Meaty Mishap at Mati's

The dawn of the new year heralds fresh and exciting foodie finds.  With new malls cropping up around the metro, and well-known foreign brands set to arrive soon on our shores (Applebee's, Laduree, etc.), I purposely turn my culinary radar towards locally-run establishments.

There is no need to brave the serpentine and hellish traffic of the metro.  The South offers a treasure trove of food finds.  In advance of the completion of Festival Mall's expanded section, a row of restaurants set on a backdrop of a river park opened just last year.  It was a perfect getaway for my simple natal day celebration with the family.

Occupying its own building, Mati's Meat and Bread is an imposing sight with its tall glass panels and off-white walls.  The interiors, as expected, are brightly lit and feels more spacious with the relative absence of a ceiling.  It was a blend of industrial and homey feel, with portions of the shop adorned with bricks and wooden tables and chairs as the main furniture.  The place was practically empty as we were the first customers on an ordinary day.

While browsing through their simple, colorless menu book, we were served some fluids in mason jars, apparently the trend nowadays.  The menu was straightforward yet diverse, offerings of pasta, pizza, and of course, steaks.

Spinach Dip, P195 (+10% service charge)

We began our culinary celebration with a healthy appetizer, the spinach dip.  The presentation was quirky.  The toasted bread rested on a wooden chopping board with the restaurant's name carved on it.  The creamy concoction was served on a bright red, wide-mouthed casserole, making it easy to dip the crunchy toasts.  The spinach was flavorful but not overpowering, resembling a tamed laing.  It was a light yet interesting starter - pity that there was no free refill of toasts as we had a good amount of dip left over.  It was quite addicting, for something that's so healthy.

Seafood Pasta, P320 (+10% service charge)

As usual, Mom picked a pasta dish.  The seafood version came with a light olive oil sauce.  The plate looked daunting, but the amount of seafood seemed lacking.  I could make out 2 oysters, a few clams, and some baby shrimps hiding underneath the entanglements.

As such, the amount of noodles was disproportionate to the toppings.  I couldn't help but compare it to Mama Lou's offerings, which serve copious amounts of seafood in their renditions.  Nevertheless, the pasta was impeccably cooked.  The flavor was light yet the cheese was distinct.  Despite being so few, the seafood was fresh and juicy.  It came with a side of garlic butter toast which appeared burnt, but Mom promptly finished it so I guess it was okay.

Breaded Shrimp, P245 (+10% service charge)

Unfortunately, they ran out of salmon that day, so Dad had a hard time picking his dish.  The breaded shrimp was a last resort.  Again, it was presented nicely on the chopping block.  The shrimp poppers came with a reasonable amount of french fries.

Masquerading as an appetizer, one can pair it with a cup of plain rice (P40), as what we did.  The shrimp poppers were perfectly deep fried to a crispy exterior.  The shrimp inside was juicy but a bit flaky, raising doubts as to whether it was all shrimp or had extenders.  The fries were nothing spectacular, a bit on the oily side, but the mayonnaise dip took care of things.  It was quite enjoyable as finger food, but might not be enough as an actual main course.

150 g USDA Steak and Fries, P385 (+10% service charge)

It was my special day, so I was craving for something unhealthy!  I really had to try out their steak offerings.  Not wanting to break the bank (and my heart from too much cholesterol), I went for the budget sized 150 gram USDA steak served with fries.  However, my eager anticipation waned when it arrived.  The meat was folded on itself, creating an illusion of a meager serving, compounded by the minuscule skilllet it shared with some greens and fries.

As I unfolded the meat, it revealed its true nature - about the size of the usual Pinoy hand, and less than a centimeter thick.  I heaved a sigh of relief.  However, as I cut through it for my first bite, it was not done to my liking.  I ordered for it to be medium, but it was nearly well done, or medium well at the very least.  

Still, there was no doubt about the meat quality as it was tender and retained the juices within the sinews.  The exterior though was unevenly grilled, some parts were too charred, giving off unwanted burnt flavor.  The accompanying gravy could not rescue the dish, as it was bland and seemed watered down.  Snackaroo's greasy gravy would have saved the steak in this case.  Hungry as I was, I still managed to wolf down everything on the skillet.

Nikki's Rosemary Chicken, P285 (+10% service charge)

The saving grace for the day was my sister's order, the Rosemary Chicken.  A huge thigh and leg cut of fried chicken sat gloriously on a bed of greens.  At first sight, it seemed ordinary, lacking any dressing or sauce of some sort.

I took a small bite off the fleshy part, and surprisingly it was soft and tender.  What blew me away was that the meat itself burst with the flavor of the rosemary spices, which clearly seeped through into the deep recesses of the meat.  The skin was crunchy but not oily, much like the chicken in Max's that every Filipino is familiar with.  It was a different dimension of taste altogether, a new adventure on the tongue.  The hefty portion was too much for my sister to finish, and we took home the rest.  The next day it still tasted good.

Mati's seemed like a good idea at the start, with their boasting of quality steaks.  There was no doubt about that, but the way they missed on the done-ness of my order was sacrilegious for a steak joint.  Was it because I picked the budget cut?  Was it because we were the first customers and they fired up the grill too fast?  Or was it because I had too high expectations?

Still, there is a lot of room for improvement.  The pasta could also use more generosity in toppings.  There is bright hope though.  The rosemary chicken was novel in taste, and should be the "darkhorse" dish, if ever there was one.  Probably, for my next visit, I should go for the higher end steaks if I could share the hefty serving anyway.  Mati's should bring their A-game next time, for it to dominate the meat scene in the South.  Until then, for the budget conscious meat-lovers in this area, Borgo Cafe's butcher steak remains the better choice.

Jones

Mati's Meat and Bread

River Park, Festival Mall Expansion

Filinvest City, Muntinlupa City

https://www.facebook.com/matismeatandbread