Asya, Eton Centris - Longing for Roti Canai

The first time I was at Asya, I was surrounded by accomplished men and women, 10 to 40 years my senior. Imagine how quiet and polite I was, and perhaps uncomfortable. I had so much to say but very little to show for it, so they all stayed in my head. To appease myself, I kept reaching out to my plate of Roti Canai and drowned my anxieties in curry dip.

I loved that Roti Canai. It was my shield and my ally. And as one of the eldest in the room pointed out, he always ordered Asya's Roti Canai as well.

That Roti Canai pulled me back to Asya with C. I knew he would love it. I can almost feel the greasiness on my fingers and taste the raciness of the dip. Alas, when we sank into our chairs and perused the menu, we couldn't find Roti Canai. I panicked a little.

We asked the server if they no longer have Roti Canai. She said she'll ask the kitchen if they had any. They had none. And that was when sadness filled the room. According to her, they no longer have Roti Canai on the menu, but every now and then still offer some. That late afternoon, however, none were cooked/prepared.

From then on, I met each dish with inhibition. If something as good as Roti Canai was decidedly taken out of the selection, what kind of dishes would the same mind offer instead? My doubts were slightly dispelled when Texas Roll's description caught my eye. The medley of tuna, kani, chili oil and cream cheese was just too inviting. And, hoping to the surrounding lifelike chairheads that it tastes half as good, we ordered it.

It was the best on the table. The topping was rich with flavors and different textures, and a great complement to the sticky rice it sat on. Each bite will draw you in for more. A full stomach will be your only escape, which won't be too easy since Asya is pretty generous with the number of rolls per order. With eight pieces for Php 205, I can't complain. I would still however order the now-defunct Roti Canai over this. Or perhaps with it.

Getting Chicken Pandan (Php 275) is like saying, "I can't think of anything else to order." It is never more interesting than average, but no half-decent restaurant gets it wrong either. And that is what makes it safe. Asya's chicken pandan is no different. If you really just want to fill your stomach with no fuss, then go for it. We weren't able to finish this, by the way. There were a couple of pieces we ended up bringing home.

Grilled Cream Dory (Php 250) was the wild card, especially because I'm not a fan of cream dory. This is still a rational choice, though, because, how can you fail with inihaw na isda?

Asya's grilled selection came with several sauce options, and we decided to go for the Visayan kind. What's a Visayan sauce? That we had to ask. Apparently, that's what you call the basic mix of soy sauce, vinegar and onion, which is more popularly consumed with pork liempo. How could I have reached this age without knowing? I didn't think this simple amalgamation of condiments even had a name.

The meal wasn't so bad but it was also not exceptional. The Texas Roll pulled up the overall standard to "okay". We left Asya with a full stomach and one wish: that they bring back the Roti Canai.

Visit Asya's website at http://www.asya.com.ph for their menu.