SF Steak Sandwich @ Hyphy’s
After the success of Chef’s Table Restaurant, Chef Bruce Lim has opened a Robinsons Galleria Mall Veranda Restaurant called Hyphy’s. It is a San Francisco-inspired restaurant that serves the comfort food that Chef Bruce grew up with in SanFo.
It is a bit intimidating for a mall restaurant and seems a bit out of place. It would have been more appropriate to locate it in Mall of Asia’s San Miguel by the Bay. The food is Fil-Am fusion, which is quite unique but maybe a bit hard to relate to for most Filipinos (especially for those who have not been to the SanFo area).
I don’t usually like mall restaurants, but this is something worth checking out when you are in the area of Robinsons Galleria Veranda.
Related Blog Posts:
OAP | Chef’s Table by Chef Bruce Lim
OAP | Chef’s Table Restaurant by Chef Bruce Lim
Camp Fire Media | Get Hyphy
One can always expect the design elements in a Chef Bruce restaurant to be artistic. Here, the cool skateboard wall and the diagonally lined ceiling serve as eye candy. I like the heavy duty tables and well-designed chairs, which resemble those used in schools.
From the outside, the restaurant does look a bit intimidating — even the name, which got its inspiration from “Hyperactive”, “Hype” and “Fly”.
Hyphy’s Menu: Soups and Salads | Meals | Pasta | Sandwiches | Desserts & Frozen Yogurt | Drinks | House Cocktails & House Mocktails
The price ranges from P150-P300/dish. Budget P500/person when you eat here.
Clam Chowder Sour Dough Bread (P170). Rich and creamy, thick clam and potato soup inspired by Pier 39.
For most Filipinos, our peg for Clam Chowder in a Soup Bread Bowl would probably be the one in French Baker. Hyphy’s soup was creamier and denser, and the bread was thicker than usual. We loved the sour dough bread that Chef Bruce made.
Pancit Molo (P130). Grandma’s recipe — dumplings served in flavorful clear broth.
We enjoyed the Pancit Molo with its clear, not-too-oily soup. The dumplings were soft and tasty. Although, it would have been better if it was served piping hot. It was just warm when it got to our table.
Baked Macaroni (P150). Tomato-based baked pasta, smothered in cheese sauce and served warm.
We found this very ordinary. We were planning to order Mac & Cheese, but we got Baked Mac instead. The waiters were not knowledgeable about the menu — they couldn’t even give a good recommendation. Will try the Mac & Cheese next time.
Bangus Steak (P210). Deboned Milkfish marinated in Grandma’s special sauce and pan-fried, served with rice, buttered seasonal vegetables and atchara.
This dish was particularly memorable because the milkfish belly was so fatty. (We’re wondering where they get their supply of bangus…)
If we were to nitpick, I’d say the fish was cooked with a lot of burnt edges (not sure if this is the SanFo way of serving fish). Also, it was served with just the sweet sauce and sweet atchara. This would have been perfect with vinegar.
SF Steak Sandwich (P290). Stonestown steak sandwich joint inspired Chef Bruce to make this. Thin sliced beef with sauteed onions and peppers, topped with cheese and stuffed in bread, served with fried potatoes.
We liked this. The beef was indeed thinly sliced (like julienned vegetables) and topped with generous servings of semi-melted cheese and sweet sauteed onions. They used the same sour dough bread used in the soup bowl, so it was just a bit hard to eat it like a hamburger. We had to slice it into pieces instead.
Peras Cooler (P120). A refreshing pear juice mixed with apple juice and ginger syrup.
The mocktails are unique and something that even kids can order. Next time, we will request for the drinks to be served colder (or we can just add more ice).
We found it to be the only unique restaurant along the new Veranda wing of Robinsons Galleria. Most people go to Papa John’s in this area, but Hyphy’s is a unique place to try. (We saw Robina Gokongwei-Pe eat here when we visited.)
