The line: "Me love you long time" came from Stanley Kubrick's iconic film called Full Metal Jacket, which was released in the 90's. This film was what the owners of the restaurant of its namesake had in mind when they started the venture. The interiors feature a makeshift downtown cafe akin to the ones found in Ho Chi Minh, complete with the street signs and all. The restaurant began in a food park, then moved to a secluded spot in Tomas Morato.
The street signs of different countries.
The iconic line from Full Metal Jacket
The food features an array of Southeast Asian favorites. We were able to try a good number of their menu items, plus their dessert. The dish range from 200-300 pesos per dish. I'd say that the serving size and the taste were sufficient for the price.
We tried the Thai Papaya Salad. This was a mix of green papaya, cucumber, onions, lettuce and vinegar rolled into a salad. This reminded me of our own pickled vegetables called atchara; hence, the taste was not so unique as I expected it to be. Nevertheless, it was still palatable.
The Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Wings were a tad salty and spicy at the same time. I appreciated the spiciness; yet I preferred a lesser degree of saltiness. To me, the overall taste was ruined by the excess salt. It was still tender, though.
The Fresh Spring Rolls were composed of shrimp, bacon, lettuce, and cilantro with a vegetable filling wrapped in a thin dumpling wrapper. It came with peanut sauce. The silantro was quite overpowering due to the quantity, yet it gave a minty flavor to the dish. The peanut sauce added consistency and texture to a light dish.
The Thai Tom Yum was a steaming hot sweet and sour soup were large prawns were boiled. The sauce was mixed with coconut milk for that peppery taste. While the dish servings were not so large, I still liked the broth for the spicy/sour mix.
The Cebuano Ngo Hiong was Southern Philippine Specialty. There were fried spring rolls with leeks and other vegetable fillings. It was served hot and came with a tangy vinegar sauce. It had a bitter, salty taste.
My favorite for the night, the Chicken Satay, came with a generous helping of Sweet Peanut Sauce. The satay was grilled to a golden brown color. The meat was soft and tender, plus the sauce gave it a lot of flavor. The excessive peanut sauce was forgivable due to the excellent mix of tastes.
We also had the Indonesian Chicken Curry, which was a generously topped serving of chicken with curry sauce plus a few extra ingredients such as colored noodles, eggs, peppers, and bay leaf. The taste was similar to one I usually have at home. I must commend them for making it taste homey.
The entire array of the dishes
We also had the Beef Rendang. This was a very underwhelming dish due to the scant quantity of beef and excess amounts of potatoes. I must say that it tasted well even if the quantity was disappointing. It had a fiery kick due to the fresh chili slices on top.
The wall motifs of Vietnam
Another shot.
For dessert, we had their sticky rice with mango. It reminded me of Kakanin due to the way the rice was prepared. The mango served to accentuate the familar flavor of smoked rice.
We also had their Turon Ala Mode, a mix of fried banana rolls and their homemade basil ice cream. I must say that this was the better dessert since I loved bananas and ice cream. The sweet and light basil flavor was complemented by the strong banana touch.
Me Love You Long Time has a wonderful variety of Asian dishes; but I hope that the restaurant can perform better. There is a lot of potential in their food; yet their offerings need much more improvement.
The restaurant is located at Second Floor, POs Building, Tomas Morato Avenue Corner Scout Madriñan Street, Tomas Morato, Quezon City.
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