1 of 2

A food crawl through Mitsukoshi Mall

By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter

THE PROMISE for future residents of The Seasons Residences is “own a piece of Japan with The Seasons Residences in BGC” (from the Federal Land website). One of those pieces happens to be access to the Mitsukoshi BGC mall.

On Sept. 30, guests were taken around the mall’s many food spots (with access granted from the complex’s first tower, Haru — “Spring” — completed earlier this year). “What I wanted in this initiative is to reflect that when we promised that they can own a piece of Japan before, it’s not just the theme of the project that’s in just the architecture, but you can live it every day,” said Federal Land Marketing Head Jorell Bringas.

Our first stop was the Itadaki food court at the mall’s basement. That could have been the last stop by itself, for the vendors in the food court brought out their very best. Saboten Express’ offers alone could have tided us over for the rest of the day: there was lightly cooked Agedashi Tofu, and Chicken Karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken), but we were bowled over by the Tuna Katsu, still pink inside, and the perfect crispness contrasted with the fresh tenderness of the fish. An honorable mention was Lam Mein, which brought out a roast duck, perfect for dunking into their Beef Wonton Noodle Soup.

Close by was Ajisho Kaisendon, offering fresh sushi, sashimi, and the same delights presented in bowls. With most of their offerings flown in from Japan, the result was exquisite: the sea urchin was sweet and still bore a briny, oceanic flavor, and a surprise contender was the salmon roe, which popped repeatedly inside our mouth, bringing burst after burst of flavor.

In the same basement is the Iwada Ichigo Cafe, the first strawberry cafe in the country — Beni Hoppe strawberries are frozen and flown in from Japan, then crushed to be served in a variety of ways. Mixed with milk (no water in the equation, to further emphasize the strawberry flavor) and blended, they’re served as a smoothie. Crushed and served in a bowl, they make for a nice dessert. That day, we were served their seasonal frozen white strawberries in a bowl, resulting in a very creamy taste with little acidity.

Upstairs at Prologue D’Fined, a more upscale version of the Prologue chain, they served us their pasta lunch set, which included a Salsiccia (sausage) Arrabiata and a mild Black Truffle Carbonara served with buckwheat pasta. The taste was mild and the truffles were a mere hint, but what a great texture.

THE HIGHLIGHT
Those were only openers for what we thought was the food crawl’s highlight: Bijin Nabe by Tsukada Nojo. Jidori chickens from the Miyazaki prefecture (so perfectly bred they’re sometimes served raw) are cooked down for several hours into a white semi-solid teeming with collagen. That’s Bijin Nabe’s promise: the collagen in their Japanese Collagen Beauty Hotpot is supposed to help you become beautiful.

Never mind that: the broth itself is beautiful. In a pot, the pudding is melted until it becomes a rich soup. The trip could have ended here: the rich broth was revitalizing, and felt like it erased all my sins. As a plus, my companions during the trip noted that my cheeks regained a glow (so much so that we asked for a second bowl). No promises, but with a baseline price of P700 a pot for two people (the rest of the hotpot ingredients like vegetables and meat come with separate prices), one should give it a shot.

After the joys of Bijin Nabe, we thought we’d be let down by Spice and Soy’s Pork Belly Muy Chai (a braised pork dish), and El Born’s roast chicken. Not at all. In fact, El Born’s Burnt Basque Cheesecake gave us another reason to visit the Mitsukoshi Mall. The cheesecake has been making the rounds of social media, and for good reason: pushing down a fork on the cake brings out creamy and delicious feeling.

After a stop for coffee at Key Coffee Kissaten, we were taken down to the basement again, this time for the mall’s home court offering at Mitsukoshi Fresh, their supermarket brand.

There’s a Filipino contender there: Tayabas Bay Oysters, grown there for that specific area’s lack of history of red tide. Founded earlier this year, it’s the country’s first commercial hatchery-grown oysters. Still live, they were shucked in front of us and served fresh, and had a clear, clean taste.

Meanwhile, Mitsukoshi Fresh served up its Japanese-flown offerings, and we got to taste wagyu sushi for the first time (rich and refined; the beefy flavor was merely a hint).

