WHEN IN MANILA, Rumor has it that you would spot the owner of Eastwood eating the famed Peri Peri chicken with rice and a glass of cold water here at O’ Sonho at least once a week? Voted as One of Manila’s Best Restaurants by The Philippine Tatler for three straight years in a row , it’s no wonder O’Sonho has been doing great all this time.

Owned and run by a very young beautiful couple, Nik and Cris Barancik, O’Sonho was their dream. What started as a small restaurant in Jupiter Street, grew into a bigger restaurant in Eastwood. Cris used to public relations, marketing with a famous cosmetic brand but when she got married, she was thinking of putting up a business that would give her control over her time. Her husband, Nik, had a short but fruitful stint with Casa Armas in the past so he pretty much knew how to run a restaurant. Cris and Nik are both well travelled and have a passion for quality food. That is why even the menu says they only use the finest ingredients for each dish served in O’Sonho.

The O’Sonho Bar

O’Sonho’s best seller is the Peri Peri Chicken Pasta. You can choose the level of spiceness from mild, medium and hot. This pasta dish has sundried tomatoes and herb based tossed with linguini noodles. It is light, healthy and superb. I think this is the dish that separates O’Sonho from the rest of the restaurants in Manila. Past reviews and people who have dined there always say this is their favorite in O’Sonho.

PERI PERI PASTA ( PHP 310)

CHORIZO (PHP 260)

Portuguese chorizo is made with pork fat, wine, paprika and salt. In Portugal, they actually eat chorizo sliced, flame cooked over alcohol at the table. This is a very new, recent addition to the menu; I was indeed lucky to have been one of the first to taste this! According to Cris, it took two months to perfect this simple appetizer. Cris suggested we have this with rice (Filipino style) and boy was she right! The chorizos came with lots of crispy, sliced green peppers that made it taste really good. Sure there are many Spanish restaurants in the metro that also serve chorizo but I will swear by this one!

MADEIRA BEEF SHANKS ( PHP 310)

Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. The beef was tender, the sauce perfectly salted and peppered. This viand would go perfect with rice, too. O’Sonho uses only pure olive oil to cook all their food so it makes it healthy however oily a dish may visually seem to be sometimes.

CUSTARD TARTS (PHP 130)

These come in three. It has a flaky dough done just right. It is a Portuguese best seller. It tastes like a regular egg pie. Very pleasing to the mouth and something that you can have often as a snack or dessert.

SERRADURA (PHP220)

This dessert is composed of layers of chilled vanilla whipped cream, chopped walnuts and crushed biscuits with banan puree. It tasted like a baby’s super sweet banana cereal or Starbuck’s Banofee pie. I did not like it that much but lots of people order it anyway.

Though I have been informedby Cris that they might transfer to another location by next year, they will still of course keep the original branch in Makati. O’Sonho has not been around very long but for a venture as daring as this, considering one could not even find a Portuguese restaurant here in the Philippines about four years ago, O’Sonho is here to stay. Cris is now even a new mother to son Brandon and is thinking of opening something child related. I guess because she is a new mother, too, she has offered kiddie sizes/portions of their meals and also has just started offering catering services. Cris strikes me as very discerning, a stickler for detail and quality so you can be sure you are getting the best at O’Sonho. WHEN IN MANILA