The LED sign for Tambayan Grill glows bright at its service station home. A television blares Filipino songs. Karaoke microphones are at the ready and the plastic chairs will be familiar to anyone who dined in at a Caltex in the 1990s.

Owner-chef Jonathan Manglinong’s menu features, most notably, tuna panga – a hunky collar baked then grilled, and basted with a mixture of oyster sauce, black pepper, spices, sugar and vinegar. It’s a visceral and almost primal affair as you tear meaty flesh from fish bone.

Chicken inasal – the Philippines’ signature marinated grilled chook – is enhanced with a drizzle of chicken fat and soy sauce, and another must-order is the sizzling sisig, a whole pig’s head and belly that’s boiled, deep-fried and diced, and topped with egg, chilli and calamansi sizzling on a cast iron plate. If only servo restaurants were this thrilling everywhere.

Good to know: Manglinong is mostly a one-man band, so factor in a wait time during peak dining hours.

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