Ultimate Taste Test 7: Mercato Centrale

These UTT's are getting bigger and bigger each time I go! Last one was at Rockwell, and I don't know if the space was bigger so everything was more spread out, or if there were less people, or just because everyone decided that it was time to eat at the same time on this Mercato Centrale UTT, but THERE WERE SOOOOO MANY PEOPLE. This, of course, is a good thing. That means more foodies are coming out of their shells to experience what's new in Manila's culinary world.

Like any place where there is a high volume of people, the quality will not always be perfect because these mostly home-based businesses need to produce enough for hundreds of people to taste. Nevertheless, you could separate the good from the "ok lang". I wish I got to try ALL the food, but I was with a tired 7 year old and the sheer number of people just made me give up after 2/3 of the booths. Here are some of my picks:

1. Papa Roti ---> Their stickers claims they are the "world's most awesome roti" Hmmm, well, maybe not but roti is one of my favorite things to eat ever, and the ones they had were good. So good I barely ate any because Ananda finished all of it, plus my dad's!

2. Happy Tummy Spam Musubi--> Have it with caramel sauce. It's one of those things where you'll kinda be like, well, it's just spam and rice, how special can it be? Then you add caramel sauce on it and you're like "Why the hell have I never done that before?"

3. Tree of Life Kamotea--> I don't usually like iced tea but this was clean, devoid of excessive sweetness and just... yum. I asked for another sample.

4. Dulcelin's Uni Pasta--> Uni is an acquired taste but once your palate likes it, it's over! You will want it again and again in any form you can find it.

5. Swiss Deli's sausages--> I'm a sucker for bangers. Period.

I sadly missed out on Merry Moo's fiesta ham and queso de bola ice cream. I NEED to try it soon. I had this Tilapia ice cream from another booth that was so-so. Nothing special and Ananda hated it :( I also had this battered fish with garlic dip that was amazing but I can't remember the name of the booth! I just remember it being the very last one outside! Choclery artisan chocolate was pretty good, although I wish I could taste the manchego a little more in their manchego truffles. Blackinese brownies were not as awesome as I expected but not bad!

Like any "food fest" of this size, there were sure hits, and some disappointments, but I can't wait until the next one!