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| - Is it upscale Filipino food or re-interpreted Filipino classics? Kinda sorta both. The inside is nicely done in white w/ repro tin ceilings and ceiling fans. I wouldn't say there's a central design theme as much as a mish mash of nice fixtures, but if you don't care about all that design stuff, the important thing to take away is that it's a nice, comfortable space. But how's the food?
Per our waitress, the menu changes daily, although the 5 course tasting menu includes an amuse bouche, appetizer, mid-meal course, entree and dessert. You can also order a la carte.
Today, our amuse was arroz caldo served on Chinese soup spoons and topped w/ a sprig of green onion. The arroz caldo was creamy with good chicken and ginger flavor.
Our appetizers were talong quiche and lamb kare kare pot pie. The eggplant quiche was tasty and well executed, but it won't satisfy your craving for char grilled eggplant dipped in vinegar & garlic, nor should it. It's a dish that can stand on its own.
The lamb kare kare pot pie smelled and tasted of tender lamb seasoned with fish paste. This isn't a gamey lamb, but kare kare is normally beef bits cooked in a peanut sauce. This version lacked the smooth peanut sauce which would've been a good counterpoint to the fish paste and provided the sauce usually associated with pot pies. The crust itself wasn't flaky and tender, but it wasn't terrible either. I liked the dish, but I wouldn't call it kare kare.
The mid-meal course was fried lumpia w/ garlic vinegar. It was a crunchy, veggie filled bite that wiped the palate for:
Pork longanisa on garlic fried rice and fried eggs, and beef tapa on garlic fried rice and eggs (longsilog and tapsilog).
Lately, Filipino longanisa just seems sugary sweet. Lamesa's version wasn't sugary sweet which was good. It had good pork flavor, just a little sweet and still savory. But don't worry, you'll still have longanisa burps later. The beef tapa was tender and cooked medium. WHAT?!? Beef tapa is usually drier and chewier. This was the exact opposite. It was tender and juicy while tasting just like beef tapa with a nice char grilled flavor to it.
For dessert, we had pandesal bread pudding and taho. The bread pudding was dressed w/ Carnation creme anglaise and dulce de leche. This was a very good, sweet way to end the meal. The taho was dense and creamy and served in a pool of caramel syrup and topped w/ tapioca pearls. I mistook it for flan at first and after tasting it, it reminded me of flan. It really is sweet and creamy goodness.
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