Moomba: A taste of ostrich and many more surprises

Ostrich.

Ostrich?

Yes, ostrich!

"Once you taste it," warned Jane Coleen Kho, operations manager (for marketing) of Moomba Bar and Restaurant, "you’ll keep coming back."

Under "Main Course" of the Moomba menu, you have four choices of how you prefer your ostrich done, namely:

• Ostrich Stew (P320 per order) – Ostrich delicately simmered in brown sauce, finished with anchovy-caper paste, served with onion sauce

• Ostrich ala Pobre (P300) – Australian ostrich premium cut, sautéed in garlic, a simple dish that brings out the natural flavor of the ostrich, served with mashed potato

• Ostrich Poivre (P320) – Sauteed ostrich in pepper-corn gravy sauce, served with mashed potato

• Satay Ostrich (P340) – Grilled ostrich with satay sauce, served with mashed potato

Three Mondays earlier, Mar d’Guzman Cruz (of DZXL’s Showbiz Power with Kuya Mar), Bobby Ante (formerly station manager of Radio Mindanao Network/DZXL and now head of the Viva Concerts Division) and I had brunch at Moomba. I don’t remember what Mar and Bobby ordered but I picked Corned Beef with Potatos and Onions (P140), one of the items under "Power Brunches."

Gerry Ele II, the place’s marketing manager (for operations), approached our group and said, "Next time, you try our ostrich. You’ll love it and keep coming back."

And so, Monday last week, the three of us, plus actor Carlo Muñoz, were back at Moomba and took Gerry and Jane’s word for it. Try their ostrich, that is – specifically Satay Ostrich, specially prepared by Moomba’s executive chef Rowena Bautista (namesake of one of Sen. Ramon Revilla’s daughters, but no relation).

True enough, the ostrich tastes like heaven, somewhat like pork but more life beef. "Very low in cholesterol," Rowena reminded us. "Very light ang luto, cooked in a special way so as not to take away the taste of ostrich."

In a jiffy, there wasn’t any trace of ostrich on the large plate before us. Neither was there of the Spicy Lamb Stew (P295 per order) Rowena also prepared for us, which is lamb delicately simmered in its own jus, spiced with paprika and cayenne and served with onion pilaf.

Those two items, along with the rich Chocolate Vacherin dessert (P100), are among the many gastronomic attractions of Moomba, located at the corner of Mother Ignacia St. and Roces Avenue in Quezon City, which looks more like a movie set straight from the glossy pages of Town and Country, what with its ethnic decor with that "feel at home" ambiance. According to Jane, there are more than 200 throw pillows arranged on top of chairs, the sofas in the two lounges and the seats attached to the walls of the two-storey building which you must have seen as setting of a GMA 7 soap.

As soon as you pass through the massive facade of wood and glass, you feel like you’re in an entirely different world brightened up by exotic decor, warm-colored curtains, cute hanging lamps and the friendly smile of the managers and the waiters. Both floors can accommodate as many as 300 people at a time, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the Acoustic Nights and Saturdays during the Veejay Night when disc jockey Michael "Mico" Bandigue, a Pinoy who lived in New York, plays dance music that never fails to get habitués (mostly businessmen, showbiz people and yuppies) out of their seats and into the dancefloor right under the bridge on the second floor.

Credit for the unique Moomba look should go to architect Edward Tan who is one of the place’s five owners (also including Robert Ong, Johnny Ong, Clarence Chua and Mariano Go who owns two other Chinese restaurants in Metro Manila).

Moomba is an aboriginal term which roughly means "let’s get together and have fun." That’s exactly what people who go to Moomba do – have fun, not just by tasting the exotic and intercontinental items (pizza, pasta, all kinds of meats dishes, etc.) but to wind up after a hard days’ work.

"Our habitués usually come after dusk," said Jane. "They just sit around the tables, eat and drink, listen to the music and simply relax. They feel right at home."

So at home, in fact, that some celebrities opt to celebrate special occasions at Moomba than at home (look, Ma, no food to prepare and no dishes to wash!), one of them Rica Peralejo who marked her birthday there surrounded by her starry colleagues (led by her boyfriend Bernard Palanca).

"We also offer a line of fresh salads for weight-watchers," said Rowena who obtained her Certificate in Culinary Education from the Vancouver Community College (she was one of the teachers of Gloria Romero’s daughter Maritess Gutierrez, chef of Aresi Restaurant on Tomas Morato Avenue, also in Quezon City, where Rowena also worked briefly, along with Jane). "I suggest the Greek Salad which is a combination of tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onion and feta cheese, tossed with lemon vinaigrette."

But still, the dish to try is the ostrich (coming from the Limkitkai farm in Cagayan de Oro which is the main distributor of ostrich in the country).

The Moomba people are right: Once you taste the ostrich, you will keep going back.

(Note: Moomba, barely two years old, is opem from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. For inquiries, call 371-1973 or 373-2487.)