Modern Filipino · Fine Dining · Est. 2019

Heirloom flavours, reimagined by fire.

A twelve-course tasting journey through the Philippine islands — regional heritage ingredients, coaxed over live coals in the heart of Poblacion, Makati.

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Batangas kapeng barako Cordillera heirloom rice Guimaras mango Pampanga longganisa Ilocos bagnet Davao tablea Bicol pili nut Cebu masareal Palawan honey Laguna kesong puti Batangas kapeng barako Cordillera heirloom rice Guimaras mango Pampanga longganisa Ilocos bagnet Davao tablea Bicol pili nut Cebu masareal Palawan honey Laguna kesong puti

Our Philosophy

We cook the memory of a Filipino home — only slower, and by candlelight.

Mesa & Alma began with a question our chef could not shake: what would lola's kusina taste like if it had the patience of a tasting room and the fire of a province fiesta? The answer is a menu that travels — from the smoked rice terraces of the Cordillera to the vinegar-bright coasts of Ilocos.

Nearly everything on the plate is sourced within a day's drive of Manila, or shipped that morning from small-boat fisherfolk in the Visayas. We ferment our own patis, age native pork over kamias, and finish more than half the menu over live Philippine hardwood coals.

It is heritage cooking, unhurried. Dinner is a single seating of twenty-four guests — an intimate room where each course arrives with the story of the hands that grew it.

12: Courses per seating
43: Partner farms & fisherfolk
7: Island regions on the plate
2019: Opened in Poblacion

The Tasting Menu · Changes with the season

A menu written by the provinces.

Six of tonight's twelve courses. The full sequence is revealed at the table — dictated each morning by our farms and the tide.

I

Kinilaw ng Tanigue
Palawan

Line-caught mackerel cured tableside in coconut vinegar, calamansi, ginger and a whisper of native chili.

Raw Cold

₱620
II

Lumpiang Ubod
Laguna

Heart-of-palm and river shrimp, wrapped in a paper-thin egg crêpe, warm peanut-garlic sauce.

Warm

₱480
III

Sinigang na Corvina
Batangas

Sea bass poached in a clarified tamarind and kamias broth, foraged greens, smoked tomato.

Broth Signature

₱690
IV

Adobong Pugo sa Gata
Pampanga

Native quail glazed in aged coconut adobo, burnt garlic rice, pickled duck egg.

Coals Signature

₱820
V

Kare-Kareng Buntot
Rizal

Oxtail braised eight hours in stone-ground pili and annatto, heirloom vegetables, house bagoong.

Braise

₱940
VI

Tsokolate at Tablea
Davao

Single-origin Davao cacao, burnt sugar sans rival, toasted pinipig, calamansi curd.

Sweet Signature

₱540

Most chosen

Alma

The full journey

₱4,850 per guest

Twelve courses
Chef's welcome bite
Petit fours & barako

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Mesa

The abbreviated table

₱3,200 per guest

Seven courses
Seasonal market focus
Available Tue – Thu

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Pairing

Añejo & fermentables

+ ₱2,100 per guest

Local craft & natural wine
House kombucha flights
Non-alc option

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Prices are inclusive of service. Kindly advise us of allergies & dietary needs at booking — our kitchen adapts every course.

Chef Maria Elena Villanueva in the Mesa & Alma kitchen

"Every plate should taste of somewhere — and of someone."

The Chef

Maria Elena Villanueva

Chef-Patron · Kapampangan by blood

Raised in the kitchens of Angeles, Pampanga, Elena trained in Lyon and San Sebastián before returning home with a conviction that Filipino cuisine deserved its own tasting room — not an interpretation of someone else's.

She spends her Mondays on the road: visiting rice terraces in Ifugao, buying pili by the sackful in Bicol, sitting with fisherfolk at dawn. What she carries back becomes that week's menu at Mesa & Alma.

Asia's 50 Best — Discovery, 2023
Miele Guide · Two Toques
Tatler Dining Hall of Fame
Culinary Heritage Award, DOT

Step inside the room

An evening, in frames

Low light, live fire, and the quiet clatter of a full house. A glimpse of what dinner at Mesa & Alma feels like.

—Course VII — over Philippine hardwood

—The room · twenty-four seats

—Our fermentation cellar

—The chef's counter

—Tsokolate · Davao single-origin

—Kapeng barako, to close

Private Dining & Events

Gather your people around the fire.

Whether it's fourteen at a candlelit table or a full buyout of the room, our events team designs the evening course by course — down to the last pour of barako.

Enquire about a private evening

Up to 14 guests

The Alma Room

A private wood-panelled room with its own hearth and dedicated chef, ideal for milestones and intimate celebrations.

from ₱6,500 / guest

24 – 40 guests

Buyout & Events

The full restaurant, yours for the evening. Bespoke menus, live-fire stations and curated pairings for launches and weddings.

from ₱280,000

2 – 6 guests

Chef's Table

Front-row at the pass. An extended sixteen-course experience narrated by Chef Elena and her team.

from ₱7,800 / guest

"The most moving Filipino meal I've had — it felt like being welcomed into someone's home, if that home happened to be run by geniuses."

Andrea Salcedo Food editor, Manila

"We hosted our engagement in the Alma Room. Every course had a story, and the team made it feel like ours alone."

Paolo & Rica Mendoza Private event, 2024

"I brought clients from Singapore expecting good. They left calling it the best table in Makati. Full stop."

Jofer Dizon Managing partner, BGC

Reservations

Reserve your table

We seat twenty-four guests each evening across two services. Bookings open thirty days ahead. For parties larger than seven or private events, kindly reach our events desk directly.

Call to book +63 2 8555 1928

Events desk reserve@mesaalma.ph