My hat is tipped to the chef of Sage restaurant who has whipped up the wonderful dishes and fusions for today’s palates. I bet that hunger was something that influenced the delight but this restaurant is a must try for everyone.
Salads here are interesting. The shrimp-pomelo with sesame dressing has the sweet-sour charm of Davao pomelos combined with crisp lettuce and roasted shrimps. But the chewy part of this presentation are the fried dried white onions. Eating this is actually an adventure of textures. The dressing is homemade with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and toasted sesame seeds.
Korean braised short rib is reminiscent of “galbi”. The sweet marinade is balanced by the side dish of kimchi. This is tender and melts in the mouth as you eat it. Sesame seeds accent the flavors in this dish that is Asian-inspired.
Oven baked barbecued spare ribs are one of the favorites. Almost everyone in the birthday lunch were going to have this dish. The salty sweet charm of pork meat that falls off the ribs is the best description of the preparation. How this is done is the secret of the chef. The mashed potatoes and the chunk of meat are a huge portion. This is to warn the dainty eaters. This has to be shared.
The chicken wings in garlic parmesan flavor are for the salty eaters. Parmesan cheese wraps the chicken wings and the garlic spice must be something to look forward to as an appetizer, mind you. This is best for the dieters who shun carbs. There is a yogurt dip to balance the salt.
The other appetizer is the ultimate nacho fiesta that is hard to consume after the salad and the chicken. The corn chips are great, the black olives, sweet corn, jalapenos, slivers of carrots, cheese and ground beef topped with the tomato, cucumber and onion relish is like eating tacos individually. Topped with cheese, the way I like it, gives the nachos a creamy combined effect. With yogurt, makes it a little less sharp.
The seafood curry should make the non-meat eaters happy. The curry sauce is not your instant spice but it tasted more like a mix from the chef. The hearty serving with mashed potatoes or rice should fill anyone. There were shrimps and squid rings in the dish. The bell peppers were limited but understandable because of the soaring veggie prices.
The beef mushroom sandwich was the eye-popper served in a bread shaped like a shell or cornucopia, to be exact. This is a large sandwich. This reminds one of the creamy beef sandwiches with the addition of mushrooms. The garnish of onion rings and bell pepper rings made the food look like the insides were tumbling out of the bread. This is one to try too, if you’re a sandwich lover.
The drinks are exciting in this place too. They have a whole lot of concoctions that young people like so much. I am not one who delights in shakes and pearl drinks, but those that I have tried here are great.
I ate my fill that day and was glad for the treat from Agnes Angeles. She too was the first to discover the restaurant and have us try Sage some four years back. Enjoy the food and please send our compliments to the chef.
April 26, 2024
