Filipino adobo, lumpia, pancit captivate Wuhan community through La Mesa restaurant

WUHAN, CHINA - Along the bustling Zilinggongyu Road of Wuchang District in the city of Wuhan stands a restaurant that serves adobo, pancit, lumpia, and just about any Filipino dish that a homesick kababayan craves for.

Cherrie Lou Angeles, 36, established La Mesa Resto Bar with her Chinese husband, Francis, in September 2023 with the goal of bringing Philippine cuisine to this part of China where the preference sways on spicy food.

"There were people who laughed at me and said that I am just wasting my money by opening this restaurant. But how will they know if they don’t try Filipino food, diba?" said Angeles, a native of Bataan province in the Philippines’ Central Luzon region.

More than a year after it opened, La Mesa is now a sought-after restaurant and catering service provider that serves universities, an international school, and private parties of individuals, some of whom would fly all the way to Wuhan to experience La Mesa’s food.

One of La Mesa’s repeat customers is fellow Filipino Rochelle Cayetano, physical education teacher and athletic director of  Wuhan Yangtze International School.

Cayetano, who worked in Beijing for 15 years and in Wuhan for five years, said she was curious to try out the dishes of La Mesa when she heard about it from a friend.

She visited the restaurant and tried the food to check if the restaurant truly serves authentic Filipino dishes. Kare-kare, sisig, and lumpia shanghai became her favorite dishes.

Cayetano also met Angeles and got to know her better.

“I thought it would be a good break if she can cater in some of the tournaments that I host here in Wuhan. The first time she did it, the food and service were excellent. All the kids and coaches love it,” she said.

La Mesa’s client list is not limited to Filipinos.

The restaurant has also served Filipino dishes to Americans, Africans, and Mexicans who love afritada, adobo, empanada, lumpia, and pancit.

“I cannot measure my happiness when they tell me how delicious Filipino food is. My heart swells with pride kasi nakikilala ang pagkain natin ng ibang lahi (because other races get to try our food),” she said.

Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province which is located in the eastern part of central China, has 11 million people and gained worldwide attention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entrepreneurial spirit

Putting up a restaurant in China was not in Angeles’ initial bucketlist of dreams to fulfill.

To her, it was fate and love that brought her to the country.

Angeles’ journey began in Singapore in 2013 where she worked as a waitress after she left the Philippines in search for the proverbial greener pastures.

Angeles graduated with a nursing degree at the Asia Pacific College of Advanced Studies in Balanga, Bataan and dreamed of living and working in Canada.

“The plan was to work in Singapore for a couple of years and then build my career so that I can eventually work in Canada,” she said.

But Angeles realized that she will not be able to afford Singapore’s high living expenses if she works as a nurse.

She then applied for a job as a waitress in a restaurant chain.

“I got paid more when I worked as a waitress in a restaurant plus I also got tips from customers. Kailangan maging praktikal kasi nag-iipon ako (I need to be practical in my financial decisions because I was saving up for Canada) that time,” she said.

While working for the restaurant chain, she met her future husband, Guo Xiaogeng or Francis, who was a chef in one of the branches.

Only two months into the relationship, Francis proposed and the couple soon married. They welcomed their firstborn daughter, Francheska Mae, in 2014.

The family left Singapore in May 2015 to live in Fujian province, her husband’s hometown.

Living in a rural town in Fujian, however, did not sit well with Angeles who was used to working and earning her own money.

In June 2015, she set up her travel agency, CLA Travel and Tours.

The travel agency became her platform to introduce Chinese tourists to the beauty of Philippine destinations such as Cebu, Palawan, and Boracay.

In September 2015, the family moved to Wuhan after Angeles landed a job as an English teacher while her husband worked for a marketing company.

It was Angeles’ first foray into the world of teaching and just like any determined and passionate Filipino, she excelled in her job and gained the trust and respect of her colleagues and students.

“It is going to be my tenth year in the teaching job. I kept on teaching even when I opened my restaurant. I am so grateful. They did not want to let me go,” she said.

Never surrender

Growing up, Angeles was never the one to be seen in the kitchen.

“But I have the taste buds for good food and I like watching cooking videos,” she said, naming Chef RV Manabat and Chef Vanjo Merano of Panlasang Pinoy as her favorite online channels.

Living and working in Wuhan, Angeles later noticed that there is a growing number of Filipinos in the city who mostly work as teachers and musicians.

But there were no Filipino restaurants in this part of China.

Angeles then thought about building a restaurant in 2019 but she knew she had to save up money for a major endeavor.

But the COVID-19 pandemic happened and the plan to set up La Mesa was pushed back.

In 2022, she revisited her restaurant plans.

