Went with no expectations of the food but left with non-stop exclamations of how fantastic the meal was.

We started with the Crispy Palabok – watching how the crispy deep-fried noodles changed into translucent strands, all bathed luxuriously in the umami-laden broth of prawn, cuttle fish and tinapa. Almost like having Hokkien Mee.

The crispy sisig is literally a hot plate of deep fried pork jowl and cheek. It’s mostly crunchy and airy and u might forgot they are actually meat. We were told to crush the chilli but we didn’t.

And for mains, we got Wagyu & Watermelon Sinigang — hefty 300g NZ bone-in short rib in a bold sour tamarind and watermelon broth. This dish is unforgettable because you probably have not taste such a unique way of presenting beef in mid-high end restaurants. The broth is not for the light-hearted and get the garlic rice to pair with it.

Love the casual vibes and great service too

Definitely a place that should be on anyone’s to-try list. Classics made contemporary without compromising on flavors.

Will be right back.

#sgfood #musttry #filipinofood #sisig #sinigang

The watermelon sinigang and sisig is the best. To be honest all the food we ordered tasted great. This two were just my own favorite. The kare kare tasted great too. The sauce is best matched with garlic rice!. Staff was very friendly and ambience is cozy too. We had the opportunity to try one of the desserts that still wasnt on the menu. Thanks to the staff that made it fun to choose from as he told us it was a secret dessert and choose from option A or option B. Lol. It was Ensaymada!! We got excited over it like kids.Lol suprisingly it tasted great too even if its not our common filipino style ensaymada as they used parmesan cheese in it!. My personal favorite in the dessert menu is the buko pie! If you opt to have something a bit of stronger taste palette then have the patis caramel tart as this is made of dark chocolate with some fuse in it. As per the drinks, the ube and buko pandan shake was great too. The ube one definitely tasted like the selecta ube ice cream we have back home. The OGs would know what im talking about when they try this drink. Lol By the way, their dinner menu is different from their lunch one. I guess we gotta go back for lunch next time. As it turns out, my favorite filipino food lechon kawali is on the lunch menu!

If the words ‘elevated Filipino cuisine’ tickle your fancy, you might just want to give this place a go. Hayop combines gives hearty Pinoy dishes a dash of upscale magic and pairs the culinary experience with good ambience an extremely competent service posture. I have to commend our servers here – they were attentive without being the least bit overbearing, and gave us good advice on what and how much to order.

Will definitely be back to try their other dishes.

Liked:
– Cocktails. Wasn’t quite expecting it, but Hayop does their cocktails right. Each cocktail, named for their primary flavor component, is nicely balanced, and incorporates the requisite regional flavors one might expect in such a restaurant. Particular favorites: Alat, a salty margarita-like with salted watermelon notes, and Malinamnam, a refreshing, umami-forward clarified coconut drink. Pro tip: come early (before 7) for some ridiculously discounted HH cocktails.

– Manam’s house crispy sisig. A relatively “safe” version of the dish that only features non-offal bits, but crunchy, savory and moreish with the garlic-flecked sinangag.

– Wagyu and watermelon sinigang. A flagship dish comprising a braised short rib and charred watermelon, doused in a piquant tamarind and watermelon sauce. Interestingly, the charred, maillard flavors are imparted unto the watermelon, not the shortrib – I didn’t feel like the watermelon was that much elevated by the charring, but the shortrib was tender and flavorful despite lacking browning, and but the whole dish comes together nicely with the bracing acidity of the tamarind sauce.

– Ube shake. A bit of an irresponsible post-prandial indulgence, but pretty good. Strong but not overbearing ube flavor and the sago bits were a satisfying textural counterpoint to all that rich liquid.

Alright:

– Crispy palabok. Saw this being ordered by every other table so we decided to try it. It’s certainly a spectacle to see the glass fried noodles being doused in sauce and collapsing into a pile of saucy seafood goodness. Unfortunately, while delicious, the dish went unappetizingly cold very quickly in the aircon-blasted environment. Maybe make the sauce hotter or serve it over a flame or something? It was also very small for the price.

– Watermelon atsara. Interesting use of a commonly discarded part of a fruit to make a refreshing salad. That said, it’s watermelon rind; no matter how you dress it up there’s a ceiling to its flavor. Mostly for palate-cleansing, I think. And it that role it performs admirably.