I had my first lunch today at Early Bird, and now, second lunch was at Mamou in Serendra. Merry and Pippin would be proud.
MAMOU
I have dined at Mamou several times, and it’s always been a classic favorite whenever I want a really good home-cooked meal with no fancy-fancy frou frou. Just good food, home-style, but nice. Like a meal from a favorite aunt who loves to cook. I guess that’s why even after several meals there, I have not blogged about it until today. It’s where I want to go when I feel nostalgic for good home cooking.
Today, Miss Annie Montano, Mamou’s sister and also the store manager, was there to welcome us. She was so warm and hospitable, like an aunt who kept insisting that we eat, and eat some more!
Mamou is a small place, but it’s often packed. The chair backs are low, so balancing and hanging our bags on the chairs was bothersome. Thank goodness, Mamou’s tables are equipped with hooks underneath where you can hang your bags. The hooks are a bit far back, you have to feel your way to find the hook.
You can see the open kitchen in the back.
THE FOOD
For appetizers, we were served Mamou’s home-made sourdough bread and some butter. I love Mamou’s bread, especially the whole wheat (brown) one. They say you can tell the quality of a restaurant by the bread it serves.
We started with the Healdsburg’s Harvest (P335). This salad is delicious. Light and berry sweet! It doesn’t look very appetizing, but the lovely berry / balsamic vinaigrette, craisins, raisins, and crumbly Stilton, pecans and greens are a perfect combination! Highly recommended if you love sweet berry flavors. Sorry, the lighting inside Mamou is not ideal for picture-taking.
The Lorenzo’s Truffle Cream (P395), again, does not look appetizing, but get a whiff of the truffle and you’ll know it’s heavenly! This is the truffle pasta that I have been trying to recreate at home! Don’t let it fool you, this simple, spaghettini dish is actually quite heavy on the stomach.
I love truffle. When I first tried truffle, to me, it smelled like mushrooms and gas. As in gasoline. Like the one you smell at a gas station. You might have a different interpretation. But I grew to love truffle, and now when I smell it, it’s just a light, floral, mushroom scent, still with a little gas smell, but I love it now. I do admit, I’m still not a truffle expert, and I still have a hard time distinguishing real truffle vs. synthetic truffle.
Mamou’s Linguine Vongole (P365) – sadly, I was too engrossed with the Truffle pasta that I forgot to try this. According to the others, this was delicious as well.
For the mains, we had the Angus Ribeye USDA Prime Grade Steak (P1950 for 400 grams / P3490 for 800 grams). It was cooked medum / medium rare. Mamou is known for their steak. It was a nice steak, served with the steak’s cracklings on top, creating a pool of yummy steak fat to keep the steak nice and juicy.
We also had the Roast Pork and Chicken (P365 for half ; P655 for sharing). This plate was Cuban-inspired, and includes black beans, Cuban rice, and fried plantains! I love the fried plantains. Like banana cue, but softer banana and crunchier sugar coating. The pork and the chicken are citrus-rubbed, with Miss Annie telling us that the citrus fruits we saw on display were not just for display, but that they actually use the fruits for cooking. You can totally feel the passion they have for the food they make at Mamou. I also enjoyed the dry spice rub they used on the meats – the chicken skin is crispy, but the meat stays juicy.
For dessert, we had the Key Lime Pie with “Schlagsahne” (P235). Schlagsahne is just German for what we normally call “whipped cream”. Spread the cream on top of the pie and enjoy! The Key Lime Pie is not too tart. It’s perfect. The crust, and the thickness of the crumble crust, is just the ratio to balance out the sweet and sour filling, while the whipped cream further mellows the citrusy sourness.
Here it is after we dumped the whipped cream on top. Not pretty, but very delicious!
SUMMARY
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Mamou. It feels like good home cooking I miss, even if I did not come from the same background as the owners of Mamou. The food is always good, like comfort food that is made by a ridiculously good home cook, someone who cooks with truffles and grills a great steak. You can feel how much attention they pay to make sure the food comes out delicious each time.
Mamou is still one of my classic favorites. You can’t go wrong with Mamou.
Mamou
Ground Floor, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mamouahomekitchen
Contact Number: (02) 856 3569
