One of the newest food joints in the ever growing restaurant community of BGC is SARSA. It instantly acquired a large following because it is owned by one of the resident judges of the now defunct show MasterChef Pinoy Edition – Chef Jayps.
On to the food!
Pritchon Pancake | Php260
A good meal starter. 5 hefty rolls of pritchon with cucumber wrapped in pita bread served with hoisin sauce. The pritchon skin was crunchy and the cucumber slice gave a fresh contrast. The dipping sauce was a tad too salty for me so better go easy on it, unless you like really salty food.
Garlic Rice | Php40
We finished a total of 12 servings of this bad boy (we were 9 in the group, 8 girls and 1 boy). To be fair, our only thorn was a big rice guy. Nevertheless, the amount of rice consumed in our table that night was a loooot! Mainly because the rice was so good. One of the best (if not the best) garlic rice I’ve had so far.
Lechon Baka Skewers | Php295
These were so good! The beef slices were tender and juicy. Feels like eating a mini version of beef kebabs. It’s served with an aioli dip which was also very good. My only contention, I wish the skewers were a bit bigger.
Tortang Talong | Php155
I love tortang talong! Chef Jayps made this usual recipe a unique twist by topping it with crispy sardines and kesong puti crumbles. For some reason, this did not work too well with me. I tried drowning it with the sukang pinakurat and spicy banana ketchup that it came with and the flavor was improved. But this one I’ll probably not order again.
Sizzling Kansi | Php355
More commonly known as bulalo, this was the star of the night for me. Tender beef slices bathed with Batwan gravy served in a silver sizzling platter. I actually misread the gravy as BATMAN at first but a few google searches later, I learned that batwan is a souring agent used by Negrenses and Ilonggos. Whatever it is, it’s delicious. The diners are also saved from the trouble of digging around for the marrow because the bone (half of it) already comes split in the middle, with all the fatty goodness winking at you. MUST TRY!
Twice-Cooked Pork Belly | Php240
Two generous slabs of pork belly served with Ginamos Gata and chili garlic sauce. Again, the sauce was delicious. The pork was a little too fatty for my taste, or maybe the cut was too thick. But I’m nitpicking here. This was still good.
Crispy Tilapia | Php245
Another not so successful dish was the crispy tilapia. I felt like the fish was overcooked because there was a bitter aftertaste. It wasn’t very bad but I got a feeling of tasting burnt cooking oil. The saving grace was the mango salsa that it came with. It was fresh and refreshing and it successfully masked the burnt taste from the fish.
Isaw | Php145, Isol | Php170
We ordered these two out of curiosity. We wanted to see how streetfood can be elevated to restaurant level. To those who are unaware, isaw is skewered chicken intestines and isol is the chicken ass. The chicken ass was actually good, fat and juicy, just the way I like my ass (chicken ass, I mean). The isaw was also OK but it tasted too… clean (!) for our taste. LOL. And coming from UP boasting of Mang Larry’s isawan where you could get 3 isaw sticks for 10 pesos, this almost felt like a ripoff. But if you’re one of those who are not too keen on buying isaw from the street vendors, this is a good place to start.
Ambiance wise, the restaurant was ok. A few more tables could have helped manage the never-gone waiting line outside. All throughout dinner, there was a huge space in the middle of the room that was vacant when it could’ve easily held two more tables. That being said, make sure to call and make your dining reservations in advance so you’re immediately accomodated upon arrival. The wait could get really long, otherwise.
SARSA is located at Forum South Global, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City (Between NBC Tent & Arya Residence)
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