Nomnomnom and the Accidentally Virgin Mojito

Nomnomnom Happy Food moved to this building in Scout Madriñan and Tomas Morato from their E. Rodriguez location almost a year ago. It's a newer and prettier building. The one before had an aura of neglect worthy of Miss Havisham and the comfort rooms had a seedy abortion clinic vibe.

Pos Building, Scout Madriñan corner Morato, Quezon City

The store itself has changed too. The interiors are a bit more polished. Photos in blue wooden frames hang on one wall. Another features découpage that transforms a pillar into the trunk of a tree complete with two birdhouses. From across the room it looks like wallpaper but a closer look reveals it is made of yellowing pages torn from books.  And the air was colder thanks to two split-type units. Or the fact that we were the only guests they had.

Découpage, yes. Torn books, no.

Apart from the staff, no one was there when we walked in. At the old place, I had never once walked into a deserted Nomnom at dinnertime. Bad sign. Also, they did not serve the vegetarian calzones anymore. I settled for the tinapasta instead. I was happy with the pesto itself but the penne was a trifle overcooked. 

The tinapasta at Nomnomnom

I was glad to still see the macarons on the menu but as my mouth was still permeated with the pesto, I decided to pass up on dessert. My dinner companion, however, decided on a liquid dessert in the form of a mojito. The waitress helpfully informed us they also served mojitos in pitchers amounting to 3-4 glasses but, since I was abstaining, she got the single serving which looked like this:

Nomnomnom's actual mojito. Compare this to the mojito they promoted on Facebook in 21 April

After the first sip, she said she could not taste any of the rum so she asked if they could add just a little bit more. She handed her glass to the waitress who took it to the kitchen. She came back with the same glass and said that half a jigger of rum (about 0.75 oz) was already in the drink to which my friend said, "But I don't taste any rum, just a whole lot of minty Sprite." She again took the drink back to the kitchen and told us that they had added more rum to the drink. Again, my friend said she still could not detect any discernible increase in rum. More to-ing and fro-ing until I suggested she just abandon the mojito. My friend told the waitress she was returning the drink. More to-ing and fro-ing until the poor waitress sheepishly came back and said the kitchen did not have enough rum to fix her another mojito. 

"So what were you going to put in the pitcher of mojitos you told us about if we had ordered that?,¨ I finally asked. More sheepish smiling. It was exasperating. "Couldn't you just go to 7-11 and buy rum?"

Well, eventually, someone did go out and buy rum. The place was in Morato afterall, where liquor abounded. They fixed the drink, putting in an amount of alcohol which if popular mojito recipes are to be followed contain 1.5 oz of white rum.

I don't think this experience made me happy. But I know it did make me nostalgic about the old place.