Lasa Manila—located at the ground level of the Podium—may be considered a haven for live band music by beer aficionados, but it is also a wonderful place to rediscover timeless local dishes.
Dishes—served in traditional proportions—are either cooked the old-fashioned way or with slightly modern touches.
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Lasa Manila’s Kare-kare with
bagoong: Fresh string beans,
eggplant, pechay, mixed meats
in peanut sauce | | Chef Jay Mathay—who has been a genuine food lover since his childhood days—uses both old and new ways of cooking when it comes to Lasa Manila dishes.
His Pork Binagoongan—made of adobado pork meat cubes and fat chunks with soy-garlic flavors sautéed in bagoong alamang—is a well-concocted dish that highlights Ilocano and Pangasinense tastes. This dish’s careful infusion of bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) doesn’t overpower the taste of the garlic and soy sauce, making it a perfect partner to white, steamed rice and ice-cold beer.
Chef Mathay’s mastery of traditional Pinoy favorites includes both the savory and the sweet which go very well with rice. The desserts offered by the restaurant are familiar to the local palate and include such favorites as Mango Sago, Palitaw, and so on.
The restaurant also serves barbecue on sticks and grilled liempo in a variety of marinades. The liempo in particular is excellent and guaranteed to satisfy the most discriminating of tastes.
Indeed, Lasa Manila is a "home away from home" especially during afternoons, and during lunch hours when lutong bahay is difficult to obtain in our hectic, corporate lives.
Dishes in this place are worth it—though somewhat expensive compared to home cooking—and service is traditionally Pinoy, where the attendants give ample advice on what to eat depending on one’s appetite. The attendants usually encourage guests to try the various Sinigang soups; Cari-Cari or Kare-Kare in peanut sauce with bagoong; Laing that comes in amazingly flavorful layers that hint of the taste of coconuts; Crispy Adobo; Crispy Breaded Shrimps; and even the Kesong Puti Cheese Sticks.
However, since the chef is a well-trained patisserie and has had international culinary schooling, his desserts are not to be overlooked. His Buko Pandan, Bibinka, Palitaw, and Panakota are simply heavenly.
With Chef Mathay’s expertise when it comes to Philippine food, Lasa Manila is a good place where one can discover and rediscover the flavorful tastes of our traditional cuisine.
RECOMMENDED DISHES:
- Lumpiang Sariwa –- in fresh, egg wrap with fresh stalks of pechay and sweet garlic sauce.
- Pork Binagoongan –- made from adobado pork cubes sautéed in a sweet, sour and spicy bagoong alamang.
- Buko Pandan – a soft, cream-infused cake-base with coconut meat slices and layered with pandan gelatin top.
- Crispy Fried Breaded Shrimp –- made of fried breaded shrimps sided with white, steamed rice and spicy vinegar or chili bagoong.
- Lasa Bibinka – traditional Pinoy Christmas pudding topped with kesong puti and salted egg slices.
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