Beloved modern Japanese restaurant MŌDAN unveils its fourth and latest tasting menu, taking diners on a brand new journey through the world’s most exciting flavors.
MŌDAN, the progressive Japanese restaurant of Chef Jorge Mendez, is still packing in the crowds. The restaurant is now on their fourth tasting menu with the Global: Asian Leg Menu 2.0. This is another version of their third menu of the same name. Jorge said he rehashed some of the dishes and adjusted the portions with several diners saying the portions were way too much.
The size of this menu is perfect. One will go home full with that hint of desire to want just a little bit more…or perhaps to come back again, which is what several diners do.
The menu still goes around the world, but Jorge always has that little bit of Japan infused somewhere in all of the dishes.
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Diners start with soup from Nueva Vizcaya in the Philippines. It is a seafood sinanglaw (Filipino soup prepared with offal) with sea collagens and kamias (bilimbi) bits at the bottom and a drizzle of mayu (black garlic) oil, on top is kamias awa with shiso (perilla) leaf.
This is followed by the “snack” leg coming from three habitats. From the forest is the Mushroom Foie Gaufrettes — mushroom gaufrettes (wafers) with foie gras in the middle and kuromitsu (Japanese sugar) honey syrup to round out the flavors. Land is represented by Gyoza Tartare — a wheat cracker soufflé with beef gyoza tartare inside, this is topped off with black vinegar gel, wasabi cream, and layers of tamago (egg) sheets, finished with tobiko (flying fish roe), aunori (green laver), and shavings of cured egg yolk. From the sea is the Scallop — brown butter cured scallops that’s been grilled on a binchotan (Japanese temperature regulated charcoal), hibiscus tosa for the sauce, then topped with radish salad.
What would a meal in MŌDAN be without their famous chicken wing? Jorge gets his inspiration from Bhutan with a glassy chicken wing stuffed with biryani shari served with three bowls of sauce — ume (plum) sauce with cranberries, yogurt with cilantro, and butter chicken sauce with shallots.
The bread course was house made focaccia baked Japanese style. This was a lot more cake-y and dense than the Italian version, and seasoned with gyofun (fish powder). On the separate bowl is their signature shoyuzuke (pickled soy sauce) egg yolk (that was served with the chicken wing in the past) accompanied by an ankimo (monkfish liver) hummus spring onions and ikura (salmon roe) for saltiness
Myanmar presents a noodle dish inspired from kyay oh, a famous but rarely seen noodle dish in the former Burma. It has a lot of variations wet or dry, even made with fishor pork. Jorge makes his own version with kaki taro foam, with tamanegi (onion) at the bottom, as well as mala crumbs and oil, a sugar beet disc on top and a dollop of nomad caviar to finish, and on the separate bowl is the somen noodles dipped in mentsuyu or Japanese noodle soup base, accompanied by a kaki taro puff.
The Malaysia leg offers fish rendang. There’s farro (grains) and water chestnut salad at the bottom topped with rendang foam and katsuboshi (shaved tuna flakes) milk with pandan oil. The fish used is halibut marinated in miso coconut sauce and cooked onsen style. And on top are fried tosaka chili threads and shallots.
Korea features nabe (a clay pot) that has Wagyu steak rice with nurungji (scorched rice) cassava tteokbokki (simmered rice cake), soy marinated radish, sukiyaki lotus root, spring onions. This is Wagyu short ribs topped with jajangmyeon sauce. It is served with banchan of kyuri tsukemono (pickled cucumber), potato curry salad, yuba (tofu skin) kimchi, and apple tsukemono (Japanese pickles).
Japan, of course, has to be part of the menu and this is the dessert — genmaicha kakigori or green tea shaved ice. Genmaicha jelly, Muscat grapes, chia seeds, and purin (Japanese custard or pudding) is topped with shaved ice made of genmaicha and drizzled with genmaicha syrup and rose furikake to finish. This is served with a ricotta matcha (powdered green tea) mochi.
Who needs to take a trip around Asia when the best dishes from around the continent can be enjoyed in one night?
MŌDAN is located at the Ground Floor of Escalades East Tower, 20th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City. Go to https://modanmnl.ph/ for reservations.
Food photos by Pepper Teehankee. Chef photo by Jules Vivas.
