MESA — Restaurant in Makati

I have always been a fan of Mesa’s gising gising ( or any of their dish with sigarilyas!). Not disappointed when I ordered this for takeout tonight together with the pinaupong manok (I was so craving for Max’s Fried Chicken however the branch here at Circuit does not accept credit card-sorry guys!). Not so good for me because I can still taste the oil it was cooked in 1 hour after eating (sorry to you!claps Max’s back to me 🤪)

I should commend however the way I was attended to by their staff who so warm and accommodating! And the takeout orders that come in the usual plastic containers are tagged and sealed indicating even the time you should consume what you ordered. So neat-this is the first time I saw such!

So next time I drop by Mesa, I know now what dish to avoid (and pray that Max’s accept...

Had my lunch here with a few colleagues and partners after a business meeting as this Mesa restaurant was near to their office.

They ordered a lot of traditional philippines dishes, including Crispy Pata bone-in, Marinated whole boneless bangus, baby squid in squid ink, and a few more dishes. I regret to say that I was not particularly impressed with the boneless bangus fish dish. I have had the pleasure of enjoying much better boneless bangus fish at other local restaurants. The bangus fish dish here was having quite a number of bones, which really turned me off. Got one or two dishes, which I also feel that flavors are lacking.

As for the service, we waited for the dishes to be served for quite a long time. I would also like to mention that the restaurant felt quite warm despite the air...

Mesa is one particularly safe go to Filipino food chain for many Filipinos.

The Chicken Binakol we ordered was great as usual.

The presentation of the Kare Kare left us with a bad impression. The flavor is what you would expect but it was clearly just thawed from frozen and reheated to serve.

The service and ambiance were decent, but it is really a low cry compared to the original branch we ate at Greenbelt a long time ago. I suppose you can’t expect to keep the consistency as a brand scales.

Overall it was good value and would definitely come again, but its just what it is, an alternate Gerry’s grill that is a bit more...