Asian fusion indeed borrowing heavily from east Asia, with an emphasis on filipino. I regret to inform those looking for a home cooked meal, this will not get those core memories stimulated. The food at Reyna leaves much to be desired and still leaves people hungry at the end.
We came in for a dinner for four and it is a must to reserve ahead as the limited seating almost guarantees you will not get a walk in. Our host was Andre as I recall was polite and provided insight on the menu. It must be noted that they do not have an English menu and must fend for yourself when selecting or translating your fare. Our host did try to guide us to the most popular dishes they served which for the most part made up for this lack of an English menu despite the targeted audience for this food being in all honesty, not meant for filipinos. In fact nothing really reminds you that this food is for filipinos except the names that some of the dishes borrow. We started with the kare kare, lechon half head, and the sisig. The kare kare was separated chunks of chewy beef chunks on a bed of peanut sauce. It comes with a separate dish of yellow rice that they tell you to mix into the adjoining bowl. Though the rice and the meat in sauce has elements of kare kare, after mixing and tasting the dish turns into a meat kabab with rice with a hint of peanut butter to barely qualify as kare kare. I have seen all sorts of deconstructed kare kare and this one takes the top trophy, but leaves much to be desired despite the well cooked portions of beef and the one note sauce. Next up was the sisig which truthfully was the closest to filipino as it gets. The pork and skin was cooked well, savory and comes with accompanying atcha which when eaten masks, not enhances the pork flavor. The sauce altogether for this dish comes off a little on the sweet side which left me puzzled. Again the presentation was top notch, the texture present as required of sisig, but ultimately left me wanting more. Portion size not withstanding this dish in no way reminded me of home. The last piece presented was the half pig head, lechon. Again aside from the presentation as it comes as a half roasted pighead with a knife sticking out of it, comes as another glamours reminder that this dish is not filipino. Even the accompanying dip reminded me more of a chimichurri sauce that was suffocated under olive oil. Why you would pair an already fatty oily dish with an oil soaked dip is beyond me. Yes the dish was crunchy, the skin almost like biting into pork rinds, but the meat, even the fat was relatively tasteless. To be fair the only taste left in my mouth was oil and fat which honestly was unimpressive. Not even a sufficient hint of lemongrass as most filipinos would want was in the meat, aside from appearing as a filipino dish, it does not taste so. Like a lot of the dishes presented here, it borrows from the filipino palate, but unfortunately despite the glitz and the awe factor, it fails to deliver the flavors of home. Not to detract from its intended audience, many I'm sure in Paris would love to try this food, it is still executed well, and there is some flavor, but it does not warrant what I call an iconic level of following. I would try again, but only if the menu changes and it often does I hear, because to me once you drill down to the essentials of ingredients, flavor, and its ability to evoke memories of home, I would say this location is a one trick pony. As an aside for the drinks, they lean heavily to wine, which many of my constituents don't have much of a background in, and their alternatives, fusion herbal soda, and natural cola are all manufactured here in France. Nothing in the drink menu even remotely resembles Philippines. In summary, the dishes at Reyna, though executed well, and posses a wow factor, once it's in your mouth will fail to deliver that feeling on home cooking. Even the atmosphere reminds you of the crowded subway tunnels of Paris. If you have read this far then I thank you for your consideration as always. read more