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Mōdan's Second Menu Is Inspired By Origami 

Chef Jorge Mendez presents a lineup that's  just as stellar as his first! 

Article (news)

Troy Barrios

<p>The best dinner to be had in Manila right now is to be found in a cramped dining room in a non-glamorous part of town. Mōdan opened in the last quarter of 2022 to rave reviews, with even the most jaded food snobs in the metro paying homage to Chef Jorge Mendez’s fresh approach to what he calls “progressive Japanese cuisine.” But now he’s facing the real test: his second menu. The first menu being such a hit fuels rising expectations for his second lineup. We checked it out.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/5a3d9e3b-bfbd-46de-9edb-e81d5f6c204e_1.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Chef Jorge Mendez at Mōdan<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div><p>His maiden menu was an homage to the people who inspired him, but most especially his mother who taught him to love Japanese cuisine. A show band singer who cooked a lot of Japanese food for the family when she was home. Miso soup and tempura were the very first Japanese dishes she made him try, and this memory translates later into the first course of his Ode menu: a miso-inspired taro cream and onion soup served in tandem with beef tendon tempura on a skewer, its deep-fried crispness hiding a deliciously gelatinous interior. </p><div><br/></div><p>Every single dish that follows is pays homage to a significant person in Chef Jorge’s life. For his wife, for example, he creates an unconventional takoyaki, a delicate combination of savry and sweet, made with octopus (instead of crab), corn mousse filling, topped with ikura or salmon roe. “My wife loves takoyaki but I don’t eat it, so I made a version both of us can enjoy,” he explains.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/ff8411ca-a1eb-4af0-a79e-c0204fc5e26d_2.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The soup course (left) pairs tendon tempura and onion tea with taro foam, and a snack of Takoyaki (right)<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div><p>If his Ode menu was a dedication to the people who inspired his early forays as a chef, Jorge’s second menu takes inspiration from the orizuru or crane, the traditional figure in Japanese origami which represents personal bonding time with his mother and with his son. “A constant in my life,” says Chef Jorge, recounting how he would make origami cranes with his son during the pandemic lockdown. </p><div><br/></div><p>The result is yet another personal and delightfully imaginative menu, and one that’s every bit as stellar as his inaugural menu. </p><div><br/></div><p>The dishes take inspiration from the different “parts” of the crane. The first course, for example, is built on the idea of the “beak.” Just as in his Ode menu, this is a tandem of two dishes: a kinoki dash broth on corn foam dusted with mushroom caramel, paired with a fried fish lip tempura in beer batter, glazed with miso caramel sauce, generously topped with grated cured egg yolk. </p><div><br/></div><p>The second course, from the crane’s “liver,” is foie gras sandwiched in melt-in-your-mouth mille feuille with crispy nori, and maple and schichimi sauce. The crane’s “head” becomes a cold somen dish that’s served on ice, with ebi chawanmushi in prawn head cream broth, and ebi carpaccio with lime and cream caramel dressing. </p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/3dfaff9e-73ff-4b94-8175-d98c9effa9cd_3.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Nabe is claypot rice  with Wagyu shortribs and unagi<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div><p>Some dishes from the Ode menu are such hits that they remain, including the tebasaki, which now evolves into a crane’s wing. This is really chicken wing with shoyuzuke egg yolk. </p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/e82e69df-b501-4e68-9f6e-8cf795338676__11a7817.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Debasaki is a play on the chicken and the egg<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div><p>Just as in his inaugural menu, Chef Jorge’s Origami menu is a highly personal, sensorial flavor journey, with every dish eliciting oohs and aahs galore. It’s very conceptual, a delicious story that reveals itself on the palate one delicious spoonful at a time. </p><div><br/></div><p>Chef Jorge himself is a man of few words. He expresses himself on the plate in a dinner that is an art form. With such a successful opening, he knew Mōdan had to meet high expectations with its second menu, and he has hurdled the test with flying colors. </p><div><br/></div><p>We are now waiting with bated breath for what’s next on his repertoire. </p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/19bc07df-0d13-46c1-8d24-f42186a94f43_modan thumbnail.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Mōdan&#x27;s minimalist interiors <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div>undefined<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/3c6ba4cc-9384-465d-9a2c-f8f7f5270e23__11a7923.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Jorge Mendez and his team<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><em> Paola Aseron  </em></span></span></span></span></div><div><strong>Related Story: </strong><a href="/food/restaurants/kugita-sushi-seafood-grill-moalboal/35771" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KUGITA: Moalboal&#x27;s Best Sushi, Seafood, and Grill</a></div><div><em><strong>Modan</strong> seats 12 guests per night on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Please reserve in advance.  IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/modan.mnl/" target="_blank">@modan.mnl</a> | Website: <a href="https://modanmnl.ph/" target="_blank">modanmnl.ph</a> | Escalades East Tower, 20th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon CIty. </em></div><div><br/></div>