Here’s the beef

If not steak, what can one get at Melo’s?” For those in the know, Melo’s was the first restaurant in the Philippines to offer certified Angus beef. So, the question is tantamount to asking if cows have wings.

Since Carmelo Santiago established the restaurant in 1987, Melo’s reputation has grown throughout the years as the place to get a satisfying carnivore fix. 

But yes, you can have something other than meat at Melo’s.  The appetizer list includes baked oyster Rockefeller topped with bacon, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and hollandaise sauce; gambas or shrimp sautéed in olive oil and garlic, and smoked salmon served with lettuce, dill sauce and capers.  Healthy salad devotees would surely enjoy the classic Caesar (P270), Waldorf salad (with duck breast, walnuts, apples, raisins and homemade mayonnaise) or fisherman’s salad served with shrimps, crabsticks, mussels and egg.  For more substantial meals, there are seafood dishes like halibut with salsa verde (P495); Chilean sea bass in hollandaise sauce (P850), grilled prawns (P650) or Norwegian salmon in lemon butter sauce (P495). Pasta fans would likewise enjoy the different varieties served in the restaurant: seafood pasta in tomato and cognac cream sauce (P350), carbonara or puttanesca (P295), or salmon and roasted vegetable on penne (P295).

Dessert buffs who are not in the know will be amazed that Melo’s is where one could indulge in the passion for desserts with lovely, lovely Sweet Bella cakes and pastries. Cristina Santiago- Rivera, a pastry chef trained at the California School of Culinary Arts,  bakes the delicious confections.  One might go gaga while deciding on  whether to have frasier (P295), a heavenly combination of almond genoise layered with pistachio mousiline topped with strawberries and Italian meringue, and served with strawberry coulis; or the midnight deco (P295) combination of dark chocolate and hazelnut that is a velvety dark chocolate mousse layered with sacher sponge and Gianduja crunch. It doesn’t help that the mango tango passion (P295) — sweet, fresh mangoes made into a light mousse and layered with vanilla panna cotta and mango balls — is just as tempting as lemoncello (P200), tangy lemon cream on a sable dough crust with lemon-kissed meringue; or tiramisu (P250) ladyfinger sponge cake dipped in coffee, layered with mascarpone cream and topped with chocolate shavings.

But we were not going to be waylaid by the tempting alternatives to steak. We were there for wagyu, the beef cut that has taken Manila by storm.

“We are confident that our customers will love our wagyu steaks because we serve nothing less than high quality beef which we get from an exclusive supplier,” said Caron Santiago- Macasaet.

The daughter of the restaurant’s founder handles marketing, accounting and operations in the restaurant and, with her siblings, has committed to uphold the restaurant’s reputation for excellent steaks.

“We are meticulous in preparing and serving our food so that it will meet our customers’ high standards. In addition to the great food, we uphold the family tradition of providing personalized service.”

Caron sat with us as we grazed through hefty portions of rib eye, tenderloin, striploin , porterhouse and t-bone wagyu from Australia.

Wagyu meat is graded from one to 10 according to the degree of marbling, with grade one having the least fat,      

and 10 with the most fat interspersed with the meat. It is marbling that contributes to the tenderness of the cut. It goes without saying that the beef is wasted for those who prefer their steaks well done or charred because fat leaches out as it cooks, rendering the wagyu similar to just any other ordinary cut of meat.

The excellent wagyu steaks served at Melo’s range from grades four to eight, but it would be difficult for the ordinary diner to tell which was which without consulting the menu.

For example, the tenderloin that was graded a “6” seemed equally tender compared an eight-ounce striploin that was graded “8.” All were immensely satisfying and it is no wonder that Melo’s has retained its reputation as a steak destination throughout the years.

Even for dedicated carnivores who enjoy their meat, the overload of wagyu took considerable fortitude. After the experience however, one may be tempted  to re-think the answer to the question “Do cows have wings?” At Melo’s where the steaks are just so heavenly, they certainly do.

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Melo’s is at 58 Sgt. Esguerra (Bohol) Avenue, Quezon City with  telephone number 924-9194; 22 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air, Makati City, 899-2456 and Fil-invest Westgate, Alabang, 771-3945. Call 844-0680 for Sweet Bella desserts or email sweetbellacakes@yahoo.com.