Jorge Mendez is ready to share more at Makanai
Jorge Mendez has methods that make him unique, and one of those systematic approaches is his ability to constantly churn out concepts that resonate with people. Months after opening Mugen Ramenya in Maginhawa to ecstatic fanfare, Mendez is back with Makanai, arguably one of the most elegant restaurants that have opened in Manila this year.
But unlike the rapid succession of these two concepts, Makanai in reality was over a decade in the making.
“The story of Makanai goes back more than 10 years, to the partnership between Tita Margarita [Forés] and Jorge [Mendez]… over the years, working side by side, traveling for events and collaborations around the world,” says Mercedes Forés, chief operating officer of Cibo and Makanai.
“I started to work for Margarita at the Ascott,” says Mendez of their beginnings together. “A few years back, Margarita and I found ourselves doing a lot of collaborations abroad. I remember this one time, we were working with a Japanese chef who kept calling out, ‘Makanai! Makanai!’”
“At the time, we didn’t really know what it meant. But later on, we finally asked him. He explained that makanai is the staff meal. It’s usually something made from whatever ingredients are on hand. Simple, comforting, made with care,” he explains. “That really stayed with us.”
It’s anyone’s guess how much Mendez and the late great Margarita Forés absorbed from that moment, but make no mistake, Makanai is sophisticated yet decidedly easy to understand and easy to appreciate. Not staff meals in their most traditional definition, but food fueled by the very idea that Mendez and Margarita have long stood for: sharing, scaled into full-blown expressions of artistry and aesthetics, in food, design, and heart.
Shared heritage
If Modan and Mugen established Mendez as a talent dedicated to lighting up customer desires for Japanese cuisine’s more shimmering aspects, Makanai sits comfortably in the liminal space of the casual and the refined.
The design language equally mirrors this philosophy: the uncluttered Studio Ong-designed space sees gestures of Japanese design using Filipino materials, especially in the handwoven panels and lighting fixtures from Cebu, while trademark Margarita touches, such as the malachite centerpiece bar and shades of green in the uniform, cultivate the chef’s presence. Even the “Crayon Shin-chan” artwork made by Mendez’s brother in the soon-to-be-finished private room portrays the chef’s personal moments with his family, of sharing meals while watching the ’90s anime.
Never shying away from drawing upon the past, Mendez admits it was harder to develop Makanai’s menu, owing to the fact that while plans to open this restaurant concept had always been there—albeit not concrete—he and Margarita didn’t get a chance to formally discuss the menu. This resulted in an abstractly laborious process to transform the menu prototype into what it currently is.
“This is a full circle moment because Margarita and I always dreamt of opening something together,” Mendez says. “This is more of her memories and my approach, my food.”
Taste test
It’s quite astounding what Mendez has been able to do with Japanese cuisine. When you think about the number of Japanese restaurants in the capital alone (there is no official count, but I’m assuming it’s in the hundreds, maybe even thousands), you might wonder what else is there possibly left to do with it. Yet at Makanai, Mendez refuses to be confined by the limitations and instead embraces the opportunities such challenges present.
Framed by zen-like interiors and natural light streaming into the massive glass window (during lunch hours), Makanai presents a compelling argument of balancing innovation and tradition. One of its best moments exemplifies this: a sunomono that uses watermelon cubes in lieu of cucumber. It’s a salad at the end of the day, but the layers and layers of flavors—stacked vegetables, katsuobushi, and pink shrimp paste sitting on a savory broth—make it probably the most thrilling salad Mendez has made.
Another dish that is a beacon of innovation is a beef gyoza tartare that’s virtually guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face—and not just for the maple-shaped chips that accompany it. Explicit in its succulence, Mendez mixes mild wasabi foam, Parmesan, and beet chips on top to pull off a deconstructed take on a dumpling.
In the noodles category, an interesting contrast is at play: a silky crab aglio olio extols the virtues of pairing light pasta with the common crustacean, while an intense mazesoba bowl (inspired by Japanese restaurant Menya Hanabi) made with udon, bolognese, and tender A5 wagyu morsels highlight the numerous levels of sinful pleasure found in the restaurant.
He then dials it up with a trio of donabe prepared tableside—dishes Mendez says that magnify Makanai’s character. “Because Margarita and I are known for using clay pot or palayok,” he says fondly.
The three pots progress from a heavy wagyu shortrib to a king crab claw chahan with aligue, and finally, a chewy and crispy unagi fish and chips pot that subverts how the freshwater eel is typically served. “We wanted it to have a crust… something attached to the fish,” he says. “We used a youtiao batter, then flash fried the unagi. It’s like tempura.”
As bold and ambitious as the main dishes are, Mendez approaches Makanai’s desserts with humility. As if discreetly letting the spotlight shine on the savory strengths of Mendez and Margarita. That isn’t to say the popcorn purin and matcha and dark chocolate cake bend under the weight of the earlier courses, just that the desserts occupy a space that’s quieter.
Which begs the question: If memories of hauling ingredients for adobo and kinilaw inside Margarita’s maleta and traveling around the world to cook makanai in restaurants they collaborated with birthed Makanai, what more can the legacy of the late great chef and the deft touch of Mendez take us?
But perhaps the answers don’t need to surface anytime soon—or ever, really. Mendez is less concerned with the next step and instead is fixated on sustaining the longstanding triumph that he, Margarita, Amado, Mercedes, and the rest of the Forés family have nurtured all this time.
“Finally bringing this concept to life, Makanai is something deeply personal. It’s a tribute to those moments, and to everything Margarita and I have shared in and out of the kitchen,” Mendez says.
Makanai is located at Unit 1B, West Gallery Place in Bonifacio Global City. It’s open Monday to Sunday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. For reservations, contact 0968-1253-808