Overall, it is a bit of a mixed review for us since we couldn’t really relate to the taste of Fil-Am food that much. The flavors are good and the prices are reasonable. We just feel that the restaurant concept is out-of-place in Robinsons Galleria, but it might work since there are a lot of unique dishes to try. Do let us know if you have something you can recommend.
Hyphy’s by Chef Bruce Lim
The Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, Quezon City, Philippines
Etymology: San Francisco Bay Area, shortened perhaps from English dialect “hyperactive”; other sources cite a combination of “hype” and “fly.”
Telephone: +632 477-7611
Facebook: Hyphy’s
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Full Disclosure: We are fans of Chef Bruce Lim’s food. We know Chef Bruce from previous times when we dined in his other restos. I’m not related to, connected with or compensated in any way by the restaurant featured in this blog post. I’m not connected with, compensated by, or represented by any PR firm. Please report any PR firm claiming to have connections with OAP.
P.S. I dislike Robinsons Galleria Mall because of the lousy parking area. The Veranda restaurants actually have a small parking space in front of the restos, which makes it very convenient — if you’re lucky to find space there.
maybe they use saranggani brand milkfish? saranggani usually has big, fatty, deboned milkfish. really good.
Fa sho, I represent the Yay Area! Yadadamean?
This article seems to have lots of research errors… First of all, in my 9 years living in California, I have NEVER heard of anyone refer to the San Francisco area as “San-Fo”. I can’t even find any instances on google of the term “San Fo.” If the restaurant owners refer to it as “San Fo” I would seriously question their authenticity.
Also, HyPhy is a “hip” respelling of Hi-Fi, as in High-Fidelity, aka the audio certification (it’s the same reason the Sci-Fi Channel recently, and under terrible criticism mind you, changed their name to SyFy). It is only through coincidence that it resembles “hype” and “fly.” Again, either this article is making uninformed references or the restaurateurs are feeding you bad information.
Hmm, I guess SanFo is a term used by Fil-Am’s in San Francisco. Fair enough, my mistake, though still, I’ve never heard of the term. I learn something new every day!
yup, it’s a filipino term for san francisco. americans use “san fran”.
anton,
i agree with you on the parking facilities of robinson’s galleria. it’s always full.
will try the steak sandwich.
SanFo probably comes from the abbreviation of the San Francisco airport -SFO.
@ Arvin yup San Fo i must agree is not cool way to refer to the yay. But rest assured homie that there is no disrespect… so whatever; we representin’ the 415! so lets all feel the good vibes and chillax baby! stop by anytime homie and lets share a brew…
Dear author the post which you have posted here is now making me hungry…Also i am a food lover and currently water is running in my mouth…The recipe Clam Chowder Soup Bread id looking so yummy that now i have the desire to eat it..
I have to disagree on this one. I have been waiting for this opening being a fan of Chef’s Table. But to my utmost disappointment, the food sucked. It was a failure in simplicity. The Bangus Steak was the recommendation, and even though it was fatty, I found it flavorless. The burrito came out cold and stuffed with dry meat and rice. The grilled chicken was as plain as it can get. And to top it all of, the iced tea that was served to me had a funky taste (panis). I was told it was lemongrass, but I knew it wasn’t the lemongrass. They replaced it though and I wasn’t charged anymore. My worst resto experience of the year so far.
Thanks for sharing. For us it’s really a mixed review and maybe they are just starting. Better try this later on hopefully they fix their operations issue.
This is one restaurant I am kinda intrigued by being from San Francisco. I like that you said the bread was hard on the sandwich because in my world, that is how it should be.
Hyphy is one of those weird words that when someone says, you know immediately where they are from. Like “hella” is Northern California and “wicked” is Boston. Although, if I opened a San Francisco themed restaurant, I would name it Top of the Hill.
Hello RJ, I would like to apologize for your bad experience in our resto, We have already addressed those issues as we are on soft opening still. WIth Chefs Table it was 2 months until we got it all right after so many complaints as well. Rest assured we will do everything improve guest experience. May I offer you a gift cert so you can come back and give it a try once more. Thanks!
