{"id":370261,"date":"2022-06-14T06:04:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T20:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=370261"},"modified":"2022-06-14T06:04:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T20:04:32","slug":"la-mesa-kusina-opens-in-ck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/la-mesa-kusina-opens-in-ck\/","title":{"rendered":"La Mesa Kusina opens in CK"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Adobong Barbacoa and Chicken Soft Tacos.(MARK RABAGO)
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Saipan was an important port-stop in the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade so it just made sense that a Filipino-Mexican restaurant finally opened on the island. It\u2019s against this backdrop that Clint Albert of Eats Easy and John Saludez launched La Mesa Kusina last May 28.<\/p>\n

Albert said La Mesa Kusina is a Filipino-Mexican fusion restaurant that draws inspiration more on the Filipino side but with Mexican-style cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s casual dining but with fast food branding. It\u2019s called La Mesa because it means \u2018table\u2019 in Spanish, Filipino, and even Chamorro. The same with Kusina, which is obviously kitchen with a \u2018C\u2019 in Spanish and Chamorro and \u2018K\u2019 in Filipino. So, it\u2019s basically a kitchen-to-table food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re not shy about explaining the heavy Filipino influence in their cooking even to a recent Mexican tourist.
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La Mesa Kusina\u2019s Elotes. (MARK RABAGO)
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\u201cA legit Mexican lady came in and we told her \u2018we\u2019re more Filipino-inspired than Mexican so don\u2019t get us wrong,\u2019 but we were kind of scared. \u2026But she liked the idea of changing it a little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Saludez, a known food vlogger, said that partnering with Eats Easy was a no-brainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [Albert and Marco Santiago] have been in the food industry here for two to three years already. At the start\u2026Clint [and I] were thinking what kind of restaurant should we open and Clint asked me why not Filipino and he also asked why not Mexican and I said, \u2018Por qu\u00e9 no los dos\u2019 (Why not both)?\u201d
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Hefe Dave\u2019s Chicken Nachos. (MARK RABAGO)
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Having grown up in Sacramento, California, both Filipino and Mexican cuisine were always a big thing so it wasn\u2019t hard to convince him to open a Filipino-Mexican restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting great reception from the Saipan community. We really feel the love, especially from our neighbors from Mount Carmel to offices and establishments around Chalan Kanoa,\u201d said Saludez.<\/p>\n

Albert couldn\u2019t agree more, adding that they were fortunate to have such a prime spot for La Mesa Kusina right in the middle of Chalan Kanoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a nice location and I told John, \u2018Let\u2019s do something here,\u2019 when this location near Mt. Carmel Cathedral opened up. The market here is residential, with people from the south and students from all over the schools around.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, La Mesa Kusina\u2019s bestsellers are the ones recommended in the menu by its mascot, Hefe Dave. These are Fajita Tapa, Manong\u2019s Cheesy Corn, Elotes, and churros for dessert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Albert said La Mesa Kusina is still evolving and would love to get customers\u2019 feedback all the time. They\u2019re also very active on social media and thanked everyone who have so far re-shared their posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should try La Mesa Kusina. Let us know how it is. Give us a thumbs up or thumbs down. We are open to any suggestion and comments as well. We\u2019re happy to have everyone here and everyone\u2019s welcome,\u201d Albert said.<\/p>\n

La Mesa Kusina is located beside CK Internet & Computer Shop, a stone\u2019s throw away from the Archdiocese of Chalan Kanoa. It is open Monday-Saturday, from 11am to 10pm with last call at 9:30pm and can comfortably seat 28 patrons. For more information or for reservations, call (670) 234-6372.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saipan was an important port-stop in the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade so it just made sense…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":370266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3601],"class_list":["post-370261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-ck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}