Mesa: Modern Filipino Cuisine

Had the chance to check out Mesa at GB5 Ayala last weekend after picking up my son from a singing gig. I must say it was one of those spur of the moment decision that we never regretted. My kids have frequented this place before with relatives and loved it but we haven’t gone together as a family. It’s one of those new generation of Filipino restaurants that’s raising the Filipino cuisine to a contemporary and internationally-palatable level. It’s way better than your usual Barrio Fiesta, Kamayan or Cabalen. It serves Filipino favourites but with a modern take on execution and presentation. It’s one of those restaurants you wished existed in LA or Orlando or Toronto where you can take your non-Filipino friends and just be proud of our national cuisine.

Mesa is similar to Tres Cuisine in that both try to modernize the traditional Filipino food as we know it. The difference is, Tres Cuisine is more innovative and applies more fusion techniques to cookimg while Mesa is about modernizing the traditional Filipino favourites by using healthier ingredients like olive oil in its dishes (i.e. baby squid in olive oil) or presenting lechon kawali in small portions, for example. While Mesa uses more  grilling and deep-frying, Tres Cuisine uses more diverse cooking and presentation techniques. Needless to say, Mesa food--with all that grilling--is one that goes best with beer! :)

Mesa Resto Pics:

So here at Mesa we got the following that looked interesting to us—baked mussels with cheese for appetizers, laing done in two ways, a platterful of grilled stuff, and bottles of beer.

*Baked Mussels with Cheese:

*Grill Platter:

*Laing Done in 2 Ways:

*Can't miss the plain rice..goes best with all dishes

*Garlic Rice--tasty but a little bit on the oily side

*San Mig Light! :)

*Cerveza Negra--nice!

For dessert we got barako jelly, turon without ice cream, leche flan, and cassava cake. Let's see how they taste..

*Barako Jelly:

*Banana Turon without Ice Cream:

*Leche Flan:

*Warm Cassava Cake with Pinipig on Top:

Okay, the verdict, overall the food was great. Laing done in 2 ways was the best (one way was with coconut milk, the other way was without it). Definitely not mushy, regardless. This is how laing should be done! The better part was the appetizer, a long plate of baked mussel with cheese, my kids' favorite. The platter we got had a little bit of everything we wanted--grilled fish, squid, shrimp, and pork, mussels, chicken and some barbecued pork,. Have complaints about the barbecue though, they're very sweet, I felt like eating candied pork :(. I wish they go easy on the sugar. The grilled squid was just perfect--fresh, succulent, not chewy at all--something you achieve with the right grilling technique and preparation. Shrimps were great and the grilled pork perfectly marinated. Really great with beer.

Desserts were good, my son loved the barako jelly and my daughter liked the leche flan. The cassava cake was served warm--was alright but not quite used to it. The smooth consistency wasn't what I was looking for in a cassava cake though--I guess I prefer the grainier, chewy-ier and al-dente type than what they just served. The turon was so-so, not a fan. I wished the chocolate sauce had more chocolatey taste and not something that seemed like it came straight out of a bottle you got from the grocery store :( .

At any rate, I liked Mesa a lot and would love to take my friends here for a couple of beer. Would love to try other stuff in their menu too.


Mesa has a branch in GB5, Ayala Center Makati.

Vietnamese comfort food @Pho Hoa

There are only a few kinds of food I consider ‘comfort food’—food that remind me of childhood days, or bring back good memories, or simply food that can transform a very long, tiring, stressful day or weekend into one that’s just one of those days you can laugh about.  Making my list are spaghetti, Filipino fare like chicken arroz caldo, tinola, sinampalukang manok, and ginisang monggo, old-fashioned chocolate cake, and apple pie. But recently I realized I often hang out at Pho Hoa, a popular Vietnamese restaurant in Manila and choose the same stuff over and over again—chicken pho, fresh spring rolls, cold vermicelli noodles with spring rolls, grilled prawns and pork with their famous Pho Hoa fried rice, and pomelo salad. Plus I always go back for their fresh lemonade. Simple and clean execution, healthy (less oil and frying, lots of veggies and greens), fresh ingredients, amazing flavours-- just great food in my book.

