BITE Contemporary Cuisine: Biting to Perfection!

When In Manila, there’s a new foodie haven that you should try! BITE Contemporary Cuisine, situated along Yakal Street in Makati City, is the new-kid-on-the-FOODIE-HAVEN-block owned by Chef Jam Melchor.

Bite Contemporary CuisineThe minimalist interior of the restaurant is really appealing, no need for heavy ornamentation. Just like what Chef Jam said: “Walk the talk!” His delicious menu is the main star of Bite Contemporary Cuisine.

The first question that popped in my mind is “Why Contemporary Cuisine?” to which Chef Jam answered, “Bite grew out of a desire to make it easy and affordable to eat delicious, healthy, and sustainable food.” With a strong background in culinary arts, Chef Jam opened the restaurant a month ago, but it’s already getting rave reviews!

Usually when you hear the words “sustainable food” and “organic” it goes with a hefty price. At BITE, you’ll get to eat healthy at a very affordable price. I need to put an emphasis of “affordable,” because the serving is already good for 2-3 persons.

Bite Contemporary Cuisine Mae Ilagan When In Manila-42Mae Ilagan who heads of the Food Committee at WhenInManila.com, gathered the best of the bests to review what Bite has to offer. 

For appetizer, Chef Jam served two of their best dishes: Roasted Marrow Bones, Watermelon Orange Caprese, and Truffled Gen San Tuna Crudo. Both are really appetizing and  delicious! The bone marrows were just roasted right, I loved the truffled tuna crudo — it’s actually my favorite, I took two of this and finished it in less than two minutes — because it has a refreshing taste, the tuna is perfectly cooked and has a melt-in-your-mouth texture plus it jives well with the sauce.

Bite’s caprese is also a crowd-pleaser! The pesto sauce is just spectacular, I hope they’ll make a pasta with it soon. The dish refreshes your palate for a hearty lunch or dinner.

Bite Contemporary Cuisine Mae Ilagan When In Manila-7ROASTED MARROW BONES. Red wine shallot sauce, citrus gremolata, garlic, onion, toasts – Php298.00

Bite Contemporary Cuisine Mae Ilagan When In Manila-3WATERMELON ORANGE CAPRESE. Laguna goat cheese, heirloom tomato, balsamico, pesto – Php 195.00

Bite Contemporary Cuisine Mae Ilagan When In Manila-4TRUFFLED GEN SAN TUNA CRUDO. Microgreens, mushroom sea-salt, sriracha, sesame – Php 250.00 

Then we had the soup du jour which is Crawfish and Prawns in Pineapple Sinigang. The revelation that night is that Chef Jam used pineapple to make the Sinigang sour, although it lacked that too sour kick but for me it’s still okay. I think I had three refills of the soup all throughout dinner.

No wonder this dish is a best-seller, Chef Jam – who is Kapampangan – used the best crawfish (ulang) for the sinigang.

Bite Contemporary Cuisine Mae Ilagan When In Manila-17CRAWFISH AND PRAWN PINEAPPLE SINIGANG. Not your typical sinigang, but it’s gonna be your favorite! – Php 350.00