'My Home' ... GB 2

Ma Maison literally means 'my home'. It is a fusion of Japanese and French / European dishes. First on the menu were the buttered escargots baked with garlic. I asked the hubby if he wanted to eat snails and he said NO. (I don't eat snails, mussels, oysters.. And was just glad he didn't want any.) Anyway, since I have a Bistro card, we get to have a free appetizer, Scallops Carpaccio, priced at Php 295.

Son ordered the beef stroganoff buttered rice. The buttered rice was wrapped up by a thin layer of scrambled eggs & the very few strips of beef had this dark brown sauce which tasted like tonkastu sauce. Hubby got the hamburger steak which tasted like ordinary hamburger steak & was topped with a fried 'sunny side up' egg. After these dishes were served, I had the feeling that we were having breakfast in some 'silog' joint. The first two dishes were not Japanese, French or European. I was a bit disappointed since the dishes cost almost Php 400 EACH.

Finally, my tonkatsu was served. The pork was perfectly fried, very crispy. However, it had too much fat inside. The server gave instructions on the sauces. The brown tonkatsu sauce was placed in a teapot. The yellowish mustard sauce was for the shredded cabbage and the salt mill was to season the pork according to your taste or level of saltiness.

We had to order extra steamed rice since the hamburger steak and the tonkatsu did not have rice to go with them but had a very small amount of potato salad on the side. The cup of steamed rice cost Php 95, quite expensive! That can buy 3 kilos of rice. They could have just added the steamed rice with the dishes since the dishes almost cost 10 dollars each!

I can get this tonkatsu in Sushi Ya or Tempura and still get that authentic Japanese tonkatsu sauce and crispy pork cutlets, and probably just cost half of what we paid for.

Btw, our waitress said that what we ordered were the specialties of the house. Really? Then she offered their signature drinks, which cost about Php 175. We got the aloe vera apple drink. Alvin and I giggled and said that our hair might just grow longer and thicker after we drink the aloe vera. Hahahaha!

So far, not so good. I had my dessert served before our meal. Syempre, I got the green tea frozen brazo de Mercedes. It had four layers. The top layer is the egg white layer which tasted like egg, not sweet. The second layer is the green tea ice cream, which had a very strong taste of green tea. The third layer was the sweet yellow yolk, but it was too thin. The last layer / base was some kind of thin cookie crust.

At first, I didn't like the strong taste of the egg white, it tasted and smelled like a freshly cracked egg. Then, the strong taste of the green tea was not too pleasant but the sweet custard layer sort of balanced the tastes. I'd say, the dessert was alright, but I wouldn't order it again.

Despite the free appetizer and the 20% discount from my Bistro card, I still paid Php 1500. I wouldn't mind paying this much if they had only been generous with the beef strips and if they had served their dishes with rice on the side.

This dimly lit restaurant with an old English countryside interior setting, floral tablecloths which I doubt if they change often, (maybe not...) The copper pots that hang on the brick walls, nor the 'boat' that hangs by the door, and the French sounding name are not enough to make we want to go back and eat here again.

I always say, always order the specialty of the restaurant. I once made a mistake of ordering shrimp tempura in a diner. Since then I only eat tempura in a Japanese restaurant, and burgers in a diner. At Ma Maison, the fusion creates more confusion.