I don’t know much about Filipino cuisine, but I love my limited exposure, which consists of whatever the nurses at county made on Doctor’s Day...and Lasa. It’s a heavy cuisine, full of sauces, fats, and starch, usually in a colorful array, so many textures, colors, temperatures that collaborate and contrast like a palatal opera.
A fizz-tastic Green Mango Soda starts things off, a not-so-sweet carbonated concoction that tunes up the palate and cleanses it between courses.
The Inasal Skewers are strong, a bold leap into the unfamiliar for me. The tender, chewy texture of chicken gizzards reverberates with the savor of meat laced with ginger in a dark annatto marinade, and sukang sili vinegar sings soprano with bold notes of acid.
My favorite dish is the Rockfish Kinilaw, but it's definitely not for everyone. I'm told it's a Filipino ceviche, but that won't prepare you for patis. Ah, patis. The Chinese have a version of this, but the one here is on steroids. A pungent, punch-in-the-throat fish sauce that tastes like a velvety baritone. It starts so smooth, but it sneaks up from behind to deliver the ultimate sucker-punch, and even the anger-issue cucumbers (i.e. smashed), smooth avocado, and usually neutral watermelon radishes are no match for this patis.
The Inihaw Na Hipon is a bit of a break from the novel and the foreign, a bit whitewashed for the guests who can't handle the strong stuff. It's neutral, like a song someone would play at a garden party, and unobtrusive, nonintrusive, aesthetically pleasing array of blandly-grilled shrimp on sticks. Fried shrimp heads are the best, but these heads need to be better fried. The shell was a bit painful to chew in several places, and I ended up spitting a few pieces out.
Of the entrees, the Twice Cooked Pork Belly is the table's favorite, and it's hardly fair. There's a giant slab of juicy, crispy-on-the-outside belly that releases rivers of fat-juice. Smokey eggplant puree and fresh summer squash are embittered by ampalaya powder, a healthy contrast to all that fabulous fat.
The Surf & Turf is an interesting interpretation. I've never had longanisa before so I don't really have a basis of comparison, but I do like it. The filling is gentler than I expected, lightly spicy and lightly spiced. I do wish they had done something more with the octopus, though.
The Lumpia Sariwa hits a sour note with me. I HATE any food that's been deconstructed. The sauteed mix of peanut-sour cabbage, root vegetables, etc are a delicious hot mess, but not putting it together changes a spring roll into a fall-apart salad. Other than the crepe getting soggy, it really does taste good, but deconstructing is like taking something someone else made and not being bothered to put it back together when you're done, and most people don't appreciate that.
The dessert menu is promising...so we ordered it. All of it. The Market Fruit Ginataan is a less sweet and likable lighter option, coconut cream with peaches and tapioca.
You can't go wrong with Condensed Milk Ice Cream with a coat of black sesame polvoron, and this one probably the best dessert in Far East Plaza, even with Scoops only ten feet away.
The Kesong Puti Fritters are the underdog a mix that sounds like it could be exceptional...or an exceptional disaster. The fritters are fine, like a firmer beignet from NoLa, and the salted duck egg custard is a brilliantly creative topcoat, a sandy icing of yolk and salt.
I like Lasa. I don't love Lasa, but I like it. The food has potential, and I see definite glimpses of genius despite what little I know about the cuisine. I would eat here again in a heartbeat, just to experience the full variety that they have to offer, and maybe next time, they'll have ironed out the kinks.
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