Goxo, a Hidden Dining Spot in Makati, Gives Basque Classics a Playful Filipino Update

Goxo 
Salcedo Village, Makati
Contact: 0927-002-4200
Instagram: www.instagram.com/goxo_mnl
Open from 5 to 8 p.m., Tuesdays to Sundays

(SPOT.ph) The new restaurant from the group behind Bar Pintxos and Txoko Asador doesn’t have a published address on their socials. Their message simply read, “The team will meet you in Bar Pintxos Salcedo and they will assist from there. [Goxo is] a few steps away.”

Goxo—pronounced gosho—enjoys a bit of mystique as it allows its diners to discover its location (hint: it’s literally a few steps away from Bar Pintxos Salcedo). As you open the secret door, an intimate space is revealed with a 12-seater counter. Partner and head chef at Goxo, Albert Xavier Mendoza, greets you on your way in and seats you.

Mendoza describes Goxo to be "like brainchild and a marriage between Txoko Asador and Bar Pintxos." "We want to focus on Basque cuisines and want to introduce different techniques, different methods to how it’s usually prepared. This current menu we tackled on introducing Basque cuisine from a Filipino point of view. We wanted to start with something close to heart or close to home."

Also read: 10 Really Good Spanish Restaurants in Manila

Goxo in Salcedo Village, Makati

I'm poured a refreshing glass of Txakoli—a sparkling white wine of Ondarrabi grapes grown along the Urola coast of Northern Spain. Shortly after, the prix-fixe officially kicks off; we went for the Prix Fixe 2, P4,950, out of the two options available. Being a prix-fixe as opposed to a tasting menu, the portions are fairly substantial and leaves diners satisfied.

An amuse-bouche is served—a neatly rectangular grilled, crispy piece of sourdough rubbed with garlic and topped with a Cantabrian anchovy. The bite is light and pairs beautifully with the Tzakoli. Several snacks arrive afterwards—among them Rillette, or inasal-marinated duck rillettes on top of a potato pavé; and the beautifully sweet Foie paired with quince jelly and truffle honey, sandwiched between milk bread. You may start to feel this is a tasting menu, but Mendoza wants to make a distinction from the many degustations around.

The "Jamón" is a play on the classic combination of slices of its namesake and sweet melon. Instead of using real jamón, Goxo takes thin slices of talakitok fish and cures it for two days; the resulting taste resembles the jamón we all know. It’s quite an impressive attempt as it did go well with the melon compressed with honey.

“This next course is probably my favorite,” Mendoza gushes while putting down a plate of their Mollejas, which has two succulent morsels of sweetbreads on perilla leaves. "Mollejas [or sweetbreads] is mostly common in Spain and Argentina. We grill it add a little bit of inasal oil on top. And since it is quite fatty, we have to cut through it with a little bit of adlai. The perilla leaf gives it a little bit of a peppery note.”

With the format of the space, it’s easy to get to talk to the chef about the food and their style almost as if you were at a friend’s kitchen counter while they’re cooking. “If I were to describe my cooking style, I would say I’m a naturalist because I don’t like a lot of individual things going on in my plate. What I want is cohesion. That’s why I try to formulate my dishes to be very harmonious and very complementary to each other,” he shares.

Iberico is an ode to the Filipino barbecue. As the name might suggest, it's got Iberico pork fashioned on a skewer, then glazed with a sauce made of roasted bell peppers and Pedro Ximénez wine. It comes with grilled pineapple chutney which brings a tartness to cut through the richness of the Iberico. We got a taste of a course on the other prix-fixe as well: Uni & Crab Pasta, a noodle dish of uni, crab and anchovies that brings to mind Filipino palabok in color and in taste. Thick udon noodles are used for a chewier bite and the anchovies lend savoriness and umami to the mix.

After these small dishes, diners get to choose a principal dish—choose between shellfish, poultry, beef, or fish. Our pick: Gambones, a dish that incorporates prawns and scallops together with crispy cubes of potatoes, grilled snow peas and a flavorful and thick split sauce made of pumpkin and bravas oil. Dessert of Txokolate y Oliva, playing on the classic pairing of dark chocolate and olive oil, caps the meal off beautifully.

“We want Goxo to have its own identity. Here we play around and can become unapologetically confident and bold with our dishes,” Mendoza notes.

Although its location is undisclosed as of now, it may not be long before the word gets out as Goxo’s dishes are playful and exciting.

Photos by Jar Concengco