The Restaurant With No Name

In Singapore, there is a restaurant that goes by the name of No Signboard Seafood Restaurant. There is a signboard out in front of the restaurant but with the words “No Signboard," perhaps intending to pique the curiosity of diners. Still, even “without a name," the restaurant has gained popularity, some sort of brand recall if you will, and because of its food, has actually made it to the Miele Guide’s list of top restaurants in Singapore. Back here in the crowded streets of Makati, a small, ubiquitious place holds a parallel to No Signboard Seafood Restaurant, in the sense that it does not have a name outside the door. Although I believe this isn’t by the owners’ real intention to not have a name, not even a signboard out in front indicates that behind the cream-colored gates of this typical apartment in a common barangay in Makati lies a fascinating and satisying journey into authentic Hunan cuisine. This is 6404 Camia St. in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati, a stone’s throw away from the swanky Manansala Tower of the Rockwell enclave. Yet on a regular lunchtime, the place is packed with businessmen in crisp white shirts and ties, ladies who lunch, groups of young Chinese mainlanders, plus a few expats, all eagerly scooping rice from the rice cooker in the back, totally involved in taking in the bold flavors of Hunan food that’s being cooked in the back by a Chinese couple who hails from Hunan and Szechuan. I was introduced to the place by a lady friend who herself is a native of Beijing and who happens to have a good nose when it comes to all the fantastic – and inexpensive – restaurants in Manila. I find it strange that she knows more about the good places to dine in here in the city than me. With my full trust and confidence in her taste, I immediately said yes when she asked if I wanted to try spicy Chinese for lunch somewhere near Rockwell. The place is called You Jie Xiao Bao which according to my friend translates to “Top Spice" in Mandarin. The owners of the place are from Hunan and barely know any English, much less, Filipino. They themselves do the cooking in the kitchen at the back and hardly interact with the customers or diners. But with the way the place is drawing packs of diners everyday, you know that this is a place that has earned its reputation simply on the basis of its food. The beginnings of Hunan cuisine go back as far as 2,100 years ago and it has evolved into three distinct styles, 4,000 dishes of which 300 have distinguished Hunan food from other Chinese cuisines such as Szechuan. The food of Hunan is known to be hot and spicy, making use of a lot of dried chili peppers, shallots and garlic, and is remarkably oily and greasy. It is also the most visually appetizing among all the Chinese cuisines as those who prepare it take special care of the food’s color and appearance. Just knowing that this restaurant is a gateway to culinary traditions dating back to 2,000 years before us is enough good reason to give this place a visit. When we tried the dishes, the techniques that make the food here a cut above the rest are certainly there. Starters are usually some Boiled or Fried Dumplings (Php 120) made of minced pork and vegetables, dipped in a sauce of black vinegar and chili. A good way to whet your appetites is also with a serving of the Chinese Pizza (Php 80), a thin pancake of minced green onions and egg, and which takes up an entire plate and portioned just like a pizza. The Eggplant Hotpot, though a tad too greasy, is still one of the best we’ve tried here and at Php 200 an order is good for three to four persons. Their Spicy Cabbage (Php 100), despite looking very much like your “guisadong repolyo" at home, is one of the restaurant’s best revelations. The cabbage is light, not overly-cooked, and the sauce, tasting very much like oyster sauce but with a sprinkling of dried chilies and slivers of garlic, gives this otherwise bland dish a delightful kick. Another dish you must try in this place is the Gong Bao Chicken (Php 180) which has cubes of chicken fillets swimming in spicy sauce along with a generous serving of peanuts. This dish is actually good but we find the peanuts outnumbering the chicken bits which, at the time that we ate, also had a few shards of bones left in them. The Steamed Pork (Php 240) reminds one of stewed pata tim that could double as cuapao filling. The thin layers of fat in the steamed slices of pork liempo have a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and, with the brown sauce with chopped mustasa (mustard leaves) that goes with it, you will easily finish the dish with at least two cups of rice. There are still dishes to come back for here in this restaurant without a name. There is the Duck Hot Pot which a number of bloggers swear by as the best that can be had in this place. And the dishes that the servers themselves recommend such as the Boiled Fish in Sauce, the Steamed Fish Head in hot and spicy sauce, and the Pig’s Legs in Brown Sauce. Beware of the greasiness of the food here, though. Of course, you can always take care of that by drinking lots of house tea or a tall, cold bottle of Tsing Tao beer. However, the best way to counter the spicy and oily food is by eating lots of rice and here in You Jie Xiao Chao, you can have as much rice as you can eat for only Php 20 a bowl. All you have to do is stand up and help yourself to more rice there in the counter at the back. As for the resto’s ambiance, its walls are bare except for a few frames of Chinese art and the table numbers to help the owners match the orders to the tables. There is no music, the only noise you will hear are slurping and the chatter of satisfied diners. The place is clean and airy, a far cry from other Chinese restaurants you would find in downtown Manila or elsewhere in the city. The service is also quick and the servers are eager to help you with your orders. If you want to add some spice into your dining routine, You Jie Xiao Chao is certainly worth a try. For foodies, it gives one the pleasure of knowing a secret place to lure fellow food lovers to and amaze them with your knowledge of good food. For the jaded diners, it presents a delightful journey into a different cuisine that may be familiar but still manages to pull a few delicious and unexpected surprises. At the very least, you will be partaking of Chinese cuisine that’s as real and as unpretentious as can be, and not as expensive as what you’ll get in mainstream Chinese restaurants around the metro. - GMANews.TV