I’d brave traffic for Kumba
Kumba is the newly opened restaurant of Tina Legarda in BF Homes in Parañaque. It’s a place I don’t like traveling to from my home far away primarily because of the traffic, especially if I go there for lunch or dinner. But I would make an exception for Tina’s new restaurant, as I did twice for her other restaurant, Bamba Bistro!
Kumba is barely two months old, yet it is already on the Manila food scene’s radar. I really enjoy her creative cooking!
Kumba is from the Tagalog word mapagkumbaba meaning humble. It is from the Latin word “humus” meaning “the earth, the ground” and “Kumba” could mean modest or recognizing and appreciating value or welcome.
Tina named Kumba as such because, “in every season in our lives we find new reasons to remain humble — even in cooking.” Her very creative menu is dedicated to her noodle-loving daughter, whose presence in her life has “grounded me in all kinds of ways.”
One can imagine how imaginative this talented chef is, based on what she prepares as she has the innate talent of putting things together that just work.
Starters at Kumba include Tamarind Chicken Inasal with whipped chicken liver and topped with crispy chicken skin served with sukang pinya (delicious homemade pineapple vinegar) on the side; Cuapao ni Cristina, her version with pulled pork asado, garlic cream sauce, pickled mustasa (mustard leaves), peanuts and chicharon (pork crackling); Grilled Broccoli Salad with date and anchovy sauce and a blue cheese tzatziki sprinkled with cashews; Kataifi stuffed with feta and served with an arugula salad drizzled with a guava-basil vinaigrette and crushed pistachio nuts; and Dan Dan Dumplings stuffed with duck and shiitake mushrooms served with a spicy satay sauce with Mandarin ponzu (citrus based Japanese soy sauce) and pickled radish.
For the mains, Tina created Crab and Scallop Omelette on top of garlic-coconut rice served with the Thai sauce Nam Jim Jaew; Bistek Short Ribs with a curry-onion sauce topped with Asian gremolata (a parsley, lemon, and garlic sauce) with labuyo (bird’s eye chili) sambal on the side; crowd favorite Unagi Kabayaki is a rice bowl shiitake mushrooms, bacon and roasted bone marrow with whipped scallions; Steamed Grouper (local lapu lapu) with clams, ginger sauce, leek oil, and crispy shallots; and my favorite — Black Pepper Crab Noodles with garlic butter cereal and coriander.
Some of her off-menu dishes are P.S. I’m Vegan — a vegan dish of seared slices of eggplant and banana served with a pineapple coconut Sauce, Asian romesco (Catalonian tomato-based sauce), crispy shallots and scallion fried rice and another crowd favorite — Thanh Long Kha — poached mussels in green curry sauce, chili oil with garlic noodles and garlic coconut crumble.
Tina says this is a simple menu but the most “genuine” she’s ever done and she wanted to share this with others. Everyone is glad that she is sharing the delicious dishes she creates.
(Kumba is located at 92 Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Parañaque City. They are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 12 noon to 9pm. Call or message (0995) 1062879 for inquiries or reservations.)
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