Manila Drive (Yishun)

And the quest for Filipino cuisine being served in coffeeshops and food courts continue — we had noticed that several spots that we had visited previously serving up Filipino cuisine had since ceased operations; Jenny’s Kitchen at Sengkang had since converted their operations as one that is online-based, while Roselio’s Kitchen had also seemingly moved out of their previous space in Toa Payoh Central and is now occupied by yet another stall serving up Filipino cuisine known as J&J Foodhub. It does seem that there is a new contender that had entered into the F&B scene serving up Filipino cuisine recently however; Manila Drive is a relatively new addition to the Food Canopy food court situated within Yishun Community Hospital (which is in turn, right beside Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital in Yishun). One thing that is worth noting is that Manila Drive is an halal-certified establishment; one of the rare few Filipino food stalls around the island serving up halal Filipino cuisine. The menu at Manila Drive is split across sections that are dedicated to Mains (which comes with rice), Ala-Carte, Sides, Others and Desserts — while the menu itself does seem to present a wide variety of dishes, do check the items display behind the display shelf as well with the folks behind the counter as not all dishes listed on the menu are available concurrently on any given day. We made our visit to Manila Drive on a weekend lunch service and found out that the stall seemed to have either sold out on many of the food that they are offering on the menu, or serving up a rather scaled down version of their menu considering how they were having their day off for the week the following day.

Having only four (4). Items off their “Mains” section of the menu out of all of the entire list of offerings on its menu to choose from, we found ourselves opting for the safest item and the one that we had been ordering thus far at all of the Filipino establishments that we had visited — the Bicol Express. The Bicol Express at Manila Drive comes as-is with just a portion of rice served by the side — Manila Drive describes their Bicol Express being “savoury chicken” with “a tantalising blend of spicy coconut milk and shrimp paste”. Aesthetically, the Bicol Express from Manila Drive already looks different from those that we have had at other stalls — the one here adopts a pinkish hue, while the halal-certified nature of the establishment also meant that the version at Manila Drive is served with chicken rather than pork. Scooping for a bit of that Bicol Express for our first spoonful, it is noted that it does feel that the Bicol Express here comes with a twist of their own — while the Bicol Express is usually a dish that comes with a slight whiff of green curry fragrance, the rendition here comes without this note that we usually associate the dish with. Instead, it does come with a note of savouriness from the shrimp paste in its finish, rounding off the fragrance of coconut milk that is also added to the dish as part of the cooking process. Despite the use of coconut milk, the entire dish did not feel overly rich; the addition of chili padi helps to bring on a spiciness that really sets off a fiery kick to the tongue — something that is probably manageable for those who are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The use of chicken instead of pork also resulted in somehow more meat being served here than the other establishments which served up the usual pork variant that we had visited thus far; the choice of meat also inherently resulting in a juicier and tender texture as compared to others that we had tried.

During our visit, we had also given their Chicken Afritada a go. For those whom are not familiar with the dish, this is essentially chicken stew featuring a tomato-based sauce and comes with root vegetables such as potato and carrots. This turns out to be a dish that is utterly comforting with its deeper and earthier notes of tangy tomato sauce that was absolutely hearty and kept us going on for more. The consistency of the chicken was decent; the chicken coming bone-in here, though we do note that there are traces of sharp and broken shards of chicken bones that exist on the dish — not something that we are particularly in favour of. With caution exercised though, this can be a dish that those whom are not familiar with Filipino cuisine is likely to appreciate. Filipino cuisine is rather rare around the island as at the time of writing even though there has been a number of such establishments that have been sprouting up all over the island — Manila Drive’s location is however one that is slightly more peculiar considering how it is located within the food court of a hospital; a move made likely to attract the foreign nurses that work in the hospital itself. That being said, Manila Drive seems to be one establishment that does add their own twist to Filipino cuisine; case-in-point would be the Bicol Express that we have had, and there are other dishes such as the Corden Bleu in the “Mains” menu that are seemingly more of a western dish rather than a Filipino one. It is a pity that we aren’t able to try a good variety of dishes that they offer considering what was available for the day when we made our visit. That being said, prices of the dishes at Manila Drive range from $4.80 to $7; a rather reasonable price range though not the most wallet-friendly. A decent choice offering something different that is worth considering for those whom are adventurous enough to give Filipino cuisine a go.