Apoy: Budgie Montoya to open new Filipino street food restaurant in Oxford Circus

One of London’s most exciting chefs, Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya, is opening a new Filipino street food joint in Oxford Circus.Budgie will launch Apoy at Market Halls on May 15, fresh from an appearance on BBC2’s Great British Menu and his year-long residency on Heddon Street in Mayfair.Apoy will serve a succinct menu of barbecued meat, fish, and vegan skewers, a homage to the grill carts that line the streets of Manila.Budgie hailed skewers as a Filipino “staple,” marrying sweet, salty, tangy, and savoury flavours. The menu will include skewers of pinoy pork, inasal chicken, garlic and salted egg prawns, and oyster mushrooms.Each dish is a modern riff on classic Filipino recipes — a style of cooking that has impressed Standard critic Jimi Famurewa in the past — marinated in the likes of 7UP, banana ketchup, calamansi juice, and coconut vinegar, and will be served with rice, pickled papaya salad, and dipping sauces.Budgie also plans to revisit his signature fried chicken skins, one of his more popular dishes from Sarap, and Sarap Baon, his now closed restaurants in Mayfair and Brixton.

“The last few years I have focussed on Sarap, which has always been about pushing the boundaries of traditional Filipino cuisine and trying to find a modern identity,” he told the Standard.“As the years have progressed, that identity has become more clearly defined so I found opportunity and excitement in showing off the depth of the cuisine in other forms.“Apoy is a combination of my love for BBQ, influenced by not only my Filipino roots but also my Aussie upbringing. Apoy is about continuing to showcase and champion how incredibly diverse Filipino food is.”Apoy will open at Market Halls, Oxford Circus, on May 15.