I love Vietnamese food, not sure if it was an acquired taste, but it’s one of those cuisines I can eat definitely every day. When I was a grad student in Honolulu, one of my friends took me to Chinatown one day and introduced me to the Vietnamese pho. From then on, I was hooked! Every sem break we would just hang out in Chinatown and have lunch at this small Vietnamese place. About 10 years ago, we used to go to this fancy Vietnamese resto in GB3 Ayala but unfortunately it closed about 4 years ago. During my visits to Toronto, we would eat in this small restaurant run by a Vietnamese family near a laundromat while waiting for our laundry to finish. In many ways, Vietnamese food has become one of my favourite cuisines and comfort food.

So one Thursday, when we were supposed to go to a Christmas party, my teen-aged son announced he wasn’t going with us and that he wasn’t feeling well. He looked okay, though so I thought there was some other problem. So I attempted to let him open up about what was stressing him, I took the whole family to Pho Hoa, one of my usual hang-out place where for some reason the chicken pho just makes me feel better every single time.  I was wishing it does the same magic trick to my son, who at his age is beginning to accumulate those dreaded ‘teenage angst’.

We checked out their branch in T. Morato, which was conveniently located near our place. The place was reasonably popular with several customers. Luckily we got in early, got good parking and a table. Interiors were clean and well-lit and staff were attentive—really no problem with that. The real bummer was the parking, I guess it’s like that for most establishments along T. Morato. Real killer.   

Pho Hoa restaurant interiors and table setting:

These are what we got, the usual favourites—fresh spring rolls, seafood pho, chicken pho, grilled pork and spring rolls. For dessert we got mango crepe with vanilla ice cream. Of course, we didn’t miss the fresh lemonade, an old-time favourite at Pho Hoa.

What we got:

*Fresh basil, sprouts, and some optional lemon for the pho:

 *Chicken pho: this is my favorite..I never go to Pho Hoa without getting this soup..has chicken bits, quail eggs, white onion, green onion, fried caramelized onions, fresh green cabbage..add-in the sprouts and fresh basil leaves and it's good to go!

 *Seafood pho: has squid balls, fish, shrimp, fresh greens..nice too!

 *Fresh spring roll with peanut sauce: this is my all-time favorite appetizer!

 *Grilled pork, famous Pho Hoa fried rice, spring rolls: the kids loved this especially when they dip it in the grilled pork in the sweet vinegar sauce that goes with the dish.

 *Mango crepe with vanilla ice cream: not a super fan of this dessert. I wished the chocolate sauce tasted more chocolatey, and the vanilla ice cream had more of that vanilla flavor..the mangoes were great though.

 *Famous Sriracha hot chilli sauce I find in almost all Vietnamese eating places I've been to.

*Drinks: the tall glass of fresh lemonade is my favorite at Pho Hoa

Funny but after dinner, my son finally talked about why he felt so down. I guess the food did its magic. There’s something about good food that relaxes you and brings down your fronts and confinements. I guess it pays to fill the tummy first. The cliché, ‘the way to a person’s heart is through the stomach’ is never more true here. Good food does make one more receptive and open emotionally and psychologically—relatively speaking, of course.

Pho Hoa is a restaurant that does not need a recommendation. They just serve great, simple, tasteful food. Simple as that. The fact that we always go back to eat here is proof of their consistent and great food offerings, regardless of the branch location. Try other stuff in their menu below.

Pho Hoa has several branches in Manila--T. Morato, SM Megamall, SM North, Ayala Center, in almost all major malls etc. Food prices are reasonable, ranging from about PHP120-350.     

