First Bite: Sasa Asian Cuisine

Estancia used to be one of my favorite malls when I was still living a lot closer to this place. It being a less popular choice for mall goers and having free unlimited wi-fi (to compensate for the poor reception), this mall has been some sort of paradise to me. And after two years, this mall has become one of the promising foodie havens in Pasig City with its numerous restaurants. One of which is Sasa, an Asian restaurant which opened just a couple months back. 

Hello, Sasa Asian Cuisine!

Bright colored walls and furniture are the first thing you’d notice when you step inside Sasa. 

Aptly called Sasa (or what we know as nipa which is a common tree in Asian countries), this restaurant offers several Asian dishes from curry to fried chicken. 

H already pre-ordered the dishes we were about to sample and he chose Fried Yasai Itame (PHP350), Wrap SA Chicken (PHP240) and Shrimp and Chicken Laksa(PHP290). For drinks, R and I went with Watermelon and Lychee Shake (PHP100 per glass). 

First served were our drinks and both were refreshing. I liked that it was served without milk. I really do not like having milk with my fruit shake. 

Soon, our orders arrived.

While I struggle with the dripping sauce of fried yasai itame, I noticed that the staff didn’t even offer to lend a hand. I just kept silent hoping that after a bit, they’d approach me. Sadly, they just stood near the counter and watched me wipe the table every few seconds. 

After several minutes of taking photos, I finally returned the plates back to our table with, again, no assistance from the staff. This time though, I asked for the staff to help me wipe the sauce off the other table. They did make up for the unsatisfactory service though by helping us cut the fried yasai itame.  

I first sampled the Wrap SA Chicken which was a bit too dry for my liking. The lumpia wrapper had a powdery texture which I didn’t like and the chicken was dry and on the bland side. I liked that there were cucumber, carrot and turnip sticks for crunch and sweet sauce for extra flavor but these didn’t really help much to address the dryness of the chicken. 

The fried yasai itame was oily but delightful! I love the crunch I get per bite and that despite the oiliness, I still feel like I was munching on a healthy dish as this fried pancake was stuffed with assorted chopped vegetables. I might be a bit biased here too as I love bean sprouts. The only downside I could think of is that it could be a bit messy to eat as the dripping sauce could stain your outfit. 

But my favorite was the Shrimp and Chicken Laksa. Though it may not have a lot of shrimps, Sasa made up for it with the generous serving of chicken bits. I love that each slurp was packed with coconut milk taste. And the best part was that it wasn’t spicy at all! It was the perfect laksa for me! 

Overall, it was a pleasant meal. Two out of three dishes were pretty good and something I’d go back for. The interiors also made the visit extra nice. I just hope that they’d make the chicken strips of Wrap SA Chicken a bit more succulent and that the servers will be more proactive in my next visit. 

Sasa Asian Cuisine is located at B1-010, Lower Ground, Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Pasig City. For inquiries or reservations, you may contact them at 0917 500 3187. 

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