Another Pinoy resto opens at SM Lanang

ANOTHER Filipino restaurant opened at SM Lanang Premier in Davao City with a promise to provide Dabawenyos with their favorite Filipino dishes.

Mesa Filipino Moderne partnered with Dabawenyo businessman Glenn Escandor to set up Mesa Restaurant in Davao City, targeting Dabawenyo diners who are seeking for the real taste of popular Pinoy cuisine.

"Mesa is the higher-end version of La Mesa Grill. Mesa actually is an offshoot of La Mesa which we first opened at the Mall of Asia. At Mesa, we try to make more upscale," said Raymond Federiga, Mesa's operations director for Visayas and Mindanao.

He said their SM Lanang branch is their seventh store nationwide and the second in Mindanao, next to its Cagayan de Oro branch. La Mesa, on the other hand, has five branches in Metro Manila.

"We offer something new here, although these are all homegrown. We only made some adjustments in the ingredients of the dishes we offered in our menu," he told Sun.Star Davao at the restaurant's formal opening on Wednesday.

He said all their ingredients are provided by local suppliers.

"There's no need to ship in our ingredients from Luzon. Davao City has everything and you can buy them at cheaper cost here," Federiga said, as he expressed confidence on the potential of the city's dining market.

"Pinoys still prefer Filipino dishes. Even foreigners have started to appreciate our homegrown cuisine," he said.

He said the entry of more players in the restaurant business is a manifestation that the market in Davao City is still growing.

"More resto brands are coming to Davao and this is also a proof that the city is really progressing," he added.

Mesa's bestsellers, Federiga said, including the Inihaw Sampler, a platter of grilled chicken leg quarter, squid, liempo, bangus belly, mussels, shrimps and pork bar-b-que.

Another must-try is the Crispchon (crispy lechon), which is served in two ways, either it's wrapped in pandan crepe or tossed in chili garlic. It comes with six sauces -- Rikki's Choice, Garlic Mayo, Sweet Chili, Spicy Pork Liver, Wansuy Infused and Curry Mustard.