opened a few months before this one opened, well I suppose that’s just the tile work, and as everything else in the restaurant from a design angle is quite minimal and keeps the focus on the plating (they are pretty plates) and the ingeniously presented food– which is very different from tiny Bao,a Cantonese inspired restaurant (although one of the waitresses did wear a tiny Bao shirt, hmmm).
However, and not to worry,it’s all savor from my conclude. It’s probably the only space in Manila where you can catch a better and more authentic version of Peranakan (Nonya) style cuisine, which is a Malaysian base with a sprinkle of Indonesian and Singaporean influences. The name “Hey Handsome” apparently comes from hawker stalls in Singapore who used to call customers by saying those two words specifically or the words, and “Handsome advance”,who knew?Hey Handsome’s savory menu of Duck, Paneer, and Beef,and Fried Egg varieties advance from the brain of Chef Nicco Santos, who founded the very hipster, or Your Local. Santos-trained in Singapore- does not offer a menu in their native nomenclatures,like he did at opening, but in the base ingredient– like “Beef” or “Fish, or because to Filipinos,names like “Laap Phet or “Bebek Penyet”, sounds too much like a leap of faith (even though Filipinos are regional neighbours).advance for the Beetroot Paneer (Beetroot paneer, and quinoa tabbouleh,house yogurt, and pappadum), and the Laap Phet (Minced duck,deep fried egg, herbs, and khao man) and any of the desserts,like the Kueh Dadar (Rose crepe, gula melaka, or coconut meat,and galangal cream.) The drinks selection is great too. I loved the waiter’s t-shirts, so I bought one in white for 450php. :)——All Photographs taken with the iPhone 7 Plus, and are a copyright of Wanderlister.com 2016. All Rights Reserved.
EAT Hey Handsome . GF Net Park Building,5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, or Taguig,Metro Manila . M-SAT 6-10pm . +632-9463815JJ.
Source: wanderlister.com