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| - Near and dear to my heart gets you five stars!
Before starting this review I must say that I am related to the awesome owner Ben, mind you I haven't seen him since a family get together maybe 25 plus years ago. We didn't get any special treatment - but he insisted we have all of the nine items on the Summerlicous menu!
Judging was very hard on Lamesa, for a couple of reasons - I'm not a big fan of fusion anything, sometimes it's just too weird and I don't know what the food was originally supposed to taste like. Second factor was - yeah I know this guy, his whole family is in the restaurant business, I'm sure it's going to be good - biggest understatement of the night.
We came in a little early for our reservation - waited a bit by the bar until we were greeted, you could see that they were super busy. It's an intimate place, I wouldn't say it was good for groups, but they did have a couple of larger parties that night. The decor was warm with a nice Filipino mural near the front, nothing overbearing.
Now, the food - amazing and very impressed!
For starters Sisig, Pancit and Grilled Talong. Each item equally different and prepared perfectly, the Talong ( Asian Eggplant ) was the standout for me l, grilled and seasoned perfectly. They added a few things to the original preparation of the dish, but I have to say it did not take away from how I have always known this dish to taste.
The Mains, Fried Bangus - now for all the Filipinos out there, Bangus is a pain in the ass to eat with many small bones, but it is very flavorful fish, Lamesa has this on point - daing style (marinated in vinegar, soy and lemon) deboned and crispy deep fried with the head on!! We devoured that thing head and all! Grilled Chicken Adobo - had a beautiful "inasal" flavor to it. The winner for me was the Ginataan Gulay, with the near and dear factor!! The ginataan munngo (to cook in coconut milk) were so authentic I could have sworn my mother made it! The fried cauliflower was a nice surprise to the dish, Filipinos don't usually cook this veggie, but Lamesa made it work!
Desserts - Ube Flan - out of this world creamy - kudos to the person creaming this out on the double boiler!
Lanka Cake - think Bibinka and Lanka had a child!!
Fruit Salad Panna Cotta - think Filipino Fruit Salad and Jello jiggly goodness!
I'm very impressed with Lamesa, they have take Filipino food to the next level, keeping the cuisine true to form and turning it into something great without sacrificing the way the food should taste!
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