BY JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
With its newly opened pickleball court, indoor kids’ playground that comes complete with bump cars, jaw-dropping cinema, and a plethora of dining and shopping options to choose from, SM City Sta. Mesa is no longer the SM Centerpoint of your youth. It’s even better.
In fact, SM City Sta. Mesa — aka SM Centerpoint for those of a certain age — can be a case study on how a mall can evolve and improve with the times, without losing its spirit.
And while the former hangout place for not a few millennial teenagers and kolehiyalas may have gotten a facelift in the past few years, it remains true to being a family-friendly mall where good food, shopping finds and fun activities converge under one roof.
Jay Arañas, AVP for marketing for SM central malls, told us during our recent visit that “Certain improvements have been made to cater to the market of today, as you can see when we go around the mall. It’s not just about shopping or dining but giving our customers and their friends and families more enjoyable experiences that fall in line with their preferences.”
And this we saw for ourselves as our merry group, led by passionate shopper and SM Supermalls VP Grace Magno, spent an entire day “malling” in this neck of the woods.
Food for thought
To start, we enjoyed some good old comfort food from the Bistro Group’s Italianni’s and Modern Shang restaurants. These included their perfectly seasoned pork ribs, paired with Yang chow fried rice, among other dishes. A delicious serving of sauteed water spinach and broccoli also proved that it wasn’t only a treat for its taste – but also for kind of clearing our conscience after feasting on a plethora of indulgent Chinese dishes. Kind of.
Parmesan fish fillet from Italianni’s and Deep-fried pork ribs from Modern Shang
Over at Italianni’s the Caesar salad and the parmesan fish fillet did not disappoint. But even more interesting were the beverages it now served, including the picture-perfect four seasons mango juice and iced caramel macchiato — both offering a respite from the growing summer heat.
Equally exciting was the Binondo Food Group’s Singaporean-Cantonese fare at Wangfu, plus its cool new import, ice cream shop Udders. During our visit, we caught up with the 25 year-old scion of the group, Luigi Pimentel, whose father — film and commercial director Lester Pimentel Ong — popularized food brands such as Rice in a Box and more recently, KyuKyu Ramen.
“We’ve always kept our focus on bringing our customers delicious food in more casual settings,” said Luigi, as plates of Wangfu’s Hainanese chicken, salted egg shrimp and even mango fish — among many others — were served on our table, for a “light snack.”
And while Luigi and this writer may define “light snack” quite differently, what we do agree on is good food. Each dish served at Wangfu delivered in terms of freshness, flavor and even presentation. The salted egg shrimp and Hainanese chicken, along with the mango fish are must-haves, and can very well hold their own against similar dishes in many high-brow, specialty restaurants. To top it all off, we had scoopfuls of Udders, which serves ice cream so creamy and milky, it’d make any mama cow proud.
Everything, everywhere, everyone
Having eaten so much in so little time, we took pleasure in taking a stroll around the mall to burn some calories. And that we did by riding bump cars at the expansive Fantasy World and taking shopping breaks at the SM Department Store and boutiques — which now include a Jo Malone booth, mind you — before eventually plopping down on some of the plush, reclining seats of the gorgeous cinema.
More recently, the mall also opened a pickleball court on the rooftop of SM City Sta.Mesa, which enables players of this rising sport to enjoy a game or two, while soaking in the sights of the metro’s skyline. I earmarked this activity for my next visit, making a mental note to do it before — and not after — bingeing on some good food.
In the end, we capped off our mall day with a rather “millennial” activity — picture-taking at Old Moon, a photo studio designed to give you that pastel-perfect K-drama glow in your pictures.
And with this perfect cross between a Neoprint — ’90s kids, raise your hands — and a Polaroid shot, we immortalized that one fine day in SM Sta. Mesa.
