MED Modern Mediterranean — Restaurant in Taguig

Everyone knows about the one-stop book and gift shop, Fully Booked, round the corner of Bonifacio High Street with all the books and reads and the iconic painting on a book of walls. But do you know that there is a grab-n-go concept at the first floor of this book shop that serves flavorful Modern Meditarranean dishes? Yes, there is and it is called MEDLEY.

Though, I believe most foodies certainly know about this winner restaurant, what you might not know is that Medley started as a small kiosk at the Legaspi Street Market, where Israel-born David Tweg and his father Michael, offered Mediterranean snacks to local market-goers. As their followers grew, they saw it as an opportunity to share their love of Meditarranean food to a bigger audienc3, thus, they opened Medley, a Mediterranean restaurant with a modern twist.

We were invited to taste some of the dishes through a Medley community dinner and it certainly opened not only our eyes but our tastebuds to a while new experience.

And now, for my F.A.B. review!

(F)OOD:

The food here is certainly bursting with color, flavor but also with nutrients since they use no preservatives nor artifical flavorings. They have options for meat lovers, vegetarians, and vegans and are totally customizable to fit everyone’s preferences.

SALAD

Lemon & Herb Chicken This is one of my fave dishes since I always crave for salad and this is a perfect one! It looks like Christmas on a dish because of the colorful ingredients. Love how the garlic sauce binded the salad together and how that citrus of a lemon in that chicken punched through this healthy dish and elevated that dish.

BOWL

Beef Kofte With Hummus & Pita Kofte is like a meatball which consists of minced or ground meat—usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork—mixed with spices and/or onions while tabbouleh is an Arab salad of cracked wheat mixed with tomatoes, onions, and parsley. Though these are totally unfamiliar to me, my taste buds were rejoicing to this new discovery. I also love the flavorful hummus where I dipped that yummy kofte.

Levantine Chicken With Mediterranean Rice Levantine chicken is diced chicken marinated into yoghurt and spices while matbukha is a dish of tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper. A totally great dish for those who would love a healthy but filling alternative. This dish is punching with flavors and freshness with those tomatoes.

PIZZA

The Big Cheese Who doesn’t love cheese?! This was certainly our group’s favorite! Aside from it being a dish for sharing, the combination of cheeses just worked with that fresh basil pesto base.

SANDWICH

Falafel (The El Nido) Pita This is the popular dish at their El Nido branch, thus the name. It had flavorful falafel that made yhis sandwich so filling. I believe that the falafel’s flavor was adjusted for the Filipino palate because I have tasted some falafel with some stronger flavor but this sandwich is certainly a winner.

REFRESHMENT

Ginger Mint Lemonade Not my first choice for a drink but I love the combination of ginger with the refreshing mint and that tangy lemonade. I love lemonade and mint, though we know that ginger has medicinal properties, that ginger added a little different flavor profile that may be an aquired taste for me.

They do not serve desserts but we have tasted a posssible future dessert item and you can find out soon as they are open more stores.

(A)MBIENCE:

This is a grab-n-go concept restaurant so don’t expect fancy tables and chairs though they have an al fresco dining option.

You may order through one window while watching the people from Medley prepping your food then claim your orders after, easy peasy.

(B)UTLER SERVICE:

At the actual restaurant, you would only have to wait for your food maybe while sittting at their al fresco option so not much interaction with the Medley people. During our event, we were served our food on this private setup, we had no problems with the service, all our food and requests came out on the...

Medley Modern Mediterranean is located at the Fully Booked building at the bustling high street of BGC. It is hard to miss because they are right by the entrance with a take away counter. A couple of tables are on the other side, al fresco dining best during the night time. Chill and watch people walk by or kids play at the central green space. We sampled some of their best sellers:

Lemon & Herb Chicken. A refreshingly light lettuce and red cabbage salad dressed in garlic sauce. The chopped chicken had that very faint flavor of lemon and herbs, throw in some red bell pepper for some color and a Moroccan carrot salad for that added root crop, vitamin rich component. I like my salad with more than a light coating, so for an additional charge request for extra garlic sauce for that needed dose of flavor.

Beef Kofte with hummus + Pita is a colorful way to entice a non healthy foodie to try something new! The bowl itself is a beauty. It has juicy beef kofte kebabs, tabbouleh, corn salad, red onion salad, chickpeas salad and mamba sauce. Taste a little bit of everything and take alternate bites of the pita bread to enjoy the flavors. It was a generous serving, good enough for two but it is a filling lunch time treat that i can certainly finish.

Levantine chicken with Mediterranean rice. Spicy chicken thigh fillet with a load of carrot salad, Israeli salad and grilled vegetables. The chicken was measured to a tee and would love some more. The proportions was not enough for the rice. But everything was well balance in terms of flavors. It had the right amount of spice.

The big cheese pizza had that distinct sourdough taste which gave it that uniqueness. Not quite a pizza nor a flatbread because of the thickness. The basil pesto base served a springboard for the four cheese combo of mozzarella, feta, parmesan and cheddar. Don't waste the crust because it is even better when dipped with either garlic sauce or hummus.

Falafel Pita or as they lovingly call 'The El Nido' is your crunchy falafel on pita made even better because it was baked not fried. Why El Nido? Now that is a backstory worth listening to. They apparently had roots in El Nido, Palawan selling these delicious falafels before establishing Medley in BGC! And a soon to open branch in Ayala Malls Manila Bay with a full kitchen set up for big groups.

We also sampled a dessert which may be coming sooner than you think! Medley is a hip, healthy and delicious alternative to the typical fast food plaguing Manila. Grab and go is their game and they certainly won some fans in BGC and beyond....

Finally got to try out Medley Modern Mediterranean. Located in Fully Booked High Street ground floor. Replacing the old Halal Guys. The place is more of a to-go kind of resto with limited number of seats outside.

Their dishes are made from healthy fresh ingredient with a wonderful Mediterranean flavor.

On our visit we tried this dishes.

Lemon and Herb Chicken Salad - this one remind me of Salad stop but with more toppings and flavor. I enjoyed this meal with all the fresh and natural ingredient in it. Made even better with a good amount of garlic sauce mix in it.

Levantine Chicken - we got to try both wrap and with rice version and both were amazing. I love how flavorful the chicken was. The kind of dish you want to savor in your mouth. The rice version got this spicy red mamba sauce got give the dish a nice spicy punch to it. So far this was my fave.

Falafel Crunch w/ Hummus+Pita - after trying this out I'm so happy they replaced the old tenant of the space. This is how Falafel should taste. Love that extra crunch in it. Smack everything in the bowl to the Pita bread with a drizzle of the Tahini sauce. Yummy! The Tabbouleh on the side give the dish a good anti Umay. Another thumbs up because this dish is purely Vegan!!! Good Job!

The Legaspi - if you are a frequent visitor of Legaspi Sunday Market, this pizza will be very familiar to you. This is one of the crowd fave in the Sunday market that inspired the group to open Medley Modern Mediterranean. Wonderful pesto base with beef kofte, mozzarella and veggies to top it of. Love the mix of flavor of it with that lovely burnt flavor of the crust.

Ginger Mint Lemonade - very refreshing and the ginger/lemon flavor was well balance.

Overall I really enjoyed the place and highly recommend it to my friends/family. Love that they made their menu with meat lovers, vegetarian and vegan in mind. Hoping for more branches...