My 2 teenage kids (read — bottomless pits) and I had dinner at Hyphy’s this week. What a waste of money and calories! Let me preface my rant by saying that if this restaurant is a fusion of San Fran and Pinoy cuisines, then all the dishes must have come by way of San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City.
We ordered the clam chowder in a bread bowl as our starter. Oh my…did the kitchen use sea water as the cooking stock? That’s just taking the whole seafood thing too far. Anyway, we tried to counter the saltiness by using the chowder as a dip for the bread. Now, I am a fan of crusty, chewy breads; but I have never encountered a baked good that has bravely stood up to a table knife. Using the brute force of 2 hands, we were able to break off a piece to taste…and instantly wished that we had remained unsuccessful in our quest. It was hard and dry all the way to the center. The best thing about this chowder was the not-too-generous portion size.
Next up is the Kaldereta Pasta. Now I was thinking that this would be the traditional kalderetang baka served over pasta. What came out was penne mixed with a sweetish kaldereta sauce (I suspect there’s banana ketchup in it) with nary a beef shred incorporated in it. All the beef came in the form of sugary tapa-like bits scattered on top of the whole mess.
We also ordered the Clam Pasta, which could have been edible if it were not for, again, the sodium overload (where the salty hell did these clams come from?). To their credit, the staff replaced the dish with a fresh one, saying that they must have gone sprinkle-happy with the Parmesan. Alas, the re-made dish was just as salty and bad.
Anyway, with all the aforementioned dishes being left uneaten aside from a few cautious nibbles, we still felt the need to order more food. So I ordered the grilled chicken, which I had naively thought would be an impossible dish to screw up. What came out was a sliced chicken thigh fillet with a totally indistinguishable taste. In keeping with the day’s theme, my kids, who are barbecue fanatics, could only manage a single bite each.
We left with 2 full doggy bags and had a second dinner at the food court below. Sizzling Seafood and Kimchi are 9,000,000 times more deserving of a blog spot than Hyphy’s, IMHO.
What can I say about Bruce Lim .. HES NOT A CHEF!!!
Anton .. how much did bruce pay you ???
His food is horrible. He looks horrible. He doesnt sound like he’s from San Francisco CA .. maybe San Francisco Del Monte.
Bruce … retire from being a Chef and save us all the grief.
My husband and I had lunch at hyphy’s last saturday at around 1pm. there were only 6 customers considering that it was lunch time. We ordered the clam chowder, but unfortunately it wasn’t available. The burrito is bland and dry, and the meat was tough. Steak sandwich is very ordinary, nothing especial and we didn’t eat the bread that came with it. Clam pasta was ok.Over all, I would not recommend it to my friends.
My friend and I ordered the Fish Burger and the Sisig Pasta.
Let’s lower the standards for a minute and imagine a typical sisig dish from your average inuman kanto and store-bought pancit canton. Not a bad combination right? The dish didn’t even come close. It was lower than low. The sisig didn’t come out. It got mixed up in what was (pancit lucban) noodles marinated in Splenda. The sweetness was overwhelming and too exotic.
The Fish Burger came. It was cooked dry and came with a measly piece of cheese. Far from your fast food fish burger which would’ve been closer to the Frisco taste. My friend was forced to open her Fish Burger upon first bite thinking that it would contain an apology letter for its weird kikiam-ish taste. Imagine fish ball and kikiam mixed together for the patty. But I’d still prefer kikiam– at least it was honest and cheaper.
It was the worst dining experience in my entire restaurant hunting/tasting life. And I’ve already experienced eating food from floor. As for my friend she didn’t finished her fish burger and opted to have it in a doggy bag, which she later gave to her sister. Needless to say, it’s was later tossed in the can.
After eating earlier today at Hyphys, I am totally NOT surprised that:
A) I’d read terrible reviews on how their food SUCKED and
B) I already suspected that this resto was a complete waste of time by finding it always empty every time I pass by it at Galleria.
