La Mesa, Chinatown

This is my first time experiencing Philippine's cuisine in Sydney. Having quite a number of filo friends, I am always curious what's their authentic foods taste like. So Mr.G, my previous colleague recommended this place called La Mesa for an authentic Filo foods. I've heard about this place before in Dee Why and apparently after 10 years being located there, they move to a more convenient location for everyone, The City! :) So I went out with my colleagues to have a catch up (dinner full of pork) and a karaoke night out..

We arrived at 6:30PM and the place was filled with some local filo family and also a couple tables of westerner. The decoration of the place is homey and I read from their website, they sourced the interior from the Philippines!

Not long after we were seated, Mr.G flip through the menu suggesting what dishes to order for us to try. I am agreeing to everything and especally to Crispy Pata which is a deep fried pork leg. We'll get back to it later. Ms.N was pleading for garlic rice and also Lechong Kawali which is another pork dish.

But to start with, I had Okoy which is a deep fried vegetables patties served with chilli vinegar sauce. I don't know what to expect and what to compare it with but I quite like this dish.

Okoy $7.50 (4 pieces)

 We also ordered Deep Fried Quail Eggs! The eggs are deep fried in a special batter and again served with chilli vinegar sauce. For me, it tasted like a crunchy eggs but I love quail eggs, so no complain about it ;p

Fried Quail Eggs $7

 Mr.G asked me if I'm adventurous enough to try this dish called Dinuguan, pork neck cooked with pork blood jelly and cooked with Vinegar sauce. I said Yes and I lovee this dish! I didn't eat the blood jelly though but the pork neck was so tender and the sauce was really good, creamy and rich! It was a really good match with the garlic rice!

Dinuguan $18

The second main to arrive is Kare Kare, Oxtail cooked in peanut sauce and served with eggplants, pumpikin, snake beans and a side of Bagoong (Philippines Shrimp Paste). The oxtail are soft and melt off the bone, the soup was really tasty eaten with the shrimp paste :)

Kare Kare $21

 As most of the dishes that we ordered are pork, Mr.G ordered a seafood dish called Adobong Pusit which is a marinated squid, sauteed with garlic, onion and fresh hot chillies. This dish is hot hot hot! But I like it spicy :)

Adobong Pusit $16

And here is the garlic rice! The rice is fragrance and what I like from it is the crispy golden garlic pieces on top of the rice. It gives a nice crunch and flavour to the rice ^^ The large portion of the rice can feed approx 3-4people

Garlic rice (L) $4.60 

 And here comes the long awaited dish, Crispy Pata!! The signature dish in La Mesa. Pork leg deep fried with crispy skin while the meat is still tender and juicy :) It is served with sauce made from soy, garlic, vinegar and onion. There were 6 of us and we ordered 2 of this! Don't get me wrong, the portion was generous but we are just a bunch of pork lovers!

Crispy Pata $20

 Another favourite dish of mine from La Mesa besides the Pata is Lechong Kawali!! A tender deep fried pork belly served with Mang Tomas (A traditional gravy sauce). No words can describe how amazing this dish was! Crispy, tick! Fatty, tick! Juicy Pork meat, tick! I highly recommended this dish!!

Lechong Kawali $16

 Ms.I needed her veggie intake and so we ordered Chop Suey, mixed vegetables with tender chicken pieces and quail eggs made with traditional sauce. I thought I heard 'Chop Suey' before from a lyrics of a rap song or something, didn't know it was a dish! haha.

Chop Suey $16

 After the hearty meal and while we were chatting, suddenly Mr.G asked me if I have the gut to try Balot (developing duck egg embryo that is boiled alive). I was really terrified of the thought of eating an embryo! But, we ended up ordering one to try.

I must say this is my first eating challenge ever! I tried a bit of the embryo with the white part of the egg.. it tasted just like plain ordinary eggs but with different texture ... It will be my first and last eating balot. I cant T.T

It was a great night out. We talk and laugh alot. I really miss working with this lovely people!!

Apart from my friends, The food in La mesa are yummy, I would like to go back for Lechong Kawali and would love to try other new dishes :) The portion are generous as well and I think the price is reasonable.
Thanks Mr.G for ordering and booking the place for our gathering ^^