Ресторан Binondo Boys в Кесоне-Сити предлагает круглосуточное китайское меню в стиле Гонконга

Wrong turn during Chinese craving works out for the better By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter WE WERE on our way to a neighborhood favorite Chinese restaurant last month when a sign down Congressional Ave. led us to Binondo Boys instead. It turns out that Binondo Boys is one of the outlets under Food Records, Inc. (others include a coffee shop and a bar in San Juan), a new venture by Locavore co-founder Mikel Zaguirre. Founded in 2025, the Congressional Ave. branch is its second, after its Sct. Torillo branch. The decor is modeled on those tiny Hong Kong eateries, with those fashionable “difficult” metal burger-bar chairs, tile-topped tables, red lanterns, and some benches upholstered with flour sacks. The menu is also accessed by a QR code (and the app is messy). We went through the online menu (begrudgingly) and ordered the Hakaw (shrimp dumplings), a Crab Roe Bun, a Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup, a White Chicken Rice, and lastly, a Beef Brisket and Tendon Braised Noodle. There are more adventurous choices like their Kare-Kare Noodles (modeled after the Philippines’ peanut-based stew), but we figured, if they can’t do the basics right, why bother with anything new? Reader, despite the QR menu’s inconvenience (well, for us), I was glad to be proven wrong again and again by my selections. The Hakaw was glossy and wonderfully translucent (it’s usually a test for dim sum chefs to create a shell for the dumpling that is both strong enough to withstand being picked up and dipped, yet thin enough for a refined mouthfeel). Despite its refinement, there was still a hint of life and vigor in its taste. The White Chicken Rice, which we ordered for the same pursuit of a mild taste, was its complete opposite (much to our delighted surprise). It is usually a staid affair with steamed or poached chicken, but this one was just so alive with many flavors. The delicate chicken was topped with fried onions and a soy-based sauce, giving it earthiness and depth. The freshly made ginger-scallion sauce (made in-house, as opposed to jarred), gave it spice and pep, all given roundness and completion by a soy egg. The Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup was served with pickled wood ear mushrooms and white kimchi. Our notes said “daaaamn.” This was the dish that made the drive truly worth it. The broth tasted new and with youthful energy, very unlike the star-anise bombarded broths which we’ve grown accustomed to (that broth was what we were craving that night, but we’re now grateful to have been steered in another direction). The broth is silky with rendered fat, a very pronounced umami flavor, and some welcome earthiness (no doubt helped by the thinly chopped mushrooms). And, you know what, the wontons weren’t bad either: they were dense and compact, with a heavy dough that hints of hand-make, accompanied by delightfully springy noodles. We admit the whole bowl could be too rich, but that’s where the pickles come in, and they are effective at cutting the heft. The Crab Roe Bun(s) were tiny little balls in the shape of bigger, traditional buns. They are served on a stick and deep-fried, and we were given a choice of dip (sweet chili oil or wasabi mayo). Each ball felt packed to its limits with crab roe, spurting out into your mouth when you take a bite. Our choice of wasabi mayo was a little bit unorthodox, but, like the rest of the restaurant’s attempt to present a perspective of Filipino-Chinese food instead of being authentically Chinese, it works. The sweetish crab meat complements nicely with the creamy mayo — that is until the sharp heat of the wasabi kicks in, making it sort of a timed bite. We were an easy sell with the Beef Brisket and Tendon Noodles because we happen to like the textures of tendon and the knife-cut noodles they use: curly, pale, and almost perpetually firm. These noodles, served dry with their broth separate, clumped up while we were eating the previous dishes (thanks to the surprisingly quick service). We had to mix them with a little bit of the broth to resurrect them. The course presented a novel way of eating — one dips these noodles in the broth, like one does with a similar Japanese dish. It forces the diner to slow down, so one gets all the nuances, from the slow-braised beef to the spicy sauce, down to the texture of the noodles. It’s a hefty meal all by itself, and we regret ordering and eating it last. We spent roughly around P1,300 for a five-course meal (and we’re slightly miffed that we missed their unlimited dim sum promo). But we can go back again and again: they are, after all, open 24 hours. OPEN 24 HOURS, ‘MICRO DINING’ In an e-mail to BusinessWorld, Mr. Zaguirre told us the pros and cons of being a literally all-day restaurant. “One of the advantages is being able to maximize the lease because you’re operating for more hours. Operationally, though, it can be more stressful because the restaurant doesn’t really stop. It’s a continuous process of cooking, serving, inventory management, and everything else that comes with running a restaurant,” he said. However, “We’ve also discovered an opportunity in what we call micro dining. For quite some time, there has been a gap in the market for mid-range casual restaurants in the P300-P400 range. Now, a P500 meal has become the new benchmark for casual dining. We want to bring that price point back and give people more options within that budget, without having to compromise on the quality of the food or service.” Mr. Zaguirre related this same approach to unorthodox interpretations of traditional cuisine to what he did at Locavore (which did the same, but with Filipino food). “We’re just staying true to how we enjoy things and how we interpret them. We become inspired by what we see, what we feel, and what we eat — and that has been our signature ever since,” he said. “We wanted to appeal to a younger market, so we needed something fresh and new to represent food that is comforting, approachable, and easy to understand. “To me, cooking — whether it’s for families, casual eating, or convenience — is always about the love for cooking and feeding people. That has always been at the heart of what we do,” he said. In opening in Quezon City, he said, “We recognize that the market in Quezon City has been evolving. There is a growing market looking for better options and new gastronomic adventures, which is why we see Quezon City as a major player in casual dining. “And if the opportunity comes for us to bring Binondo Boys to its namesake, Binondo, we would love to take that opportunity as well.” It’s evident that we had a good meal, and we’ve already told friends and family to visit, just in case they have a hankering for something Chinese, but not quite. Binondo Boys has branches at 37 Sct. Torillo St., Diliman, Quezon City and at the Congressional Town Center in Congressional Ave. Check their instagram (https://www.instagram.com/binondoboys) for promos and merch.