Untangling Messy Norte

Apparently 9pm signals the clearing of the battlefield known as Mezza Norte—with tables finally floating into the line of sight and vendors finding the time to breathe in, and out. It’s amazing how much smorgasbord of gastronomic treasures these tents hold, amidst the smoky haze and a diversity of aroma depending on where you sit. Fine weather also permitted setting up more tables under the stars, UP Technohub lights and closer to the Commonwealth traffic.

We were stationed in El Poco Mejico—otherwise known as Mexicanto—and sat alongside simmering corn chips and cheese. However I was craving for another continent’s produce, so off I went and found the wraps place.

As it turns out, the wraps place has a proper name: Wrap Battle. While deciding between Tofu with Asian Dressing or Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Vinaigrette, the Chicken Pesto was being assembled. With a thick smear of pesto, cabbage, cheese, onions and chicken strips—that pesto’s grassy allure was salvation to the famished and in less than a minute it was mine to behold.

At P100, it was a gigantic wrap, quite the steal and the ultimate hunger buster. A bit hefty on the cabbage side, this I did not mind (okay, I loved it). If given a next time, I’d like to try that tawilis (that’s fish) number or maybe the grilled eggplant. Or maybe both.

As much as it shames me, I had a photo taken. Twice. Were my pupils dilated? Dying of curiosity, the stalker in me found Wrap Battle’s Facebook page and one heck of a hazy photo. La fee verte from pesto.

Bumble Tea is always queued but I found one second of emptiness and went for the Pulpy Aloe Juice (Mango) at 25% sweetness. At a quarter, 25% or just ¼ of the original sweetness, my drink seemed more like 125% syrup. The opposite for my friend whose dark chocolate-rock salt and cheese at 50% was bland. I propose an assembly line for the vendors, or better yet, a shot of red bull. That should help with the math.

Lastly, Merry Moo never fails to disappoint. This time, the Strawberry Shortcake unraveled fruity sweetness with awesome chunks of cake in between. A better form of ice cream cake, bathed in my favorite strawberry goodness, not even Mochiko’s Oreo Bestseller (I had that too) could offer such gourmet dessert delight.

This time, the cat bows to the cow.

P.S.

My earlier Mezza "Messy" Norte post was written during the horrible Habagat season, which is why references to hair, tangles and anything disturbing are abound. You'd do the same thing too if caught in a hurricane on a bad hair day.