THE JAPANESE TOUCH
Mr. Bringas explained that the tripartite collaboration between Federal Land, Inc., Japan’s Nomura Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. is what makes the complex (the mall and the residences) unique. “Everyone… has brought something important here,” he said.

According to him, while other mall developments may have Japanese branding and occasional themes, not many have a renowned Japanese retail group having a hand in how things are run daily. “Here, the Japanese, as you’ve seen it, are very much included in the day-to-day operations, the envisioning, the planning of things.”

The rest of the Seasons Residences towers are set to be completed by 2027. Prices for the units start at about P23 million for a 51.5-sq.m. one-bedroom unit.

By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter

DURING a recent media NUSTAR on Sept. 25*, its famed restaurant, Mott 32, brought out a special menu for the occasion of The Mall | NUSTAR’s completion. It also happened to be the restaurant’s second anniversary.

Founded by Xuan Mu, Malcolm Wood and Group Executive Chef Lee Man Sing, the restaurant has several locations around the world: Hong Kong, Vancouver, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto, Bangkok, Seoul, and Cebu. In all its locations, they’ve garnered several awards: badges we recognized on their website included accolades from Wine Spectator, The Forbes Travel Guide, The Michelin Guide, Tatler, and Traveler’s Choice (the complete number of award badges numbers over 50).

Lunch on Sept. 25 opened with a Fujian Negroni (Amaro, Aperol, ginseng, Lapsang Souchong tea, Sichuan pepper). This tasted quite complex, but softer than a usual Negroni, with no sharp edges. The Hanami (rye whisky, gin, umeshu, yuzu, shiso, ginger beer, and chrysanthemum), meanwhile, was such an easy drink, we could have had four (we didn’t).

A Traditional Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumpling had an expectedly delicate texture, and a nuanced, very rich broth inside that surprisingly had little weight. It had a clean and clear taste; almost pure, like just water and flavor. It came with a Salty Egg Pumpkin: it had a light, crispy batter, contrasting in texture to the creamy pumpkin, its mildness given excitement with the spicy salted egg seasoning. Our notes simply read “yum yum.”

The Cold Free-Range Chicken, with Szechuan Peppercorns and Chili Sauce had an excellent gelatinous texture paired with a delicately smoky flavor — combined with the cold, it tasted what something wet and smoky smells like: think the taste of embers extinguished in water, if there was such a thing. Given vivacity by the Szechuan peppercorns, it cleared the nostrils and left a last lingering note of earthiness.

A Hot and Sour Soup was very heavy with flavor, dripping with importance and the taste of expensive seafood. It displayed a perfectly balanced heat that coated and tickled the lips.

There were other dishes on the menu: a Yeung Chow-style Fried Rice, with Diced Sea Cucumber, a Whole Leopard Coral Garoupa (delicate and fresh), Wok-Fried Romaine Lettuce (surprisingly substantial), and Stir-fried Australian M9 Wagyu (spicy and aggressive). However, the star of the show was Mott 32’s signature Applewood Roasted 42 Days Peking Duck.

The menu says it’s “smoked with sweet aromas of dried applewood, served with freshly steamed pancakes, thinly sliced cucumber and scallions, raw cane sugar, and house-made special hoisin sauce.” They carve it using a “unique technique that locks in all the juices” that was developed by their founders “making it a true feast fit for royalty as it was intended.” The duck is available in limited quantities, and is available by pre-order only.

Well: the duck’s skin was first served to us, with a strange, puffed-up texture, and tasted very crispy, like a glossy, red chicharon (pork crackling). The puffed-up texture gave it a multi-dimensional bite: it was almost like the air within the duck was flavored. The duck was served anew in pancakes, but we had to do without them: the pancake’s taste was concealing the flavors of the duck’s dense, tender flesh.

The dessert was a light coconut ice cream with pomelo, grapefruit, and honeycomb.

Fili Hotel General Manager Roel Constantino said, “Even in just two years, we are known in Cebu already. I believe that even in just two years, we’ve already imprinted the brand in the culinary map of the Philippines.”

Mott 32 is located in NUSTAR in Cebu.

*https://tinyurl.com/bdfrtfbe