More reasons to visit Cebu
The luxury dining scene here in the Philippines just got much brighter, and the big surprise is that it has nothing to do with Metro Manila. The world-renowned modern Cantonese restaurant Mott 32 will open its doors to the Filipino public in early September, and it’s single location is the NUSTAR Integrated Resort at Cebu City. That’s some culinary coup for our Queen City of the South.
The restaurant opened for a day to give the media and Cebu society a foretaste of what’s to come. And by all accounts, the preview was a roaring success. The special lunch had Gokongwei Group’s CEO Lance Gokongwei in attendance, along with RLC President/CEO Frederick Go, and Robinsons Hotels and Resorts Arthur Gindap. And their special guest was DOT Secretary Christina G. Frasco, accompanied by son Liam.
The Barbecued Pluma Iberico Pork with Yellow Mountain Honey is one of the iconic Mott dishes. While it may look visually like a regular char siu dish, the tenderness, texture and honeyed flavor is truly as favorably advertised and turns this into an adored special like no other.
The Scallops, Prawn, Hot and Sour Shanghainese Soup Dumplings is the Mott version of xiao long bao, with soup encased in the dumpling. It’s the hot and sour soup that gives this it’s signature taste. There’s a Chicken Prawn Taro Croquette, but this one is more about the chicken adding texture to the delicious mush we normally associate with taro puffs.
The Signature Smoked Black Cod was the fish dish that impressed me the most, as here was a dish that’s distinctly Mott, and I’ve not had in other Chinese eateries. It’s a fun way of presenting choice morsels of cod fillet. And I’d head back to Mott for a double-course of this cod and the barbecued Iberico.
And then we were served the apple-wood roasted 42 days Peking duck with its "Signature Mott 32 Cut." Now, I’m not going to say it’s the best Peking duck I’ve ever tasted, but it does come close. And if it’ll get diners to flock to Mott and discover the other dishes, I think it’ll have served its purpose.
The crispy triple-cooked US black Angus ribs was great on flavor, but was not as crispy as I had expected it to be. I did love the sautéed haricot beans with diced Australian Wagyu beef, and it’s now easily one of my favorite vegetable dishes at Mott.
Pomelo, grapefruit, and honeycomb with coconut ice cream would be their unique dessert that I’d recommend. The ice cream is homemade, and I liked the interplay of textures that the honeycomb and pulps of fruits provided.
That same evening, a cocktail party was held, and it was an extremely well-attended affair. Mariquita Yeung, Kenneth Cobonpue, Jimmy Aboitiz, Philip Rodriguez, Blake Go with Divine Lee, Neil Filipp, MaryAnne Aboitiz, Kate and Mario Anzani, OJ Hofer, are just some of the people I spied—it was easily a procession of the who’s who from different arenas of Cebu society.
Mott 32 is now a burning flame of what dining with a global footprint looks like. It’s situated all over the world. From its start in Hong Kong, you can now find Mott 32 in such cities as Las Vegas, Vancouver, Bangkok, Singapore, soon in Venice, and, of course, Cebu City! NUSTAR can be proud of this coup, and it should soon be a magnet for the region—a dining and tourist must-go.