Sinuglaw from Cocina de Aleisa

It can be such a gamble to try out new restaurants. They rarely bring anything new to the table. Some people are not willing to gamble good money on food that would leave them disappointed.

This place was such a great discovery. Cocina de Aleisa hasn't been in operations for so long.

The place is built where a garage should have been. It is really a house transformed into a restaurant. The place looks amazing. It features al fresco dining which only opens from 5pm onwards. Which is quite logical since it can be so hot out to eat al fresco in the Philippines during the midday. It can fit probably about 150 people at a time.

It was kind of awkward when I got there. You know how awkward  it feels to be the first customer of the day? But that is just me. The waiters and waitresses were courteous. They would even meet you by the entrance to take you to your seat already armed with a menu. A set of menu had a list of Korean food. Bibimbap... Bulgogi... The place is known to have a lot of Korean residents, but we are not going to talk about the neighborhood. We are here for the delicious food.

I was not in the mood for Korean so I browsed through the menu. The place had everything. It had a lot of fusion dishes, Mexican, French, Pinoy... I was more in the mood for Pinoy that time. After all, It's more fun in the Philippines.

Don't get me started. Being stuck in 7,107 islands, we have a very diverse culture. We have different dialects that even Pinoys don't even understand each other. This even affect our taste in food. But we are not here to talk but geography or history.

Back to the menu, they have everything, They have appetizers: Mozarella Sticks, Dynamite Rolls which is cored, long green peppers with bell pepper strips and cheese filling wrapped in "lumpia" wrapper and is fried served with a dip (I was told it was delicious). They also have pasta dishes, Chicken with Pesto, Bolognese and a lot more.

I was attracted to Sinuglaw.

This dish had a lot of influences from different parts of the Philippines but am not going to talk much about that. This had pork, seafood, and vegetables. It would make a well balanced meal.

It had the feel of "Kinilaw", where you put raw meat like fish or prawns in vinegar. And let it sit there. And wait for the acidity of the vinegar cook the meat for you.

It had grilled pork and tiger prawns, which is two of my favorites. You can never go wrong in ordering any of the two. These two ingredients rest on chopped, long, green peppers and sweet red onions, and is seasoned with vinegar. 

*pics taken from Cocina de Aleisa's Facebook account

I love vinegar. The vinegar we have here is made from sugar cane. It has that somewhat sweetish sour taste which is has this more natural and bearable taste compared to the acidic taste of cider. Since, Pinoys love rice. I ordered a serving to pair this with.

What I was served only had three pinkish-orange tiger prawns, they were as big as my fingers. Again, I am allergic to these things. But I! I live dangerously. I guess, having just three of them would be good for me. After all, I am allergic. Looking at it, I could already imagine the taste of prawn. They give this certain distinct taste that is kinda sweet and meaty. This is the reason why I still want to eat them despite being allergic to them. Can't blame me. A slab of pork rested on the tiger prawns. This was grilled or broiled and was cut into bite sizes as shown in the picture.

Since, the pork was on top of everything, I took some of it first. It was meaty and tender. Normally, you would expect pork to be a little tough when you eat it, but this was not like that. My theory is that: this was boiled before it as grilled. It is well done but juicy, like it was medium rare. Because it was boiled before it was broiled, it was not oily.

It had the taste of vinegar. I was expecting it to be sour that would turn my lips into prunes. The whole thing was practically dipped with vinegar. "Seasoned in vinegar" was an understatement. It was not too sour as i was expecting. It was just enough. I think that a little sugar was added to mellow down the sourness of vinegar.

I took a prawn, it had some sprinkles of finely chopped ginger. And boy, it was delicious. The combination was good. The smoky meat flavor, you get from the meat. The seafood, tender sweetness? All thanks to the tiger prawns. Prawns would always be such a treat. The mild, sour taste of vinegar keeps your appetite going and never overpowered the other elements of the dish. The dish was enough to be shared by two but I ate all of it. It was THAT good. I don't even think am giving it justice. It was so good that, again, I was eating like a slob.

There were a lot of other entrees from the menu that would entice you to comeback for seconds, but I would leave that for another visit and another post. Their iced tea is good, too. I ordered unlimited, or for Pinoys, "bottomless". Just a little bit too sweet, but delicious. It does not taste like iced tea you get from a sachet. You just have to always keep it with enough ice.

I actually ordered dessert. I cannot even begin to talk about it. It is so good that it has to be another post. But I should tell you, I will be back! I'd probably order a pasta dish, the Dynamite Rolls, and probably the same dessert. Regardless of the cuisine you love, you would definitely find a delicious meal for you here.

If in case you want to know more about the place:

You can find Cocina de Aleisa on Facebook through this link.

Here's the address: Sampaguita Ave., Timog Park Homes, 2009 Angeles City, Philippines

P.S. Don't try this out. I want to be able to keep this place's delicious dish to myself.