Thursday, October 1, 2015

First Bite: Mecha Uma by Bruce Ricketts

I’ve always wanted to visit Mecha Uma by Bruce Ricketts ever since I read wonderful and mouthwatering reviews. But the fact that I have to shell out PHP3,000++ for the tasting menu made me think twice since that’s equivalent to a Spiral dinner buffet or a Kapitolyo or Maginhawa food trip. But thanks to R and his family, I got to give this place a try.
Hello, Mecha Uma.
The dim lit restaurant was packed when we visited. (Well, the restaurant can only accommodate maximum of 30 persons at a time.) Despite the small crowd, the place still gives a seemingly romantic vibe. It must be the ambient lighting.
It took them a bit before they served the first dish, Tomato. It was peeled tomato with white chocolate, a dash of sansho pepper and cucumber. It was paired with tomato juice with gin and soy sauce. I must say, the presentation was impressive.
As for the taste, I love it yet I hate it too. I loved the peeled tomato, cucumber bits and sansho pepper but I didn’t like (at all) the white chocolate and tomato juice. Despite my craziness with tomatoes, I absolutely hate tomato juice.
Next served was Tostadito. It was a combination of scallop, pico de gallo, scallop and mussel crema. It was a play of textures. The taco was also made of scallop and squid ink. It was refreshing thanks to pica de gallo. The only downside was that it was a bit messy to eat.
Lobster was the next dish and it was a mix of octopus, lobster, plantains, scorched coconut leche de tigre and mung bean puree. Again, there was an interesting play of textures here. There was the smooth yet charred octopus, rough yet soft puree and refreshing pomelo bits.
St. Pierre or the atlantic dory and local crab dish was scrumptious! The asparagus and broth of vegetable sauce was heavenly. R got so upset when I allowed the server take my bowl with some sauce left. He really loved the sauce.

The next dish Bird was one beautiful mess. A combination of pigeon and duck with peppercorn, avocado and watermelon is a party for the palate! The serving size for this one seems perfect since the flavors are quite powerful too.

Rice, or what they named the sashimi paired with flavored rice, was one filling dish. The sashimi cuts (one of which was taro) were fresh and and it was a great contrast with the rice with broth.
Finally, meat! The Matsusaka Gyu was to die for. The soft and flavorful meat topped with scallions and Cabrales cheese with a piece of potato on the side was one of the highlights that dinner. (The other two were St. Pierre and Bird.) It was definitely the meat that melts in your mouth type.Good thing I was already full when I reached this course or else I would have ordered a la carte of this!
And since all good meals have to end well,we were served with sudachi curd with coconut and a hint of lavender and olive oil. I loved how the slightly crunchy Japanese peach highlighted the softness of the curd and chewiness of the coconut. Lovely!
Though Mecha Uma serves great dishes, I do not think I will visit it again anytime soon. It's the type of place where visiting it once is enough and twice perhaps for a special occasion. 

Mecha Uma is located at Ground Floor, RCBC Plaza Building, 25th Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. 

Mecha Uma Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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