Lamesa Filipino Kitchen - Hand to Mouth Dinner

A friend of mine was celebrating a birthday and she wanted to try out Lamesa Filipino Kitchen, specifically for their "Kamayan" Hand to Mouth Dinner.  It looked like a wonderful spread of food so I was more than happy to join.

Items on the menu
(We had grilled eggplant instead of okra and a pandan rice cake instead of ube cornbread)

The food is characterized as "modern" Filipino cuisine. Filipino cuisine was described to us as a mix of Chinese, Malay, and Spanish flavours and they tried to add a few twists to modernize it a bit at Lamesa.  The owner and chef "plate" the food for you on the banana leaves and explain a little about what you are being served.  This is really nice and why reservations are necessary.  The menu reads like there were quite a number of "dishes" but the first few items are actually sauces.  Despite this, we were still satisfied with what was offered (personally I would have liked larger vegetable portions though but that's just me...).

Favourite of the night were the clams, the lechon lettuce wrap, the garlic rice and the fried chicken.  I loved the flavour of the clams! Most other times when I get clams, it's done Chinese style with black beans and chili but this dish had coconut flavour to it which really made it stand out.  Only wish there was more!!  The fried chicken was crispy and it's different from the usual fried buttermilk chicken that is served at other places, this one had a unique flavour to it.  I almost want to say they used a bit of coconut milk in it but really can't say.  I actually love coconut milk in savory dishes more than desserts.

The fried garlic rice was also a hit.  Some of my dining companions were watching their carb intake so we didn't finish it but they provided an average portion.  The tricky thing is eating the rice with your hands!  It does clump together but could get messy.  And, if you're a germ-a-phobe, you'll either have to section off your food/rice at the beginning so others are not touching it with their fingers (because some items will be finger-linkin' good), or opt to leave a little bit of rice almost like a border.

The sauces were different in flavour and were also well done.  (Mango hot sauce is pictured above.)  I would say there were a few items that were just average like the grilled corn as there wasn't much going on with that, salad, and the eggplant too. 

Halo Halo

The pandan rice cake was just too small of a portion for dessert, so we also ordered a couple of Halo Halo desserts  which was a mix of crushed ice and different toppings (ube ice cream, peach jelly, rice krispies, and a bunch of other items I've forgotten).  It was pretty good, but unfortunately because we shared, it was a bit hard to tell how good all the components were. 

Decor has a bit of South East Asian charm

There were definitely some items that were better than others, but I quite enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Because you're eating sans-utensils, I felt like I slowed down my eating to enjoy the food more (or maybe because I didn't want to cause a mess, lol!). I'd recommend this place for an intimate dinner (maybe not first date) and for those looking to try new experiences. 

 

Lamesa Filipino Kitchen

669 Queen St. W

Toronto, ON M6J1E6 

T: 647-346-2377

http://www.lamesafilipinokitchen.com/

 

Open for dinner Tues-Sun and brunch on Sat/Sun.