At that Batangas resort, I met Glenn Yap, my neighbor and owner of Moksha Resto-Bar.

Moksha Resto Bar is situated at 713 Jose Abad Santos St. Little Baguio, San Juan – almost at the corner of Wilson St. and less than 200 meters from where I live.

It’s funny that I never had a chance to dine at Moksha, despite repeated invitations of my friends, Joann and Toto Salgado. I always was in a rush to meet other friends else where every time the Salgados called us to get together at Moksha Resto bar.

At the La Luz beach resort, I once again received an invitation to dine at Moksha, this time from Glenn Yap himself.

According to Glenn, the word, Moksha means "salvation" and the name of his restaurant was given by Glenn’s friends who hail from Bombay, Jaiphur, and New Delhi.

Glenn has a big number of Indian friends many of whom were his classmates at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

As a student at AIM, Glen rented an apartment at the LPL condo which his classmates frequented when they were not too busy doing school work.

The group would talk about girls and at times, about their dreams of opening a small community bar. These conversations became so interesting for Glenn that his thesis at school dealt on the viability of opening a restaurant–bar in a small community.

After a lot of research, Glenn Yap decided to give his theories a try. Thus, in September, 2004, after graduating from AIM, Moksha Resto cum Bar was born.

Glenn Yap’s big problem at that time was that he is not a cook. Truthfully, to this day, he has nothing to do with Moksha’s kitchen affairs.

It was obvious that he needed to get someone to do the cooking but instead of employing a cook, he thought it wiser to offer his longtime friend, Liza Montealegre a partnership in the business.

Liza Montealegre was then the chef in a restaurant in Antipolo but at that time when Glen talked to her about his project, Liza was raring to do business of her own.

Next Glenn called on another friend Martin See to design the interiors of Moksha. With mirrors on one wall of Moksha’s "homey" interiors, Martin was able to create an illusion of space in the restaurant’s 52 square meter area.

Moksha can accommodate 25 people for dinner and about 10 more when the area is turned into a bar.

Moksha appeals to all sexes and all ages. It’s a "cool" place where clients are able to hold their drinks as they enjoy recipes prepared by Liza Monte Alegre and her staff of two – Louie Maalindog and Dominic Mametis.

After a meal, people have a tendency to stay and enjoy their beer and at times the lychee Martini or Glenn’s strong concoction known as the Flying Tiger which consists of two kinds of rum, two kinds of tequila, two kinds of vodka, gin, bourbon, blue curacao, brandy and whisky. Susmaryosep.

To drink something as hard as this, one must have a full stomach. Ergo, Glenn recommends Liza’s rosmary and thyme beef, or lamb, or stuffed chicken skewers with lemon butter sauce.

Moksha also serves tikka fish, and seabreeze tuna skewers and for those who love pasta, the Chef’s Pasta with olive oil, bacon, garlic and egg.

In the menu is Mama’s homemade Italian spaghetti, chicken presto pasta, pasta aligue, and lasagna al forno.

For a bit of fire in the mouth, there is pork loin seasoned with curry, paprika, with four different kinds of chili.

For lamb lovers, there’s imported lamb shanks grilled and simmered with Moksha’s curry sauce.

The chicken tandoori which is cooked in cream, cumin ginger and a dash of saffron looks as good as it tastes ….so does the grilled pork belly served with sliced vegetables and homemade "salsa"

At Moksha, German sausages in mustard sauce is served with potatoes but in case you are not in the mood for sausages, you may try the roasted chicken cooked in lemon grass and different kinds of herbs…

That evening, the guests seated next to our table ordered roast beef sandwiches. The sandwich is presented with tiny Japanese umbrellas which I associate with bar drinks.

For dessert, take a choice of delightfully light chocolate cake, a homemade version of the traditional cheese cake and vanilla flavored ice cream with a dash of spice. Ummm.

From cocktails to dinner, Moksha is a place I now go to when there is a need to relax after a long hard day.

I’m so glad I live just a stone’s throw away……