It’s difficult to come up with something new in today’s overcrowded restaurant world. However, former Nobu chef Jon de Villa seems to have done so. Yuu Kitchen, a contemporary south-east Asian/Pacific Rim fusion spot, has this year added a big new section to the menu dedicated to Pinoy classic dishes, which The Independent has dubbed ‘Asia’s last secret cuisine.’

Originating in the Philippines, Pinoy food is all about the likes of exciting vegetable side dishes, salty slow cooked pork and lavish sauces.

“Filipino cuisine is a mix of Indian, Chinese, Spanish and American influences, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, as well as others adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate,” says Jon, who was born in the Philippines.

We started with a Pinoy-inspired cocktail, The Drunk Calamansi (£9), a delicious concoction consisting of rum, pineapple juice, calamansi juice, apple syrup and blue curacao. Calamansi is a citrus fruit native to the Philippines, a hybrid between a mandarin orange and a kumquat.

We then progressed to an Oolang mohito (£8.50), which was oolong tea-infused white rum, mint, lime, apple juice and sugar syrup, all served in a teapot to continue the tea theme.

The dishes all come tapas-style, ideal for sharing. We started with baby octopus karaage (£9), a crunchy and tasty and served with cucumber, wakami salad, ginger and garlic sauce. Next was  grilled broccoli (£6) spiced up superbly with garlic, chilli and soy sauce.

We then watched our skilled chef Norbert put a boiling hunk of charcoal on some salmon with soy, wasabi, chilli, coriander and lemon, and watched the ensuing smoking, steaming spectacle.

“The oven can go up to 600 degrees so you can cook very quickly indeed,” he said. “The food can burn easily, so you have to be fast.”

Needless to say, he was. 

We then tried baby back ribs (£8.50), pork ribs that had been cooked very slowly on a low heat to make them very tender, which was Norbert’s favourite.

Crispy rice and salmon (£8) was a tasty raw dish, served with avocado and spicy jalapeno dressing, while the spicy tuna tostada (£8.50), was a mush of tastes produced by the yellowfin tuna, crispy tortilla, pickled radish, spring onion and spicy mayo.

We tried a couple of baos (Taiwanese steamed buns), crispy soft shell crab (£7), and 7Up braised pork belly (£6.20), which were equally delicious.

The restaurant features a ceiling of birdcages that each house a lightbulb, and dark wooden walls except for a couple that were  taken up by bright and colourful manga murals that were rather garish to my taste.

There’s a long table with 11 seats each side which effortlessly encourages conviviality, and a long bar with seats facing the kitchen area, so you see everything prepared. Well, not everything, as beyond that there’s a window revealing a further kitchen. This means that the floorspace of this restaurant seems to be equally taken up by kitchen as by tables, which indicates how seriously this place takes its cooking.

It was completely packed on a Wednesday night (with the steak restaurant nearby near empty), further indicating how good this joint is.

Yuu Kitchen (29 Commercial Street, Spitalfields, E1 6NE; 020 7377 0411; yuukitchen.com)