Review: La Mesa in Massapequa
Tacos at La Mesa restaurant in Massapequa. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
Who knew that Filipino and Salvadoran cuisine have so much in common? Markus Sacramento and Alex Melendez certainly do, because the couple has combined their heritages to create one of the most thrilling menus on Long Island.
The Massapequa spot may look like an average Central American deli from the outside, but inside it's a bohemian chic room with a long wooden table and a wall of Filipino specialty products. Shelves are crafted from wooden crates, a steam table is embedded in a pickled-wood and marble counter. A collection of mismatched wicker light fixtures descend from the ceiling. Even the plates are stylish.
Tacos at La Mesa in Massapequa.
The gigantic menu draws on the cuisines of El Salvador (where Melendez was born) and the Philippines (where Sacramento hails from) as well as Honduras, Mexico and Latin America. “La Mesa” means “table” in both Spanish and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.
Lechon kawali, a decadent Filipino dish of fried pork belly, seems right at home at a Central American deli with its logs of fried pork chicharron. Presented here with herby pickled red onions, it's practically indistinguishable from the original, aside from the robust Filipino lechon sauce made from liver.
Other classic Filipino dishes get a glow-up from the kitchen, including a deconstructed kare-kare stewthat features eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and green beans presented separately on the plate, rather than muddled in the peanut sauce. A slab of assertively fried bone-in chicken breast sits on top, so you can rip into it and eat it with garlic rice.
La Mesa's biggest triumph is giving the baleada the treatment it deserves. The Honduran breakfast staple is served on a wooden plate with a freshly-made flour tortilla, hot and charred from the grill. The menu lists the typical ingredients (beef, chicken, bacon or chorizo) to go along with the scrambled eggs. If you ask, they'll make a Filipino fusion balaeada with a syrupy longanisa, a sweet Filipino sausage that works beautifully here.
Back to Top 50 RestaurantsFind more restaurants:
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