She has been unstoppable since then.

Armed with her savings of RMB 100,000 – which is around P800,000 – Angeles signed a two-year contract to rent a former real estate office in Wuchang District.

The space did not have a working space for cooking so she worked with a local contractor to build a kitchen on the second floor.

She visited factories to look for furniture sets that are functional and aesthetically pleasing without going over the set budget.

Her parents, Lauro and Vicenta, were present to witness their daughter open her first restaurant in September 2023.

They even helped in kitchen duties.

Angeles said it was a milestone for their family to bring her parents to her second home.

It was a way for her to show them that she is making a mark in a foreign country while building her own family.

Spreading the word

In the first month they opened, Angeles said they were supported by the Filipino community in Wuhan.

But they also struggled to get the word out to the locals so they would sell their dishes for a promotional price that ranged between RMB 19 to 29 (Php 152 to 232).

Her husband, a trained chef, was against the pricing as he knows the ingredients and labor involved in bringing a dish from kitchen to table.

“But we were new to the market. We needed to create a buzz so I made that decision,” said Angeles.

The strategy worked and the couple went from serving Filipinos to locals and other foreigners.

They worked long hours in fulfilling one order after another and by December 2023, three months into operating La Mesa, they started their catering service.

“I get pieces of advice from restaurant owners themselves. They are generous in sharing their experiences and wisdom. Hindi sila madamot (They are not greedy),” she said.

These restaurant owners, who are from different nationalities, taught her to innovate constantly by offering new dishes and listening to the comments of customers.

Angeles dreamed even bigger: to expand the business to other areas in China.

“We were just serving Wuhan then. I thought about servicing the entire China. That way, Filipino food can reach the farthest areas and provinces. I am sure that they will love our food,” said Angeles.

Before 2023 ended, the couple launched their frozen goods line starting with longganisa, tocino, and tapa.

China’s extensive, efficient, and fast shipping network also laid the backbone for the success of the delivery of La Mesa’s dishes.

If a customer in China’s capital city of Beijing wants crispy pata from La Mesa, the order can be delivered to the customer’s address within 24 hours.

Paskong Pinoy

Angeles said some of the restaurant offerings were created because of the cravings of pregnant Filipino women who are based in Wuhan with their Chinese husbands.

“The pregnant women craved puto, kutsinta. Hindi ako makatanggi (I cannot refuse their requests) because I was also pregnant with my second daughter. I know the feeling!” said Angeles, who gave birth to her second daughter, Franchelsea Lou, in October 2024.

In running La Mesa, Angeles learned that listening to the customers is good for business.

“Before we would fry the potatoes separately and then add them to the adobo in the end. Our customers told us that we should boil the potatoes with the adobo because it’s more savory that way,” she said.

“Ang sarap ng pakiramdam (It’s such a wonderful feeling) when I meet Filipinos who say ‘Hay salamat! Nakakain na rin ako sa wakas ng pagkaing Pinoy (Thank you! We finally had our fill of Filipino food),” Angeles added.

The couple is now busy accepting orders for the Christmas season.

The mission is to bring the Filipino Christmas spirit into the homes of anyone who orders food from La Mesa.

In the Christmas food order list are the festive season staples of lechon belly, embutido, sisig, kare-kare, pancit guisado, chicken inasal, spaghetti, and adobo.

The dessert list is also growing with fruit salad, buko salad, buko pandan salad, mango graham cake, lechen flan, and maja blanca.

A Christmas buffet dinner is being set up on December 25 for only RMB 108 (Php 864) to anyone who goes to the restaurant.

To Angeles, operating a business that serves Filipino food in a foreign country involves tenacity, grit, and the never-surrender spirit.

“Hindi pwede ang gu-mive up. Go lang. Move forward kahit may mga criticisms. At kailangan marunong kang makisama kasi sa business na 'to, iba’t ibang klase’ng tao ang ma-mi-meet mo. Kailangan marunong kang magpakumbaba at makinig para kaagad ma-resolve kung ano man ang problema,” she said.

(Never give up. Just go. Move forward despite the criticisms. You also need to know how to go along with others because in this business, you will meet different kinds of people. You have to know how to be humble and to listen so you can immediately provide solutions to problems.)

For fellow Filipinos like Cayetano, the hope is for La Mesa to flourish so more people in this part of the world can enjoy the satisfaction and comfort that Filipino food brings.

“I am really praying that it will thrive. Cherrie is very hardworking even when she gave birth she was on top of everything. If you go to her restaurant, she is there. She takes time to talk to you. La Mesa’s service is very personalized. It’s very Filipino,” said Cayetano. — BAP, GMA Integrated News