We had to eat there today because my girlfriend bought a couple of promo vouchers a few weeks back. We actually had high hopes for this resto and we were looking forward to another successful food trip… we were SO WRONG.
There were 5 of us who came in to eat. These were our orders and what we have to say:
– The clam chowder was okay. Nothing special. Small quantity. Not a bad start… then the rest of our orders came…
– The steak sandwich was dry (yes, even with the sauce in it). Specifically, the bread was dry. Few strips of meat. Minimal sauce. An attempt at your usual cheese steak sandwich. A failed attempt.
– The meatloaf was bland and tasted like it came straight off a can. The plain rice was ok though, but i’d give that credit to their rice cooker anyway.
– The tacos were 2pcs per order. The meat in it was dry as well and it was topped with minimal veggies. I’m sure anyone can make better tacos at home.
– The fish that came with the fish and chips were soggy. The fries were… well, fries. Period.
– The sushi-stlye spam dish (didn’t bother to remember what it was called, basically it was spam + scrambled egg rolled with rice in nori) looked awful by itself already… so I decided not to taste it at all (and ended up as good decision on my part). If it had been fried rice that it was rolled with, I would have just ditched the nori and ate it with ketchup. I’m sure it would have tasted better as a breakfast dish anyway.
– The chicken, according to my companions, was the best-tasting dish from what we ordered… and from the standards set by what came before that… oh, never mind. I don’t even want to say more. I’m sure by this time, you get the idea.
In all the dishes, the way they were presented were all disappointing. What do I mean? The chicken was served on a plain white plate, corn on one side, a cup of rice on the other, and the chicken. Wow. I’ve seen chicken presented in a better way… and those places weren’t even fancy restaurants. Sigh.
Thinking back, the only stuff I ate heartily were the french fries that came
with the fish and chips (you’re still better off with McDo fries) and the corn that came with the chicken dish… since these were the ONLY things I was sure they couldn’t possibly screw up.
I’ve never been to the US. Their embassy wouldn’t even give me a visa. Hehe. Now, saying it’s San Francisco-inspired food, I wish the inspiration just stayed there. Of course this is me giving feedback and not have any idea what San Francisco food taste like. But come on, American food is not a new concept to any Filipino whether they’ve been to the US or not.
Wow, it’s been a good 7 hours since I ate at Hyphys and i’m still upset. I’ve never been pissed at a resto like this before.
2,000 worth of food, paid for by vouchers that cost us half of that… and it was STILL a waste of money.
Avoid this place like the plague.
Also had a not so good experience here. My friend ordered the fried chicken, and she had to return her food twice because there was still blood. This is basic for me. It took them about 30 minutes to get this right, and did not even offer any free appetizer for my poor friend who was watching all of us eat.
The tuyo pasta is ok, but this is a pretty simple dish.
Chef’s table is better,
I agree with most of the people here.
This was the first time that i ever felt SOOOO DISAPPOINTED with the food. 🙁
There is nothing special about this restaurant. It’s so so. It’s hard to imagine the chef who opened this resto is a celebrity chef judge in AFC.
I’ve never eaten nor even entertained the idea of dining in this establishment. This place looks like a poorly planned joint, nilalangaw as they say. The name itself sounds weird and didn’t ring a bell to anyone. I’m sure there’s a story behind the name but heck I wouldn’t for the life of me enter such a restaurant with a name that would sound like “hippies” to an average pinoy. I don’t know what Bruce Lim was trying to do here but the place just seems so off and such a waste of space in that area. Apart from that what is he trying to cook and serve anyway? He claims “SAN-FO” food (which is so annoying BTW)to be the focus but then again when you round up the corner of the place he puts up a big signage that reads: LUTONG HINIRANG? What is it really? Fusion American or Fusion Pinoy? It’s just depressing that someone who actually claims to know so much about Filipino food ends up closing a confused restaurant. And he’s worked with Gordon Ramsay!!!!!
Bruce lim should not even call him self a chef… Pathetic!!!