New space, new look, new chef, and a new food philosophy that dares with something quite not your usual cuisine: a memory-driven menu that incorporates and elevates Filipino and Chinese flavors.
Black Sheep, the restaurant formerly in BGC, has re-opened. It is now located in Makati at a space befitting of hidden gem status: along Pasong Tamo, the automotive store street, and in the same building as a tile store, a gym, and the main headquarters of a cookie company. The restaurant has a new straightforward look to it, modern yet warm and welcoming to guests.
Chef Patrick Go is now at the helm of Black Sheep, and he shares to us his philosophy of memory-driven cuisine in bites and spoonfuls. "When we transfered, we kept the name," Chef Patrick shares, "and I want to keep it very unique and very innovative, since 'Black Sheep' stands for being different. When Jordy [Navarra] left, he took his philosphy along with him, and so I decided to put my own philosophy for this branch." Go draws inspiration from food growing up as a Chinese-Filipino, a rich heritage of flavors that brings in nostalgia, and with his creative direction in the kitchen, transforms these into new exciting things. Their menu is a collection of food memories and insight on modern day food culture not only from the chef, but also from all of his kitchen staff.
Diners here learn a lot about the thought process behind each and every dish they order as the dining experience is highly interactive: the cooks explain your dishes as they bring it to your table, telling you more about its components. The menu at the new Black Sheep takes in a more approachable form, too, Instead of degustation and set menus, it is now flexible with food available a la carte, and with their current selection, a customer can build his or her own four to five-courser dinner.
Chef Patrick Go (center) with the Black Sheep culinary team
One may begin with an appetizer of Foie Long Bao (P440), three pieces of the famous soup pockets each laid gently on a spoon. Soup dumpling lovers will drool over this luxe version of xiao long bao filled with xiaoxing broth, plum, and a nugget of foie gras, and topped with crushed peanuts and a sliver of pickled ginger.
Chef Patrick shares that his mother used to feed him an unusual combination of lengua (ox tongue) with bagoong, a dish he loves, and the Chinese in him also loved and grew up eating peking duck. In Black Sheep's XOXO (P360), he twists and turns these two different things for rolls of ox tongue with XO sauce, hoisin, and radish in mandarin wrapper. And with every bite, you get the familiar flavor of a traditional Peking duck wrap with that succulent texture of ox tongue.
A childhood snack the chef enjoyed was tuna flakes on pandesal, and liver spread slathered on crackers. He reinterprets these afternoon meriendas with Two-Na (P300) two pieces of homemade ma lai gao, a Cantonese sponge cake that is usually steamed and is fluffy and sweet — here, it is served dehydrated and toasted, giving the spongey pieces a unique crunch and bite. A smear of chicken liver with onions is its first layer, then topped with chunks of spicy yellow fin tuna, grapes for bursts of sweetness, and wansoy for some sharpness in the flavor.
I highly recommend "3 Cups Rice" (P660) as a main course. This dish comes with three succulent and plump local scallops topped with shaved truffle and smoked dried tuna roe. The cup of rice that comes with is bountiful with flavors from the traditional '3 cup' Chicken dish in Chinese cuisine (soy sauce, sesame oil, xiaoxing broth is used here). It's actually a 3 cup risotto in texture, and I enjoyed this dish best by getting a spoonful of the lipsmacking rice after every bite of the scallop.
If meat is your craving, they serve TLC (P1,500), a plate of Kitayama tenderloin grade 6 flavored with five spice, and served with shimeji mushrooms and a black vinegar reduction sauce that rounds out each bite of the steak. What stood out surprisingly here was the fried broccoli that makes this elevated 'beef broccoli' quite special — the crisp texture was just unbelievably addicting and it was my first time to enjoy the florets in such delicate deep-fried deliciousness.
Black Sheep currently has two dessert items to end your meal, and both are equally exciting on the palate — the sweetness is delightful and not clingy, making both options excellent palate cleaners. The Tea Time (P320) is a delicious translation of tea and lemon after a meal. Here, it is a light and bright bowl of chamomile panna cotta with lemon granita, wild honey, tapioca, and pink peppercorn. The sauce is poured into the bowl, making this dessert a citrusy version of our childhood taho.
Chef Patrick Go makes desserts that fit my palate perfectly — citrusy, fruity, not cloyingy sweet but just pleasantly. Ice Candy (P360) is their second dessert, and is a playful reinterpretation of Taiwanese shaved ice, given a Filipino spin. A bar of avocado semifreddo is cushioned by a thin layer of strawberry chiffon, and sits on shaved milk with Baguio strawberry. Flakes of lemon icing crown the avocado bar.
A spoonful of every component was just so delightful! It does bring back memories of my childhood merienda — my grandmother preparing chunks of avocado mixed in with crushed ice and evaporated milk. This one is a little nostalgic and new altogether, and I look forward to more coming out of the memory-driven cuisine at Black Sheep that can give us new food memories that pay tribute to a delicious past.
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Black Sheep is located at 2230 UPRC 1 building (beside Tunnl) on Chino Roces Avenue, Makati. It is open for dinner from Mondays to Saturdays, 6pm to 10:30pm PM. Call +632 744 1569 or +63927 783 703, like Black Sheep on Facebook (/blacksheepmnl), and follow on Instagram (@blacksheepmnl).
