Contemporary Pinoy food at Sarsa Kitchen + Bar

Our family rarely goes to SM Mall of Asia because it's quite a distance from our home and we save the trouble only for special occasions. Like on New Year's Day when my two sisters (who were then vacationing from abroad) and I decided to bring the kids (my own four, a niece and two nephews) there to go bowling. But before the games, chow time! 
My sisters' choice? Sarsa Kitchen + Bar.

Sarsa Kitchen + Bar in MOA

 

This restaurant owned by Chef JP Anglo (who is reportedly the favorite chef of Kris Aquino) has three branches - at MOA, Makati and BGC. It has earned good reviews from foodies for its success in giving a new twist to traditional Negrense dishes. The restaurant's name, "sarsa", meaning sauce, is inspired by Pinoys' love for various dipping sauces and condiments that whet our already good appetite. We definitely love to eat, don't we! Notice then, that some dishes are served with sauces already like sinamak, which is spiced vinegar, achuete oil, and others. Chef JP, by the way, is from Negros, hence his love to cook, improve and tweak 
dishes from the Visayas Region. 
Meanwhile, our orders:

Pancit Molo, P275.

Tuna Sisig, P365.

Tortang Talong with Crispy Sardines and Kesong Puti, P210.

Monggo-nisa, P190.

Inasal na manok, P185.

Crispy Garlic Porkchop, P325.

Interior

  

Magazine features on Sarsa Kitchen + Bar and Chef JP Anglo

My sisters raved about the food! And I was happily munching away, having the feeling of eating in the comfort of our home food cooked by my mom and lola but served in a fresh, new way. Who would have thought that my favorite tortang talong could be served with a topping of my favorite palaman - kesong puti and crisply fried sardines? Yummy! One of my nephews, meanwhile, swore by the Munggo-nisa, which is ginisang munggo with crispy longganisa. What an ingenious way to serve this Friday veggie staple. Haha! Even the Tuna Sisig was such a hit to us that my sisters declared we had eaten at the best restaurant since they arrived five days earlier. And we had eaten at quite a number of Pinoy foodie places as we were out everyday. 
So what's not to like here? 
For me, it's either the price or the serving size. I just think that at those prices, the serving should be bigger. Oh, I am such a tightwad, you see. Haha!

Pay Sarsa Kitchen + Bar a visit, folks, to enjoy some good, 
contemporary Pinoy food. 
Happy eating!

Eat like they do in Hongkong at Tim Ho Wan

Love Chinese food? Most, if not all of us Filipinos do. I don't think there's one Pinoy who doesn't love to eat at least one kind of food that's of Chinese origin. Oh we do love siomai, pancit, lumpiang Shanghai and siopao don't we? I could annihilate a plate of pancit bihon and totally destroy an order of siomai anytime!  If I may inform you, these two are among my top comfort food and they could cheer me 
up on the gloomiest of days. 

Good thing there's a lot of restaurants where we could have our Chinese food favorites. They're even on your left and right in Binondo! Even then, newcomers are always welcome. Like Tim Ho Wan. When it came to the Philippines in 2014, it earned raves from foodies for its high quality of food at very competitive prices. After all, it's a Michelin star holder in Hongkong where it came from.  
Michelin star, says Wikipedia, "..normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest European hotel and restaurant reference guide, which awards Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a star can have dramatic effects on the success of a restaurant. Michelin also publishes 
a series of general guides to countries." 

Tim Ho Wan is touted as the world's cheapest Michelin-star restaurant. It is not named after a person, as we might all be thinking ('coz I did!), but is actually a Cantonese 
phrase meaning "add good luck".

Recently, my sister gave us (sis, our mom and two of my kids) a treat at Tim Ho Wan in Robinson's Place Manila. Was I excited to finally 
try this raved-about restaurant!

Our orders:

Chow Mien Stir Fried Noodle, P130.

Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork, P160.

Prawn Dumpling, P160.

Pork Rib with Black Bean Sauce, P120.

Spring Roll with Egg White, P120.

Jasmine Tea, P60/pot

Order sheet. It's DIY ordering here. Check your choices, write how many orders and give the form to the server.

It was one fine lunch that we had. The dimsum, noodle dish and all were flavorful in a subdued way, not so much as to assault the taste buds. The unique taste of everything just blended seamlessly, and consistently until the last mouthful. Also, there was no "sick" feeling afterwards, the way "vetsin"-laden Chinese food in some other restaurants could give you. While I liked everything we had, it was the Prawn Dumpling that I liked best. The white ball of goodness was delicious and fun to chew on.
And yes, we did order rice to go with all our savory food and of all that we had, the steamed rice was the only one I considered quite expensive at P70 per cup. Still, I was surprised that our total bill was only a little over P1,500 (we had two orders each of most of the food and we were 5 persons in the group). 
We failed to order, however, what is said to be the bestseller at Tim Ho Wan - the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork. But I remembered that my husband brought us some of it about a year ago. Good thing I was able to take a picture of it before making the " attack". It's much like an asado siopao, only the bun was a bit toasted and flaky as it is not steamed but baked. I knew it would be perfect to have for merienda when paired with the Chow Mien Stir Fried Noodle. I'm saving the idea for next time!

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork, P160.

Tim Ho Wan at Robinsons Place Manila

Try Tim Ho Wan if you haven't, folks. Aside from high-quality food, 

I promise you to have more bang for the buck. 

Happy eating!

Today's Word: Romans 8:11

Today, we celebrate life! Jesus is risen, He conquered death! To us who believe in Him, there is no more shame, no more condemnation. We, whose Lord and Savior is the Christ, no longer have to fear death because even after we leave our physical bodies when our time comes, we will rise again to live forever with the 
most Holy God. This, because Jesus rose from death 

on that first Resurrection Sunday. 

Hallelujah! 

May we understand the relevance of this most important event even today, thousands of years after. Romans 8:11 is a very powerful verse to meditate on. The same Spirit who raised Jesus lives in us! This just blows my mind! Imagine the power that's within us! If only we would understand this with all of our heart, we would know we do not have to fear facing the storms of life - troubles, sickness, financial difficulties. 

We have God's mighty, awesome power to deal with all these! 

So how do we tap and make use of such power? 

Through prayer and faith. 

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

(Thank you, truthforlife.org for this photo)