March is the month of graduations and recognitions .. aaand when someone graduates, there are bound to be celebrations. Tonight, we’re celebrating the recognition of my dear cousin Issa(she’s now a grade 3 student! Yey!) So, there I was in Mesa, located in The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu. Naturally, since this is a food blog, I will talk about the amazing food I had that night so let your mouths start watering.
For appetizers, we had several plates of Tinapa roll wrapped in lettuce(135php). It’s flaked smoked fish with tomato onion and salted egg wrapped in fried rice paper and plated single soup spoons on a lettuce leaf. (haaahh.. that was long. HAHA) Let’s start with how you will react when you eat it.. “Hmm”. It has a light flavour delicately balanced with the egg and tomatoes countered by the saltiness of the deep fried rice paper. It’s also served with spicy vinegar which, I might say, is a great edition.
Then the main course came, we had Tinolang Sea Bass(480 php depends on how much sea bass is used since it’s 80php/100grams). It was your basic Tinola, you know.. fish, tomatoes, onions, green onions.. It’s simple, light, but the difference come with the fish. You don’t usually eat Tinolang Sea Bass so it’s really different. We also had Pomelo Salad with latik(250), it’s fresh chunks of pomelo with a coconut shreds and peanut tossed in the house dressing. It was not something that you would think of mixing everyday. It’ a good mix of crunchy and sweet and sour and it’s something to tingle the little buds on your tongue. 
Then, of course we had the Filipino favourite, Crispy Pata(420php). As this restaurant is not your usual Filipino Grill and Resto, their Crispy Pata comes boneless. It’s plated beautifully on the bone but it’s fried separately, which means that the hassle of taking the meat that sticks to the bone while cooking is gone(It’s amazing how this restaurant does things). It was your not-so-typical crispy pata. Greatly crisp and served with their mix of their dipping sauce(soy sauce and vinegar with red onions).
We also had Baby Squid sautéed in olive oil with garlic and laurel leaves(220php). Since the baby squid were newly brought into this world, their soft little bodies would be perfect when it’s sautéed within a short time. The hints of garlic and laurel were very apparent and was a great addition to the light flavour of the olive oil. This comes highly RECOMMENDED. 
Next we have, Garlic Chicken(185php). Fried chicken served with a honey-patis sauce that gives it a bananacue-ish feel. The saltiness of the crispy skin is good with the Honey glaze. At first sight, you would think the sauce is like your basic barbecue sauce, but when you bite into the chicken, you are met with the crunchy ,sticky combination which is this dish right here. It’s something you won’t always expect. 
Then came the Bangus Belly braised in soy sauce and calamansi(280php). A dish balancing the salty flavour of soy sauce and sour calamansi. It was good.
Lastly, the Sisig in a pouch(110php). I didn’t really get to taste this one but I’ll describe it anyway. It is Pork Sisig wrapped in Rice Paper and tied with pandan leaves then deep fried and served with their spicy vinegar. It looked good, I don’t really know how it tastes like though.
Our night in Mesa was awesome.
Definitely somewhere to go back to.
Awesome shots, vin! :D
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