Mecha Uma with Chef Bruce Ricketts, Fort Bonifacio

Nestled amid the high-rise towers that pepper Bonifacio Global City, Mecha Uma is located in a seemingly quieter corner of 25^th Street at the Fort. Almost hidden, it is a cut-stone requiring to be uncovered. The dining room is minimalist with elaborate wood frames hanging from the ceiling and the open kitchen as the focal point. The setting is comfortably intimate wherever you sit, even if you perch at the bar.

The interior allows the simplistic beauty of the dishes to really shine, same as Sensei Sushi where the background is thrown to oblivion, except for the food that inspiringly stands out.

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On the Table

Tuna P255

Coconut, foie gras mousse, roasted pineapple

Diced tuna, fresh and trumpeting with flavors inside a tuile-sandwich. The thin crisp wafer breaks gently exposing a bit of sticky sweetness, citrus, and a dissolving line of richness. The two nutty bites felt like every sense of taste was there, even a nearly imaginary heat. There was a crunch, then the flesh of tuna, the flavors, and instantaneously, a pleasing memory.

I’m no good photographer but I wasn’t too happy with my photos last night, other than my flash kept sputtering dying here and there and the low lights, the bar’s counter was too shiny the light kept bouncing off. I wish my photos were better and had a better story to tell.

Grilled Squid with Shroom Salad and Foie Gras P680

We ordered 4 items from the Ala Carte menu and one from the Special menu which was the grilled squid. A half moon patch surrounds the plate, with pieces of lightly grilled squid, peeled sweet oranges, roasted enoki mushroom and some crumbs and flavor ponds here and there.

The squid was soft and tender but Chef Du Partie’s black stew completely recalibrated my definition of tender squid. I went looking for that smoky grill taste in the scored squid but surprisingly found it in the mushrooms instead.

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The squid retained its delicateness while the roasted-until-dried mushrooms, pinching crunches, kept snatching the attention with its intense smokiness trying to penetrate. The crumbs give tiny pleasant salty pecks on your tongue while the orange sweetly kisses, balancing the bobs of richness from the smoky sinful tidbits of foie gras.

Black Cod P680

Onion broth, pear vinegar, melted cabbage

Familiarity with black cod is usually in a Miso marinade. This time the black cod sits in a bath of onion broth, dimly sweet with pleasant tartiness from the vinegar and cabbage. The cod was satin sweet and melts in a buttery taste all in its glorious subtlety.

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You know how people love to Instagram what they eat and tell the world about it? If technology didn’t have Facebook or Instagram, I’d still be running outside the streets or going up the roof and screaming on top of my lungs, “I’M EATING MECHA UMA’S BLACK COD!!!!!  And I’m HAPPY!”   The world must know.

Wagyu Cheek P645

Pickles, horseradish, perilla, jus

The slab of Wagyu beef cheek submits to the touch of the fork or chopsticks. Even ninjas would have no need for swords or knives. The presence of the horseradish casting shadows of that familiar snappy and zippy taste while pickled radish cubes provide a textural bite. This dish was comforting, but not quite your regular comfort food. Just a little more grown up.

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Crab and Salmon Rice (2) P180

I wasn’t supposed to take any rice as we initially ordered only one but my dinner buddy (thank you Japsy for dinner!!!  Knowing I was going to treat him, he sneakily slipped his card to the waiter’s hand.  Grr!!!) calculatedly ordered one more for me. No regrets. Stir fried rice with nubs of salmon and crab? I will hesitate but will not be able to resist. There’s no nudging good food away.  Sacrilege!

Coconut P195

Ginger, tamarind, brown butter granite

A slight chill, very thin line of sour from that red featherlike garnish, some toffee-like crunch, and a sweet egg-y custard.  Desserts like this can come first, second or last.

Dinner was basically over in about 5 seconds.  My eyes devoured it, ogled at the dishes with feverish desire and if I weren’t wearing a dress, I would’ve just pushed everything inside… going back and forth, back and forth, coming and going with tastes and textures. I can’t be any faster wanting to experience every inch of the plate. But I held a bit of grace. After all, an engaged revelry like this deserves to be savored… moment by moment. And those moments created a lovely tension.

I’m buzzed with excited energy after dining at Mecha Uma. The flavors of Mecha Uma created by Chef Bruce have a remarkable depth with dishes truly speaking to you. His style is faintly reminiscent of one of my favorites, Chef Ariel Manuel. It’s creative, open, deliberate, brilliant and full of imagination that’s off the cuff.

If you are searching for a fresh creative culinary experience in Manila like no other, look no further than Mecha Uma.

Mecha Uma

G/F (beside Starbucks Coffee) RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center,

26^th and 25^th Streets, cor. 6^th and 7^th Avenue,

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines

(02) 801 2770

Mecha Uma Fort Flickr Set

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