Sourdoughn't Miss Out on Filipino Fixin's at Mesa Madre

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You may not have had much of a reason to visit the east section of Jianwai Soho, but now you do: To try the only Filipino food in town since Speed V closed, and to grab a swell loaf of freshly-baked sourdough while you’re at it, all at Mesa Madre.

Founder Gem Argonza has been perfecting her breadmaking over the past couple of years, baking from her own home using a fully from-scratch technique that includes fermenting her own yeast starter as well as the use of artisanal flour, seas salt, and mineral water. The loaves are shaped with a wicker bowl, giving them their signature stripes that encircle them.

Freshly baked daily, the sourdough is striped with a wicker bowl to make it look as good as it tastes

For a time, Argonza sold her sourdough online and at local market events around the city. The feedback was good, but she never figured that she would take her hobby any further until she appeared on a competitive reality TV show called The Day I Ran China and ended up sweeping the grand prize. The experience, she says, gave her the confidence to turn her baking project into her very own restaurant. As a result, she’s not only given customers a brick-and-mortar location to shop for her sourdough, but also introduced Filipino cuisine to Beijing.
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Now in soft opening, Mesa Madre is a tiny shop with just a counter and a few tables, but it’s amazing how much the mural on the west wall completes the space. The painting alludes to both Chinese and Filipino cultures as well as Beijing architecture, and the yellow stools beneath the thin bar that crosses through the mural complement its colors perfectly.

As modest as it is, enough to make for a lovely chat with a friend, whether you’re enjoying a few sourdough slices with freshly prepared smooth hummus and pesto with a cup of specialty coffee made with locally roasted beans (the caffeine averted also can’t go wrong with the hot cocoa with cream and large marshmallows on these cold days) or making a full meal of it.

For our visit, we sampled the Filipino Pork Belly Adobo, a hardy meal of saucy, marinated meat on the bone served with potatoes and jasmine rice (RMB 55). But the highlight was the Tagliatelle beef Bolognese, a wide-noodle pasta topped with a meaty sauce and leaves of parmesan.

There are also a couple of vegan options on the menu, including the pumpkin soup with ginger and Sichuan pepper (served with sourdough slices for RMB 38) and the ensaladang talong, a dish of grilled eggplant, tomato, onions, calamansi, arugula, and of course, sourdough (RMB 40).

But that’s hardly the last of it, because daily specials are regularly updated on a charming roll of brown paper that’s pulled from beneath a shelf holding famous Filipino foodstuffs.

Legally speaking, you’re allowed to depart without buying a loaf, but it’s not recommended as you would miss out on a lovely breakfast for the week. In addition to the classic sourdough (RMB 58), there is also milti-seeded, whole wheat sourdough (RMB 68). Another product of the oven are the “compost” cookies (RMB 12). Thick, crunchy, and just a bit sweet, they’ll really hit the spot after a filling Filipino meal.

Mesa Madre
East Section of Jianwai Soho, Building 7, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建外SOHO东区7号楼

Images: Dianping, Joey Knotts

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