There’s a new place in town to check out for Filipino favorites and two Cordillera specials, etag rice and mountain coffee shake.
The etag rice has bits of the Cordillera style salty smoke – dried pork, crunchy garlic, and onion leeks on top of fried rice. It is actually complete and good on its own. Etag is preserved pork belly that is salted and sundried or salted and hung above the hearth to dry.
Nicole Sindiong, public relations and communications officer of The Moment Group, said they included the food in the menu to attract the local eaters with a familiar flavor. Mountain coffee shake “highlights the fruity and nutty notes of Arabica coffee beans from Atok, Benguet. Blended with ice, and mixed with coffee jelly, whipped cream, and coffee syrup,” according to Nikki.
Atok Arabica coffee beans are celebrated as the best in the country. She added they source the ingredients for their food in the area to partner with the farmers as they also believe in safeguarding the environment with the use of paper straws and corn starch made utensils.
The real difference in this restaurant are the serving sizes. There are small, medium, and large depending on the size of the group or appetite. There are two options of each fare – classics or twists. The classics are the regular preparations of savory Filipino food while the twists give the same food a new twist or treatment.
The house crispy sisig that was served was a classic with its sour and creamy sauce. The “gising-gising” which was made with sigarilyas, kangkong and pork bits in a sweet creamy coconut milk sauce. This was a good vegetable dish presented in the traditional way.
The beef short ribs sinigang with watermelon was one of the dishes with a twist. The sour broth of sinigang or sour soup was sweetened by the watermelon bits added to give it a new twist. The crispy pancit palabok is a must try. The glass noodles are deep fried and the shrimp sauce is poured over the crispy noodles at the table. The shrimps, eggs, and the chicharon are under the crispy noodles and patiently mixed by the waiter before served. It gives the noodles a different texture from the regular boiled noodles. The flavor definitely sticks to the noodles for a richer savory experience.
Desserts come with twists too. A sweet – sour treat is the calamansi tart. The graham and cashew crust are filled with a calamansi custard and the top burnt like a brulee. On the side is a heap of whipped cream that neutralizes the tangy twist of the calamansi. Bibingka de Leche has a ground rice cake at the bottom and a layer of leche flan on top with fresh grated coconut garnish. The custard sweetens the rice cake and the coconut makes for texture. The buko pie with coconut crumble and thick creamy coconut sauce to moisten each bite is another take on the regular coconut dessert. This is a coconut lover’s delight.
All these flavorful Pinoy delights are available at the Upper Ground Level of the Sunset Terraces at SM City Baguio’s expansion wing. “It has always been on our minds to try and be part of the Baguio dining scene, which has produced its own great local concepts over the years. It’s quite an honor for Manam to be part of this new neighborhood,” says Moment co-founder, Jon Syjuco, in an article.
The Moment Group is composed of 10 home-grown food businesses of Syjuco and co-founder Eliza Antonino.
Manam, The Moment Group’s Filipino concept, has nine new locations spanning the north and south of Metro Manila and will have a total shop count of 15 by the end of the year. Baguio is the first location outside of Metro Manila. Nikki says Manam is short for “masmalinamnam.” This is the philosophy of the restaurant with #masmalinamnam.
April 26, 2024
