Oyster, oh boy!

MANILA, Philippines – Oysters here are done 25 ways, most famous of which are the Rockefeller, Boursin, and perhaps, the humble garlic and cheese. The moment you tip one of these shells close to your mouth, the secret to happiness unfolds. Oh boy, you can have your fill of oysters at where else but Oyster Boy. 

Oyster Boy at Westgate Center, Alabang is a dining scene that has a luster of silvery gray, warmed up by round bunches of white flowers. There is something luminous about this place, something that makes one immediately hungry.

 Begin with the oysters. Oyster Boy serves smoked oyster cakes. They’re a blend of oysters and fresh crabmeat, made into a delicate patty before they are fried. With this, order a bottle of a 2005 Cuvée des galets, which is a merry mix of Grenache and Syrah.

Have some soup for warmth. The restaurant offers the humble halaan shells in miso broth, made with some clams, chives, and yellow ginger. Afterwards, have some more starters — a hunky beef and mushroom salpicao, smoked tinapa roll, chicken wings, crispy palad, crispy danggit, deep-fried pancit Molo balls, calamares prittos, crispy dried squid as well as several kinds of sisig – original pork, bangus, squid, and Tuna.

The entrées in Oyster Boy can get really meaty. There’s the pandan spareribs that wrap individual pieces of ribs in pandan leaves. There is also the crackly good crispy pata that is served with a sweet vinegar sauce. Other things to try are the crispy tadyang ng baka, sizzling squid, kalderetang kambing, sinuglaw, crispy ginamusan na baboy, lechon kawali, and Lola Pacing’s 5-hour kare-kare. Oyster Boy also has its pinakbet, a stew of various local vegetables, with a lot of rice.

For dessert, things can, indeed, only get sweeter. There’s the glorious bannoffi pie that features bananas and toffee sauce on a cookie crust that’s topped with lots of cream. You’ll go crazy over the goat’s milk panna cotta that is light, silky, and creamy, and served with slices of ripe mangoes on top. Not to forget is the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake that is luscious and divine. 

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Oyster Boy is located at Westgate Center, Filinvest Corporate City (Filicity), Alabang, Muntinlupa City with telephone numbers 771-1706.