Dining: Mesa - Filipino Modern Flavors

love it here...

On my 2012 birthday, I opted for a very simple celebration with my hubby (since it's a weekday and kids are at school).  I just asked him to accompany me for a "Makati window shopping" since it's been ages since I visited this area.



Come lunch time, we decided to eat again in Mesa.  it's our third time to eat here actually.  You see, we are quite not adventureous in food.  We always go back to where our palettes have been satisfied.

Mesa offers a Filipino cuisine with a modern twist.  It's like having your usual meal but being surprised with the new twist at the same time and being glad of the surprise.  I can say that is offers mostly Kapampangan cuisine since most of the dishes are so familiar with me (Yes! a half-blooded Kapampangan talking here).

Our first experience was in Tomas Morato and it was "love at first bite". For our third time, we came back to Greenbelt 5 branch.  In Greenbelt 5, it is located at the corner outside of the mall.  It has an outside set-up for smokers and those who wanted a fresh air.

the location with outside setting

At first glance, you might be intimidated by the location but I think this is the one of the most affordable restaurants with nice ambiance and great food in this area.  Its interior is made up of native decors. The place is quite jam packed during dining time.

the interiors made of local materials.....full house at this time

Now, let's start with the menu:

the menu

You will notice that the prices are quite affordable for servings of 3-4 people.

For my birthday celebration we opted for:

inihaw liempo @ P218.00

1. Inihaw na Liempo - quite dry and hard but still taste good but I rather not recommend this one.

baby squid in olive oil @ around P200.00

2. Baby Squid in Olive Oil - we have tasted this on our second visit and this didn't disappoint us again.  The meat is just so soft and tastes really good.

laing sinangag rice @ P160.00

3. Laing Sinangag Rice - hitting two birds with one stone since you don't need to order for a separate laing.  I will also recommend this one.

our soup - seafood soup @ p190.00

4. Seafood Soup - this is only good for 2 but so good also; with shrimp, squid and mussels.

natural buco juice @ P60.00

We ended our dining experience with dessert of course!

fried leche flan @ |P65.00

On our second visit, we were so curious with this dessert from the menu.  How can you fry a leche flan right???  We have not thought of the spring roll wrapper..hehehehhe.  This is a must try since it's not too sweet and the combination of caramel and leche flan is really wonderful to the taste buds - crispy on the outside and very soft inside.

Aside from these, I strongly recommend that you try adobo baby squid in its own ink, fried tilapia fillet and sinigang na baboy in bayabas ( a Kapampangan  staple soup).

So what's our verdict for the third time????  Here it is....

no further comments your honor...

The only minus points for this resto is the service.  Serving of food is quite fast but the waitresses are not quite attentive to our other requests or maybe they are just too overwhelmed with the large number of diners.  But I would strongly recommend this place.  For a thousand bucks, at least four people can have a great meal.

As for us, we still have a reason to return - the prichon or fried lechon.  I saw from our fellow diners that this can be ordered in small serving.  I'm so looking forward on our next visit.

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Some branches to visit:
Tomas Morato's
Greenbelt 5
MOA's