nilaga – Jellybeans in the City

If you fancy yourself totally done with Pinoy food, you might want to rethink your position.

Yes, the viands that you eat practically everyday at home or at every family gathering can have erstwhile undiscovered aspects that will rekindle your love of our homegrown dishes.

That’s what MESA aims to bring to the table (see what I did there? :-))

One of the restaurant brands operated by Food Global Concepts, MESA cafes a carefully curated menu of Filipino dishes representative of the country’s diverse regional flavors, and enhanced with endearing modern twists.

This is why whenever the fam is in the mood for a break from home-cooked meals but still wants to partake of something familiar, we hie ourselves off the MESA branch most accessible to us, the one located at SM City East Ortigas.

In keeping with MESA’s recipe for success for all of its outlets, this branch features the brand’s celebrated menu filled with innovative takes on traditional Filipino dishes, genuine Filipino hospitality as embodied by its warm and welcoming service crew and an exceptional dining experience that retains its native accents while couched in affordable luxury.

Over several visits, my family has identified our fast faves from MESA’s menu. These include:

Laing 2 Ways (Php205). MESA brings two ways to enjoy Bicol’s most celebrated dish made with slowly simmered taro leaves in coconut milk and fermented shrimp paste and topped with chicken adobo flakes. Have it as it was traditionally served (wet) or crispy.

Tofu Sisig (Php190). Pampanga’s most famous dish is given a healthier twist with the use of local beancurd sautéed with onions and a special sisig dressing and served sizzling on a hot plate.

Suahe in Salted Egg (Php590). River shrimp sautéed in salted egg yolk and light soya with wanly, butter, native chilis, sugar and lime juice.

Boneless Bangus with Cheese (Php375). Marinated boneless milkfish baked and topped with melted cheese, garlic and spring onions, an excellent way to get the kiddos to like seafood!

Salt & Pepper Spare Ribs (Php520). Thin slices of pork spare ribs, deep-fried and tossed in butter, garlic and native chilis.

Binagoongang Baby ni Kaka (Php555). Lean pork belly sautéed in fermented shrimp paste, onions, tomato and native chilis and served with grilled eggplant.

Nilagang Baka (Php415). Beef tenders simmered in a flavorful broth along with sweet corn, onions, celery, cabbage and native pechay.

Kare-Kare Beef and Tripe (Php820). Tender slices of beef, ox tripe and fresh vegetables cooked in a rich peanut sauce and served with fermented shrimp paste. A welcome dish in any Pinoy spread!

As you can see, these dishes may have graced your dinner table in one form or another, but at MESA, they come in a manner that celebrates their roots in our traditional native culture, as well as the myriad possibilities they possess to whet the appetites of future generations of Filipinos.

Drop by a MESA branch near you and experience a fresh way to enjoy Pinoy cuisine.

This MESA branch is located at Unit 268-270 2nd Floor, SM City East Ortigas, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Barangay Status. Lucia, Pasig City. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 87214434 or +63 915 4572987.

Other Metro Manila branches are located at:

Caloocan: SM City Grand Central
Las Pinas: Via Lifestyle Center, SM Southmall
Makati: Ayala Malls Circuit, Greenbelt 5, Powerplant Mall
Mandaluyong: SM Megamall, Shangri-la Mall
Manila: Robinsons Place Manila, SM City San Lazaro
Muntinlupa: Festival Mall
Paranaque: Ayala Malls Manila Bay, SM City Sucat
Pasay: SM Mall of Asia
Pasig: Ayala Malls Feliz,
Quezon City: Ali Mall Cubao, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Ever Gotesco Commonwealth, Eastwood Mall, Fisher Mall, Robinsons Place Magnolia, SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview, Tomas Morato, UP Town Center
Taguig: SM Aura Premier, Vista Mall

For many of us Pinoys, food is part of our love language: in fact, kamustahans sometimes come in the form of “Kumain ka na ba?” and part of our welcome greeting to visitors is “Kain na kayo!”

For my fellow memshie Rowena of TravelEatPinas, it’s a way to touchbase with an old friend: me!

Having missed our chickahans over sumptuous spreads, she decided to send me a salo salo package from Goodah!!! that the fam and I can enjoy for our weekend lunch.

Just the name Goodah!!! evokes so much childhood memories. Since the 80’s, this restaurant chain has been the go-to place for people seeking fuss-free comfort food that appeals to down-home Pinoy palate such as the well-loved lugaw and silogs.

And with Pinoys spending more time at home nowadays, there are more opportunities to bond over a good meal.

Thanks to Goodah!!!’s Salo-Salo Meals, the fam can get together to enjoy the various ulam that everyone loves, share stories and experiences and spend time with the people who matter the most.

With Salo-Salo Meals at less than Php1,000 per set, memshies all over the metro can easily gather their loved ones over hearty meals that they won’t have to slave over in the kitchen.

My Salo-Salo Meal set for example, is made up of Pinoy classics:

Crispy Pata. This dish of deep-fried pork trotters is the centerpiece of many Pinoy hapag-kainans.

Beef Nilaga. “Pag may tiyaga, may nilaga.” is an adage that teaches us the value of perseverance because of the delicious rewards that await us, no doubt because the comforting nilaga is a reward in itself.

Lumpiang Shanghai. Whether as ulam or finger food, you can’t go wrong with this ubiquitous dish.

I’m ever so thankful that my memshie Rowena remembered me and gave my family and wonderful meal to share.

So if you’re thinking if I’m doing good now, well, yeah, I’m perfectly Goodah!!!

Other Salo-Salo Meal sets available include:

Set A: Pork Ribs, Kare-Kare and Garlic Kangkong with Pork
Set B: Pork Bistek, Pork Sinigang and Daing na Bangus
Set C: Herbed Chicken, Pork Liempo and Pinakbet

This Goodah!!! outlet is located at 9 Granada Street, Valencia,Quezon City, open daily from 7am to 10pm. For inquiries, call +63 2 88758124 or +63 2 82473188.

It delivers via GrabFood and FoodPanda.