Sushi-all-you-can Foodtrip @Sakae Sushi

I was so intrigued by the sushi-on-conveyor-belt and eat-all-you-can-sushi treat @Sakae Sushi that one weekend, we decided to have lunch there. We just got to try it. Being a relatively new restaurant at the SM Annex, the first impression you get once you enter is the spic-and-span ambience. Minimalist and really clean. From the dining area to the toilet facility, I really have no complaints. Dining area has comfy seating from which you can conveniently reach out towards the sushi conveyor buffet. If you're not interested in the sushi-all-you-can buffet, a different seating area away from the buffet is also available. They have an open sushi kitchen where you can scrutinize or amuse yourself watching how they make sushi with their bare hands (hope their hands are clean though! :D). Their open kitchen is testament to how they are transparent about how orderly and sanitary they make their food. Check out the pics below:

Sakae Sushi Dining Area:

Sushi Open Kitchen:

Interestingly, and I find it quite cute that they have a small corner in the restaurant that displays their various merchandise featuring their distinct frog mascot. Reminds me of kero-keropi but more of a toned-down version. Check out the pic below. Ribbit..ribbit! :)

But wait, I didn't go to Sakae Sushi for that. I was really after the sushi conveyor buffet..and the variety of sushi that's there. Can't wait to try them out. Here's the sushi conveyor buffet, where for the price of PHP399 you can eat all the sushi you want. This comes with miso soup and bottomless hot or cold green tea. If you want to get the sushi separately, they are priced based on the color-code of the plates: blue plate = PHP39, yellow = PHP59, green = PHP79, and red plate = PHP99. I thought the sushi buffet was really affordable. 

Sushi Conveyor Buffet: 

Some of what I got from the sushi conveyor buffet:

 *Tuna boat sushi

 *Shrimp roll with sesame seed:

*Wasabiko Gunkan:

 *Ebiko Gunkan:

*Fish Sushi:

Other stuff I got from the buffet:
*Crabstick Tempura:

 *Fish Teriyaki:

 *Fried tofu with teriyaki sauce (?)

Miso Soup and Hot/cold Green Tea (goes with buffet):

 

Okay, having said all that about ambience, open kitchen, sushi conveyor belt, and a sample of what I got (believe me, I tasted 90% of all sushi served), my verdict is, first off, the sushi variety is limited. If not for the fact that I have such a small stomach and I was truly full after 10 pairs of sushi, I would have tasted all (including all non-sushi types in the buffet) in one sitting. My hubby jokingly complained why he kept on seeing the same stuff all the time. Having lived in Japan for half a year himself, he complained the sushi 'wasn't authentic'. And I do agree. It looks like the sushi was the mass produced, commercialized type (I heard they use machines and robots that makes the sushi in a fully automated process). I was looking for a softer sushi where I can taste a little vinegar in the rice with the different toppings and combinations. They tasted kind of dry actually. There's no doubt the ingredients were fresh but the taste was really boring. Matching them with the shoyu sauce didn't help. I thought the soy-sauce wasn't authentic too and a bit on the salty side. The non-sushi choices in the buffet were salty and seemed to used teriyaki sauce as base for all.

My daughter was saved from this predicament by getting a kiddie meal for herself. Her verdict, she loved it. It was simple and had all the stuff she wanted to eat anyway. Plus, the meal came in a plate in the shape of a frog. She thought it was very cute! 

We didn't get to try other stuff in their menu since we were really hooked into the sushi-all-you-can idea this time. Overall I thought the sushi buffet was just ok (altho I think hubby wouldn't want to go back), but I wished they increase the sushi variety in the buffet, make it more tasty and less salty. The buffet price is something I can't complain about though. It's really affordable and recommended if you're seriously considering packing in those carbs for some reason. I would rate this restaurant as an eating place belonging to the same category as Tokyo Tokyo, Yoshinoya, Teryiaki Boy, Sushi-Ya and other fast-food Japanese restaurants in Manila. I guess if you want to fill yourself up cheaply, this is the place to go.

Would love to try other stuff next time though. I thought the menu was interesting and had lots of other choices, which makes me want to go back for a visit. However, this time, no sushi buffet for me please. I think I've just had it. Here's the menu:

 

 

 

  

Sakae Sushi has a branch in SM Annex, SM North Edsa. Food price range from PHP39-PHP350/dish.