Actor Marvin Agustin’s restaurant Fook Hing Fun (FHF) came together by accident.
Long before the lunch crowd and night owls discovered and started lining up at its Poblacion branch, the restaurant existed only as an idea—a young, hip Chinese concept inspired by the bustling roast shops of Hong Kong.
“I’ve always been a fan of Hong Kong roasts,” recalls Agustin. “Three years ago, that was the concept we wanted to build.”
He has got the location in Poblacion already secured. The branding and name (FHF) had already been formed. But the thing that mattered most—the menu—wasn’t. Rather than opening a restaurant he wasn’t fully confident in, Marvin made the difficult decision to put the project on hold.
“It is hard to launch something I can’t be proud of,” he says. “You can fix almost everything in a restaurant later—but not the food. The food has to be right from the start.”
How Handmade Noodles Turned Fook Hing Fun into a Crowd Favorite
A lot other opportunities came so he focused on them instead. Among them is Mr. Monk, his Chinese restaurant in Eastwood, where they make their dim sums and even noodles from scratch daily in their Quezon City commissary.
When a small space in their commissary suddenly became available after a tenant moved out, he turned it into a modest, no-frills eatery rather than letting it gather dust. They got tables and chairs from his other restaurant concepts and gave it the name Fook Hing Fun. It opened quietly in October 2025.
His team didn’t think much of it since nothing about the space suggested it would become a destination. But diners kept coming and people just started talking about it.
Its hidden location became part of its appeal. “People love hidden gems. The harder it is to find, the more they want to discover it,” says Agustin.
More importantly, they returned. This surprisingly good reception was the validation they needed to revisit the long-delayed Poblacion project.
This time it was no longer centered on Hong Kong roasts but something they can execute and produce with much confidence: handmade noodles and freshly made dimsum.
FHF officially opened its Poblacion branch in May this year, and the response was very promising.
Why Waiting Three Years Made Fook Hing Fun Better
Looking back, Marvin is convinced that delaying the restaurant was the right decision. He learned to “never rush things, especially when it comes to the core of your concept and your menu.”
Interiors can be renovated, branding can evolve, and layouts can be adjusted. But at the end of the day, it’s great food that will have people coming back.
For Fook Hing Fun, waiting for three years proved not to be a setback but a preparation for what it’s destined to be.
Fook Hing Fun Dimsum and Noodles is located at 5720 Pagulayan Street, Poblacion, Makati.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fook Hing Fun is owned by actor and restaurateur Marvin Agustin.
Fook Hing Fun’s newest branch is located at 5720 Pagulayan Street, Poblacion, Makati.
The restaurant specializes in handmade noodles and freshly made dim sum.
The Poblacion branch officially opened in May 2026.
