Mesa: #MESASarapPaBa

When it comes to contemporary Filipino restaurants, Mesa is one of the main choices by the locals due to its classic Filipino dishes that is influenced by the country’s diverse regions with endearing modern twists. Mesa is recognized as one of the Best Filipino Restaurants in the Philippines for 12 consecutive years by Philippine Tatler.

Visiting the restaurant for four times now, I kinda doubt the credibility of the food critics that gave this establishment awards. Based on my experience, or, in other words, an ordinary customer’s experience, substandard service is given to customers. They let customers wait for too long and receive cold food. It’s the restaurant’s issue for years and yet they haven’t performed techniques and solutions for this. Mesa’s pride are their Filipino dishes that were given modern reinvention, which inexorably led to become the restaurant’s signature dishes. But let me tell you that these reinventions weren’t practiced anymore on daily operations of the restaurant.

Anyway, here are my reviews for each of the Mesa dishes we tried.

Pinatayong Manok

This is what I’m talking about. I was really disappointed with the Pinatayong Manok. We waited for more than an hour to be served with this. It’s already cold. And where is the chicken in upright position? The waiter asked if they’ll chop it. I asked if it would still be suspended and he said yes. But the chops are all on plate now. It was the only thing that can make Mesa’s fried chicken different because it almost tastes like Max’s Fried Chicken. It’s similar up to the condiment. It’s a good thing that the skin was crispy and the meat was tender. It was savory but it could be better.

Sinigang na Salmon Head

For the second time, we experienced a long waiting time before we got our food. We were even more disappointed when the soup served had already cooled down. Sinigang is never good when it isn’t hot. At first, we were hesitant if this was really salmon because the fish didn’t have pink flesh. Moreover, the presentation wasn’t nice. There seems to be a problem in their Hennan Regency Boracay branch. We tried Sinigang na Salmon Head again in SM Lipa and I was able to admire the tanginess of tamarind and warmth of the soup. 

Braised Beef

Mesa’s version of Braised Beef resembles the Malaysian Beef Rendang. I can sense some Southeast Asian spices from the marinade. The beef has this intense flavors that had a touch of sweetness and complemented the chili sauce. The beef was tender, too. I’m just sad that this was the only beef dish available when we visited the Hennan Regency Boracay branch. That time, I wanted to try the short ribs, which is not in their menu anymore today. On our next visit, we tried Kare Kare Beef and Tripe and it was bland for my liking. 

Tinapa Roll

If you wouldn’t think that these rolls are made of Tinapa, you’ll definitely enjoy them. Honestly, the rolls were appetizing, especially when dipped with the accompanying Ilocos vinegar. However, it’s called Tinapa Roll and it didn’t taste like Tinapa. It just tasted like a plain fish. Tinapa is known to have this smoky flavors. These rolls only have mild flavors of the fish. It was even dominated by the salted eggs and sliced tomatoes. The idea of shredding Tinapa and filling it in lumpia wrapper is incredible. They just have to make it right.

Mixed Vegetable

We expected different. We thought it’s gonna be carrots, corn and green peas. But happily, we received legit vegetables here with pechay as the main ingredient. It’s healthier and more upgraded than what we expected. I’m not really a vegetable fan but I like how the greens were dressed in oyster sauce. It was well-seasoned with lots of garlic. It’s flavorful that I didn’t feel it was a vegetable dish. In another visit, we also tried their Kangkong with Lechon and everyone in our table liked how crunchy the kangkong leaves were. The texture was even more vibrant with the addition of crispy pork belly slices.

Inihaw Sampler

We, literally, blurted out a wow when the waiter laid the Inihaw Sampler on our table. I can absolutely taste the freshness. My boyfriend doesn’t like mussels but I was surprised when he suddenly said it was delish. I like the fact that the shrimp and squid were also skewered along with the barbecue. The liempo is a dry meat but thankfully, the sauce made it flavorful. The bangus belly was the best. There was only one sauce for everything and it was yummy that all blended well with it.

Malunggay Shrimp Tokwa

I was laughing because when we picked the Malunggay Shrimp Tokwa from Mesa’s menu, we were warned by the waiter that it’s bitter and most of the time, it was ordered by elderlies. But honestly, I found it luscious. The idea of pureeing malunggay into soup is amazing. The flavor of malunggay is indeed showing. There’s a hint of pepper that made it even more aromatic. I actually think that even children will like this thick-textured soup. I guess, hearing the name just scares them. 

Update: Years after availing Malunggay Shrimp Tokwa, it is now phased out.

Guinumis | Mais con Hielo

It was Mesa that introduced us to Guinumis. It’s a pearl and jelly cooler, just like Black Gulaman, but with the essence of coconut cream. Given the definition, I expected the creamy dairy flavor of a coconut. But in Mesa, I got Guinumis that tasted like sweetened Macapuno. At least, it was still coconut. On the other hand, I was surprised at the fine texture of the Mais con Hielo’s Ice. It was like Parmesan powder when unmixed. The ice alone is full of creaminess. However, the ratio of ice to corn wasn’t proportional. There were too many ice. More corn can add sweetness. More cornflakes can add texture.