MANILA, Philippines — Foodies have been flavor-hunters ever since food parks started sprouting like mushrooms. Food Hive, one of the newest go-to places for those want to satisfy their cravings, featuring young Filipino chefs like Rosebud Benitez, Jonah Trinidad, Ed Bugia, and Niño Laus, and Instagrammable interiors.
Food Hive boasts the following trailblazers:
Po Bo
Potato Bomb (Po Bo, for short) is a fries stall popularized by renowned Filipino chefs Rosebud Benitez-Velasco and Jonah Trinidad. It offers breaded and deep-fried mashed potato with corn kernels, ground beef, caramelized onions, and homemade cheese sauce.
Blaze Flaming Sizzlers
Just when you think you’ve tasted it all, chef Ed Bugia’s Blaze Flaming Sizzlers serves up rare versions of Filipino sisig with its Seafood Gambas, Steak and Cheesy Chicken n’ Corn. There’s also Sizzling Bulalo Sisig — pork sisig with roasted bone marrow — and homemade gravy is poured over all the hot plates to up their sizzle factor.
Crazy Mezzy Pizza
For Crazy Mezzy Pizza proves that “not all things messy are disgusting.” For its owner, Loris Azarro Santos, the savory taste of their pizza comes from its “craziness and messiness.” Considering himself a millennial chef, Loris conceptualized an extraordinary pizza with “crazy cuts and messy cheese.”
Dick Waffles
“We serve here something unique that will make you crazy,” is the promise at Dick Waffles, which reimagines the snack in queer shapes and three flavors: White Chocolate Truffle, Nutella Smores, and Oreo Caramel Fudge.
La Carnita Modern Mexican Cantina
You haven’t eaten nachos until you’ve tried grilled nachos. La Carnita Modern Mexican Cantina is the only eatery that offers this snack: the first-ever Grilled Nachos ala Bomba, a bestselling combination of mozzarella strings, cheddar, and cheese sauce with Mexican beef.
Rey’s Rock and Roast
Mark Terrence Law is another food trendsetter, combining Filipino Southern and European food. Their bestseller, called Party Boat, which is good for five to six persons, is a slab of pork belly with whole roast chicken, salted egg and tomato, plus ensaladang talong and atsara.
Named after the Food Hive’s owner, Rey Choachuy, Rey’s Rock and Roast also offers mouthwatering Slow-roasted Southern Chicken, Herb-Roasted Pork Belly, Tequila Lime Chicken, and Rum Cola Pork Belly.
Pappare Ristoranti
“What sets us apart is that we make our own dough,” Gem Tee explains. “We make everything from scratch.”
Pappare Ristoranti prides itself on its Crabonara Pasta, made with a crab fat and meat, and homemade bacon. Also on the menu are the Indonesian dish Mee Gamberi Goreng, Meatball Colazione and Panini de Porchetta. “These foods are so unique that customers will definitely try them at first glance,” Gem says.
Tina & Son
Filipino dishes in a food park get noticed when they add a modern twist. The best example for this is Tina & Son’s Beef Pares with Marrow and Tendon. They have also played around with Daing na Bangus and paired it with ensaladang kalabasa.
“They’re all family recipes that are not commonly seen in other restaurants,” owner Cristina Del Rosario says.
Originally named Goatcha, because they serve mainly goat-meat dishes, Tina & Son now includes modern Filipino comfort food like longganisa from Cabanatuan and lamb steak with garlic and rosemary.
Above Sea Level
Above Sea Level is a food shack that specializes in fresh and affordable seafood. In a sea of restaurants and food trends, they stick to all-time favorites such as shrimps, mussels, crabs and squid.
For those who want all kinds of seafood in one dish, the Seafood Boodle consists of crabs, shrimps, mussels, corn and java rice good for three, with a signature sauce made from crab and shrimp fat.
Mozafrio Manila
Trisha Cuevas, who’s accredited by The Korean Cooks Federation, quenches customers’ thirst with drinks stall Mozafrio, offering Frappuccinos, Ice Blended drinks, Mozaslushies and hot or iced coffee (made from beans from the Kalinga mountains) that can be paired with their bestselling Mozasstuffed bread and Chur-O-Nuts, a churros/donut dough mixture available In different flavors.
Mozafrio’s Freak Frappe is an oversized coffee-and-whipped cream beverage topped with different pastries from Trisha’s hometown, Pampanga, and other parts of the Philippines. They also offer regular frappes and milk teas that can be customized with add-ons like cookies, brownies, other pastries, chocolates and marshmallows.
“When we serve the drinks, you’ll really notice customers’ reactions,” Trisha says. “That’s the happiest part for us. Apart from the presentation, we also get good feedback on the taste, so we’re very happy.”
Habib Kebab House
Habib Kebab House offers authentic Middle Eastern cuisine such as Habib Special Rice Beef Kebab, Shawarma Rice, Beef Biryani, Oxbrain with Bread, and Keema with Eggplant.
Other must-tries are the Habib Special Chicken Salad and the Yoghurt Shake drink, which can be either sweet or salty.
Spice Guys
Spice Guys lets you create your own bowl of noodle soup: choose from Hong Kong egg noodles, chili noodles and rice noodles; pick a broth — Szechuan Malatang, Penang Laksa, Taiwan Satay or Classic Chicken — and top it off with sliced chicken, beef brisket, a Taiwan pork chop or mixed seafood. Of course the most important choice is the spiciness level: choose from Cool Guy, Spice Guy, Hard Core and To Hell and Back.
Juicifi
To accompany Food Hive’s food selections, Juicifi curates drinks from well-loved fruits such as Green Apple Lemonade, Brazilian Style Lemonade, and Cucumber Basil with Lemongrass. It also serves fresh brewed iced teas, fresh milk, a cocoa series, iced coffee and soda floats.
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Food Hive is located at 82 Visayas Ave, Quezon City, and is open from Monday to Sunday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.