“You’ll
have to try the coffee braised beef hot pot. But don’t forget the buchi; it’s
got Reese’s chocolate filling.” These were words alien yet familiar; the usual
suspects found in a Chinese restaurant’s menu. As Chow Fun’s owner Danio Caw
did his roll call of dishes each came into sharp focus, wheeled in on the Lazy
Susan of my mind. The hotpot, when brought in, was a bubbling bowl of dark
caramel-hued stew meant more for the small, amazing eateries I imagine lining
Beijing or Taipei’s side streets. Instead, it’s off Wilson Street, flanked by a
Chinese herbal drugstore and facing a Buddhist temple.
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| Forget Starbucks, get your caffeine jolt from Chow Fun's Coffee Braised Beef. Right: Modern art - Chow Fun style |
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| Free Zen meditation classes at the Ocean Sky temple facing the restaurant |
Like
other neighbourhood favourites Ristras, Chicken Charlie, and Kanzhu, Chow Fun
is casual modern. Instead of red and gold decor, productions Yue Minjun’s
grinning paintings hang on concrete walls. Chairs are deliberately mismatched,
and so are the overhead lamps, which crowd above each table.
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| Chow Fun's modern interiors by designer Gwyn Guanzon |
As
with interiors so with the menu too: Expect a cross-section of China’s food map
that delightfully goes off-tangent. The tender braised beef could nearly, effortlessly
slide down your throat, but it’s the robust, assertive coffee flavour that
makes it stand out. Duck spring rolls are crisp and oily, kind of like pulutan begging to be hand with a cold
bottle of Tsing Tao. While a mildly gamey taste will coat your mouth, the dish
is served with three sauces – orange, chilli, and vinegar.
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| A duck! Precisely!: Fowl-filled spring rolls with three kinds of sauce |
Bigger
portions include a Lechon Macau on hefty mound of fried rice. It’s a meal on
its own, and while the pork is crisp enough, you’ll want it crunchier if
possible. There’s a pork bun version too for merienda stop-overs.
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| Lutong Macau: There's no secret to Chow Fun's hearty Lechon Macau with rice |
While most
dishes are good, a few are more stellar than most like Chow Fun’s House Fried
Chicken. Don’t let the pedestrian name fool you – this amazing chicken could be
enough to wean most off of their Bon Chon addiction. Without anything else, it
could be the dish most fried chickens could aspire to: juicy white meat under a
crispy skin with excellent texture.It comes coated in pepper and dried plum
powder – think champoy – that reels you in with sweetness, then becomes
peppery, and finally back to sweet.
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| The House Fried Chicken comes coated in powdered plum, and a vinegar dip on the side |
And
the buchi? A molten, gooey Reese’s core left us weak-kneed and pining for more!
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| Chow Fun's buchi comes in two versions: Dark chocolate and Reese's filling. Lord have mercy |
And more there ought to be: Despite not being over six months old yet, and
still refining a fluid menu, Chow Fun shows a lot of promise. Dynamic and
slightly unhinged, upbeat and creative instead of staid, it puts its own stamp
on what Chinese cuisine can and should, proving to us that bending rules are
often fun.
CHOW
FUN Modern Chinese Bistro
Ground
Floor, 103 J. Abad Santos Street, Little Baguio, San Juan City
Tel.
6241009 / 5700826
