New Restaurant Alert: Your Local, Legazpi Village, Makati

Your Local
G/F Universal LMS Building, 106 Esteban Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City
Tel. Nos. 823-6206, 0917-810-9002
Open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Monday to Friday) and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Saturday)

(SPOT.ph) To say that this neighborhood hangout keeps to itself is an understatement. The sign is negligible and one brief moment of inattentiveness and you’ll pretty much miss it. Finding Your Local is like stumbling into it by accident. White subway tiles make for a clean and bright backsplash, but yellow-lit cage lamps maintain the intimate dimness. Loud music blocks out the noise from the nearby open kitchen. Your Local is subdued, effortlessly chill, meek even, but the food is not.

A splash of white subway tiles

The open kitchen

The 32-dish menu boasts of Pan-Asian cuisine prepped with ingenuity and originality. Only a few dishes make up each category, but every dish sounds so mouthwatering that choosing becomes a difficult task. The safe option would be the Pomelo Salad (P190), but what arrives on your table is a very different adventure from the usual. The seeming classic is still dressed in nam jim, but ingredients like winged beans, pickled quail eggs, and coconut ice cream make it a major deviation from what you’ve come to expect from this Thai staple.

Braised Beef Pasta, very similar to bolognese

Chorizo Sandwich

It’s the same case for most of Your Local’s dishes. The comfort in the interiors belie the creativity in their cookery. A rundown of the ingredients that compose the Chorizo Sandwich (P490) quickly reveals that this is not your ordinary choriburger. Tucked inside a squid-ink sesame-seed bun is a homemade chorizo patty, burnt onion and chorizo jam, a slather of cream cheese spiked with pepperoncini flakes, wild rocket, and a sunny side-up egg. Parmesan fries come with the dish, and more of the smoky sausage flavor is imbibed in the side of ketchup that’s been pureed with chorizo. The soft brioche bread has a mild flavor that ties together the bold peppery flavors from the filling.

Beef Rendang Buns

Torched Salmon Donburi

The Beef Rendang Buns (P280) are delightful mantao sliders stuffed with tender beef shreds. The sharpness of kaffir lime, matching pace with equally bright cilantro and pickled cucumbers, pairs well with the spiced notes of coconuts in the protein. The menu will have you in a state of paralyzing indecisiveness, but Chef Denny Antonino makes the Torched Salmon Donburi (P390) an easy choice. Lightly torched pieces of Norwegian salmon, a delicious dollop of mentaiko blended with Japanese mayo, and a bed of ebiko blanket black rice that's been doused with teriyaki sauce. The surprising sweetness from the mushroom rice rounds out the rest of the flavors-heat and brine-and leaves a lingering umami taste that will have you begging for more.

Dark Chocolate Earl Grey Cheesecake Ice Cream

Perhaps the only thing that can curb your donburi craving is the Dark Chocolate Earl Grey Cheesecake Ice Cream (P100), which prompts a different kind of longing altogether. The ice cream's velvety texture drapes on your tongue as it melts away for a pronounced earthy tea flavor. Milk crumbs lend a coarse texture that adds to a more appealing mouthfeel.

It seems strange for a restaurant to not want to proclaim their existence. Where is that large sign? But after trying their thoughtful lineup of dishes, you realize why it would rather keep a low profile-a true laidback neighborhood joint. Besides, it’s an experience you want to keep for yourself.