[Summerlicious/Filipino] Lamesa Filipino Kitchen

Restaurant: Lamesa Filipino Kitchen
Location: 669 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M6J
Price Range: $$
Note: This review is only for Summerlicious 2015 dinner, it does not reflect the normal service.

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Since Lamesa is considered as one of the best Filipino restaurant in Toronto, I knew I had to come here for dinner once Summerlicious starts! The Summerlicious dinner menu at Lamesa was $25/person, which was probably one of the cheapest dinner compared to other restaurants that I have been to.

The restaurant is tiny with a modern decor and homey feel with the wooden tables. Lamesa’s servers are extremely knowledgeable and patiently explained to every customers about the items on the menu. Also, they are incredibly friendly and attentive, so you will never have to worry about getting your water refilled here :).

I wanted to try the Halo-Halo, which is a famous Filipino dessert and it’s available on their regular menu. However Lamesa doesn’t offer items on the regular menu during Summerlicious week, so I have an excuse to come back and try the Halo-halo now after Summerlicious is over :p. Since I went with 3 other people, we were able to get most of the items on the menu, and thank you so much for letting me take pictures of your food for blogging’s purposes (LOL).

For appetizer C ordered the Ensaladang Talong and she said it was okay, and the eggplant was cooked really well.

The iron skillet wasn’t too hot, so the chicken gizzard and pig’s head weren’t going to dry out easily. The aioli was a bit spicy and helped to balance the fattiness from the pig’s head and gizzard. As an appetizer, I felt the dish was quite filling and it was served with a side of rice as well! Nonetheless, the Sisig was incredibly flavorful, and it was my favourite dish of the night.

My coworker ordered the Vegetable Pancit and it was a bit sweet, but not the sugary sweet. It was more of the natural sweetness from the mung bean noodle, and I think some lime would help to balance the sweetness of the salad. Actually the pancit reminded me of the Korean japchae side dish lol. It was a very refreshing salad to start the meal and I recommend this dish if you don’t feel like having a heavy appetizer like sisig.

For main everyone at the table ordered the Grilled Chicken Adobo, except for one person who ordered the Fried Bangus.

The chicken was perfectly grilled, tender and moist on the inside. Again the main was served with a side of rice, and I wish they would have serve garlic rice instead of the regular. I was unable to taste the chimichurri as I felt the soy/garlic puree overpowered it. The mustard from the greens gave a kick of spiciness to the chicken when eaten in one bite. I wasn’t sure if the jus was needed as the whole dish felt quite saucy? But it was not a big deal as I can just drizzle that jus over some rice :3.

Another person ordered the fried bangus, which was deep fried milkfish. I only had a small bite and the fish was not dry, but I didn’t think it was as memorable as the Chicken adobo.

For dessert I was able to taste all three desserts offered on the Summerlicious menu, which is EXCELLENT :3. That’s why I like to eat with a group of people, and secretly hope everyone will order something different so I can try a bit from here and there.

The panna cotta had a good texture and was very jingly LOL C and I were like omg it’s bouncing and moving O_O. Anyways.. because it was a condensed milk panna cotta, I found it to be very creamy and rich, so it would have been better if the strawberry was a bit sour (or perhaps a different type of berries) to cut down the richness.

I didn’t need to edit this picture because look at that color! Such a vibrant purple! Ube is purple yam or taro, and it’s one of those childhood’s flavor for Asian people and usually it tends to be very rich and sweet. If you want to try Ube icecream, I wholeheartedly recommend Bang Bang Ice Cream! The apple tapioca lightened up the flan and with every bite, you are getting some texture from the rice Krispy toppings.

The cake was moist and the jackfruit’s taste was very distinct in the langka cake. Because of that, I was unable to taste the white chocolate and rhubarb, but it was still a really good dessert. Interestingly the coconut whip was not sweetened so it really helps to cut down the sweetness of the cake.

Overall I was really impressed with my meal at Lamesa. Everything was delicious, flavorful and there was not one dish that gave me the “no never again.” The atmosphere is a bit loud sometimes, and the restaurant get filled up quickly so make sure to reserve in advance! I have heard of Casa Manila which serve excellent (and cheaper) Filipino food, but it is quite far for me so I will have to get my sisig’s fix at Lamesa for now 😉