Sawsaw
8491 1209 Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sawsaw.ph
Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday
(SPOT.ph) There’s nothing more Filipino than sawsawan. Nearly every meal we have comes with a condiment, whether it’s soy sauce, bagoong, or even banana ketchup. Everyone has their own distinct preferences when it comes to sawsawan too, with some preferring to go the salty and sour route with soy sauce and calamansi or the acidic and spicy route with chili peppers swimming in vinegar.
The concept of sawsawan is what inspired Chef Sau del Rosario’s newest venture in Poblacion, located just a few minutes away from his critically acclaimed Cafe Fleur. Aptly named Sawsaw, this restaurant is the celebrated chef’s love letter to all things Filipino.
Also read: The New Poblacion Dining Spots to Put on Your Must-Visit List
Chef Sau Del Rosario's new Filipino restaurant brings his signature cooking to Poblacion:
“Filipino food is very personalized just like sawsawan. For example, we have different sawsawan for fried fish,” del Rosario says of his restaurant’s name. “And in terms of culture, when you say 'sawsaw ako diyan,' you mean ‘I want to get involved in that.’ It’s very Filipino.”
Sawsaw’s interiors are distinctly Filipino as well, with its solihiya chairs and woven chandeliers. It’s clearly been designed for communal dining as there’s also an al fresco area featuring an urban garden and a small, glass-enclosed room for private events, complete with a stunning wooden chandelier.
But if you’re stepping into Sawsaw for the first time, the open kitchen will definitely catch your eye.
It’s the centerpiece of the restaurant where you can hear the clang of pots and pans, smell various scents wafting from the kitchen stovetops, and eavesdrop on the chatter of chefs working together like clockwork. While most restaurants would hide their busy kitchen to make more room for diners, Chef Sau really made this kitchen the highlight of his new establishment.
“We opened the kitchen so that people will see their food being made and to help them appreciate the little things and labor we put in,” Chef Sau says. “I’ve been telling my people that this is their theater. Everyone is an actor. It’s a whole affair, an orchestra where everyone should be in harmony.”
Not only that, it also serves as a classroom for his team of mostly young chefs. Fitting, as Sawsaw’s goal is to come up with brand new interpretations of classic Filipino fare, without doing away with traditional ingredients and recipes.
“The recipe is very important, you cannot touch that. It has to be the same in terms of ingredients. If you butcher the ingredients, you ruin the story [of the food],” Chef Sau says.
Take their Crispy Pata (P1,250). It still makes use of pork knuckle but it’s prepared in an entirely new way. Sawsaw’s version is cooked sous vide for 24 hours first, before being deep fried to golden perfection. This results in skin that’s extra crispy and succulent, and juicy meat that falls right off the bone. Seasoned well with salt, pepper, and bay leaves, sawsawan is definitely not necessary but it’s a welcome addition.
Quick rundown of the said sawsawan: There’s the acidic Soy Calamansi that helps cut through the pork’s fattiness, but our vote goes to the Homemade Banana Catsup, a sweet and tart concoction that goes not just with the crispy pata but almost anything. Chef Sau says he has plans to sell it soon and you’ll definitely want to be first in line to grab a bottle.
The Sugpo Bicol Express (P695), meanwhile, tastes new and familiar at the same time. This reinterpretation features sigarilyas and green chilis stewed in a rich and thick coconut cream sauce that comes with just the right amount of heat. It also comes with pork floss instead of the usual ground pork for a bit more texture. The prawn is perfectly cooked as well and is best dipped in the spicy coconut sauce.
Sawsaw also makes sure to feature dishes from more neglected parts of the country, such as Mindanao. “We want to feature different parts of the Philippines, we don’t just want to promote it as adobo country,” Chef Sau says.
Enter the Lobster sa Alavar Sauce (P1,550), a spin on a classic seafood dish from Zamboanga. This interpretation is easily a seafood lover’s dream, featuring the right amount of brininess from the poached lobster, the coconut and crab fat infused sauce, and ikura or salmon eggs.
The drinks and desserts are also distinctly Filipino. The homemade Champorado ice cream (P150/scoop) tastes exactly like our favorite breakfast treat in frozen form. It’s sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy, thanks to the inclusion of caramelized tuyo and rice crispies coated with Malagos chocolate.
The cocktail menu, crafted by award-winning mixologist Auie Benisano, meanwhile features drinks named after classic Filipino characters in myths, literature, and pop culture.
There’s the Damaso (P450), a citrusy concoction made with pisco, roasted tomato water, orange and dalandan syrup, topped up with an aquafaba foam (yep, aquafaba being the liquid you get from a can of chickpeas!). Make no mistake though. Despite its fruity flavor though, this drink may just betray you in the end, just like the character it’s named after.
There’s also the underwater-inspired Dysebel (P450), a much stronger mix made with homemade rum, pineapple water, bonito, and nori. Its presentation takes cues from the ocean as well, coming with edible "coral" and "sand."
Chef Sau hopes that Sawsaw will be able to showcase the best Filipino cuisine has to offer, without having to compromise on traditional ingredients and recipes.
“Filipino cuisine is very diverse. My term is [for it is] kaleidoscope, it’s a different spectrum of colors and flavors,” says chef Sau. “O, ang galing ‘di ba.”
Photos by Hans Fausto
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