Straightforward: Hey Handsome
Hey Handsome
G/F, Net Park Building, 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Judging from the name alone, I knew this restaurant will greatly impress my tastebuds.
Our friend arranged a reservation at Hey Handsome and invited us for dinner. There are 2 seatings 6pm and 8:30pm, and we were placed at the latter time slot.
Thursday came, and I was just so excited that I checked the menu. I am not familiar with Asian cuisines other than the usual Chinese, Filipino, Japanese and the like, so I'm glad my nose didn't bleed by just staring at their menu. I felt so stupid that I didn't know what exactly each dish is composed of, even if the ingredients were written, so I started googling each of them just for me to know what to expect.
Okay, I gotta admit, the punctuality of this restaurant is highly admirable, as our table was ready by 8:30pm.
After we settled, we were approached by one of the staffs carrying the menu board. He explained each of the items to us. We ordered each of the main dishes: the duck, the lamb, the paneer, the beef and the fish, and two of the small plates: the soft tofu and the fried egg.
After our ordering session, we then had a little chat with one of the restaurant's men. We discovered that Hey Handsome is the sister company of Your Local, a restaurant by chef Nico. And oh, for those who are wondering, the name "Hey Handsome" was derived from a practice in Singapore wherein servers would try to catch a passersby's attention by shouting the phrase.
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| Soft Tofu P280 |
(Kinu tofu, house soy, century egg, bonito)
This is not the typical bland tofu. They were able to combine it with elements that made it scrumptious. Who knew that tofu can be this exciting?
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| Fried Egg P250 |
Fried egg, herbs, cili padi, nuoc cham.
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| Lamb P640 |
(Deep fried white peking duck, duck egg, nasi ulam (rice with herbs), achar)
The duck was good. It was soft while the skin was a little crispy. It had the sweet and salty taste. The serving size is big.
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| Duck P780 |
(Braised lamb, buah keluak (poisonous fruit), nasi ulam, kerupek)
The lamb was okay. It didn't have the same appeal to me compared to the other dishes.
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| Beef P700 |
(BBQ beef short ribs, khao man, som tam (green papaya salad))
My favorite! The beef was so tender and flavorful. It had the sweet and salty taste that I loved pairing with the rice.
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| Paneer P560 |
(Beetroot paneer, quinoa tabbouleh(veggies), house yogurt, pappadum)
This had a distinct flavor from the rest of the dishes. It was lighter, compared to the other dishes that all had bold flavors. We also loved this one, and I really thought I wouldn't since it's a vegetarian dish. This just surprised me. It's nothing I imagined.
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| Fish P700 |
(Seabass otah, nasi lemak (coconut rice), ikan bilis brittle, sambal, pickled egg)
The fish is another one of the bests. The coconut rice is just delicious, while the soft fish had some spice to it. Perfect combination.
The fish is another one of the bests. The coconut rice is just delicious, while the soft fish had some spice to it. Perfect combination.
After taking down the dishes, we were offered some dessert. We chose the yogurt and the durian cream puff.
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| Yogurt P200 |
(House yogurt, black sesame, beetroot)
This dessert is the perfect way to end your meal. The thickness and sourness of this yogurt separates it from all yogurts that you might have tried. The black sesame adds that crunch and a little bitterness and sweetness to completely balance out the dish.
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| Durian Cream Puff P250 |
(Durian cream, choux, malagos chocolate)
Okay, I think I've tried durian before as a candy, and I can't say that I liked it. When the durian cream puff was served to us, the smell was just so powerful that it kinda knocks on your nose. And since it was a dessert, I thought I'd like it, but I didn't. Maybe I'm just not getting the hang of durian yet. The dish was bitter. Even the dark chocolate was very bitter, probably the darkest chocolate I've ever tried. I think the dish would be better if they added some sweetness into it to contradict the foul and bitter taste of the durian.
Service was impeccable! And the place looks so lovely. The food is a bit pricey but really surprising and bursting with flavors. Each of the main plates are good for 1 1/2 person but I think I can finish it off on my own.
There's nothing more to say, except that I'm glad I conquered traffic to meet this handsome one.
My score:
Pricing – 3/5
Service – 5/5
Ambiance – 4/5
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