Remember our little angel Keith? We were celebrating his birthday. A supposed dinner turned out to be a surprise birthday party for his mom Ate T. It was indeed a K Lighter day for her.
One of my favourite Filo starters, is the ensaladang mangga (£4.5). It’s made of chopped green mangoes (the raw type), onions, tomatoes and shrimp paste. I usually prefer the mangoes raw for the extra tang and crunch. PoM’s version used mangoes that are slightly on the ripe side but the flavours were still good!
I have the highest standard when it comes to laing because this is hands down my favourite Filo dish ever. PoM’s spicy laing (£8.95) is impressive as it was proper laing. The taro leaves were super flavourful, seasoned and soaked in the creamy coconut milk. Also, despite the inclusion of actual taro, the texture was smooth and not starchy at all. We all loved this, although I wish they put a bit more chili. I actually ate the big chili pepper on top. We had two servings!
boy did it start a war of forks. We pierced our way through the cuts
as if the lot was going out of style. The pork belly was tender juicy delicious and seasoned well; it wasn’t oily either considering it’s a deep fried fat piece of pork. Oh and just to confirm your thoughts… that deliciously crunchy looking cracker of a rind? Yes. Mind blowing.
the Philippines. The adobo has heaps of recipe variations
depending on preference and region. The one we had at PoM is called adobo sa gata (£9.95). It was cooked in coconut
milk and I was really excited as I’ve never tried that variant. Fascinating how
one ingredient can change the flavour profile of a dish; it was creamier and
sweeter than usual and it didn’t taste like adobo at all. It was pretty yummy as well - but admittedly I’m still a sucker for the semi-dry,
garlicky, tangy adobo I’m used to.
We also had a plate of pansit bihon (£8.95) which was pretty good (although I’m not much of a noodle fan) and two plates of camaron rebosado (£9.95) which is battered prawn with sweet and sour sauce. Didn’t get to take a photo because this was quite a hit straight to our bellies. The thing is, I didn’t find it any different to Hong Kong Style prawns from Chinese restaurants but everyone else said that’s how it’s supposed to look like. The camaron I’m used to looks like this though:
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| Photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer |
Of course we had all of this with rice. Two MASSIVE bowls full of steamed white rice.
Starters, salads, mains done, it was time for dessert. I don’t think any birthday should go without cake so we brought in this awesome white chocolate marquis cake from Euphorium Bakery. Imagine rich chocolate fudge encased in tempered white chocolate, topped with cream and white chocolate florets. YUM!
Post dinner, we lit up some sky lanterns so we can send our messages and well wishes to Keith in heaven….
We ended the night speaking to the owner and main chef, Tita Tess. She was quite friendly and very proud of how PoM has
evolved in the past four years. I’m glad to know that they are passionate about Filo food
and that they are educating London in their own way. We found out that their
market stalls around West London are a huge hit, not just to the Filo community
but also to the locals!
All filled up with great food and warm hearts… everyone had an amazing time thanks to PoM’s amazing spread and homey service, and of course to Keith, who will forever be remembered and loved.
Port of Manila
2099
