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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
I first noticed Ombu when it laid out its soft opening
banner some months back as I munched on my Angus burger at the
Burger King Timog Ave. branch
across the street. I made a mental note to try it out but had completely forgotten all
about it until recently when I stumbled on an online review. I didn’t finish
the article because it had me at its first picture of salted egg spaghetti and that
was it. I took my family the following day.
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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
Looking at its menu, it seemed that what Ombu meant by “modern”
is they reinvent traditional Filipino food by merging them into one dish,
substitute one ingredient for another, or “Filipinize” foreign cuisines. And
you know what? It works! It works so well that one wonders why it has not been
done before.
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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
This was our very first order: lechon kawali dinuguan.
Lechon kawali (pan-roasted pork belly) and dinuguan (pork blood stew, yup, you
read that right) are two classic Filipino dishes. They are usually separate but
Ombu combined them together and they complement each other real well. The blood
sauce became the pork’s gravy instead of the usual liver gravy. In fact, I like
it this way now.
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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
Next, we had the sisig which is usually a grilled pork dish
cooked in vinegar and chili peppers. But instead of the usual jowl and ears, it
was mahi-mahi (common dolphinfish) to make it seem healthier (never mind that
it’s fried to the crisp). It was a bit dry for my taste but my family enjoyed
it.
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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
We didn’t order the salted egg pasta but instead, we requested
for the salted egg tempura which was very tasty and was a welcome treat from
the usual tempura. However, it would have been a lot better if the shrimps were not
so tiny that they were almost incidental to the dish. It felt like I was just
eating the batter. No matter how delicious it was, you get tired of it after
one serving as it was too rich.
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| Copyright Photo: The Paranoid Traveler/PFN |
We ordered one conventional dish, the laing, a spicy
vegetable dish cooked in coconut milk. Now, I’m no cook or food connoisseur but
it was a bit too “stewy” for me, almost soggy as I am used to creamy laing. I’m
not sure if this is Ombu’s new take or that’s the way how it is prepared in
some parts of the country. Nevertheless, it was not disappointing, just
different from what I am used to.
I ordered its house brewed iced tea which wasn’t bad if
it wasn’t named that way which raised my expectations. Brewed or not, it had
that
Sunquick taste which I used to love
as a kid but became too sweet for my taste growing up. Next time (and there
will be one), I am sticking to plain old water.
Menu prices range from P200-350.
Ombu is located at G/F Sequoia Hotel, #91-93 Mother
Ignacia St., Quezon City. You may also check out its Facebook page
or call (02) 441-1789.
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