Monday, September 19, 2016

First Bite: Makansutra

Hurrah for new (and posh) food halls and the blooming food business for giving us foodies more and better options. Thank you too for satisfying not just our tummies but also our insatiable desire for Instagram-worthy walls and overall interiors. But I am going a couple of steps (or sentences) ahead of my review for the latest food hall in Manila, Makansutra. 

Hello, Makansutra
This beautifully decorated food hall in SM Megamall is the brainchild of Chef Him Uy de Baron and Pinoy Eats World's JJ Yulo. The spacious food hall has a bunch of food stalls offering several Asian favorites with laksa as one of the most recommended dishes to date. Unfortunately, R and I were still full from lunch when we dropped by and only had room for drinks and sweets. 
We were like lost kids in Instagram paradise as we read through one menu board after another. After several minutes, we finally decided to go with Pulut Hitam with Coconut Ice Cream (PHP160), Bandung (PHP90) and Lime Barley (PHP80). It was actually easy to decide on which dessert to order as most were not available that time. 
The whole food hall has a pay as you order policy and for now all stalls only accept cash payments. (So make sure you have cash with you when you drop by.) We got our drinks as soon as we settled our bill. 
While waiting, we took photos of the interiors and noticed that several chairs had the word shiok painted on it. We found out from one of the staff that it means "cool" or "great." Shiok! 
After a couple of minutes our Asian version of the well-loved champorado was served. [Actually, it was supposed to be picked up from the stall but we were Makansutra noobs and the server had to find us to inform us that our order was ready. He also offered to serve it instead. I guess it was to ensure that the dish will not sit even longer and feel alone on the counter.]

And after a few more snaps, we sampled our orders. 
I had a sip of R's bandung and it was pretty good. It has a nice blend of milky and floral flavors though it was a bit too sweet to be refreshing. Then again, I guess it was also a good thing as the drink won't be so watered down when the ice melts. 

I liked my lime barley more as it had a lighter flavor and I absolutely love barley. It was refreshing and I enjoyed nibbling on the barley bits. 
The Pulut Hitam was pretty good too! It had a nice and rich taste similar to champorado. I loved the slight nutty taste of the black glutinous rice! I just could not get a taste of the coconut ice cream though as it dissolved in the sweet dish and was overpowered by it. As a person not so familiar with Malaysian or Indonesian dishes, I had an impression that I was eating something chocolatey. But thanks to Google, I found out that this dish actually uses palm sugar and not chocolate to make it sweet. This is a perfect treat to our friends who are allergic to chocolates
Overall though, it was a great Makansutra experience. The servers were friendly and used familiar words for us to understand what we plan to order. The place just tends to be hot and it could be uncomfortable when the place is packed with diners. 

Makansutra is located at 2nd Floor, Building A, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. 

Makansutra Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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