A kitchen that whips up Mexican dishes is usually the place where you see a habanero, a taco, and a cob of corn together, but when you meet Charles Montañez, you’d realize they can also congregate as a tattoo sleeve.

In fact, even if he won’t say it directly, this millennial chef wears his heart on his sleeve. “We go way back,” he describes his personal relationship with the country’s cuisine. “When I was young, my mom would make these hard shell tacos that you would get from the grocery, [then] fill them up with ground meat and cheese. I used to eat that a lot for merienda.”

Montañez’s love, however, doesn’t thrive in nostalgia alone. “Of course, that’s not authentic Mexican cuisine, but it kind of stuck with me. By the time I made cooking as a profession, it was natural for me to be curious about Mexican cuisine. Then, I was mentored by a Latino. He was part Mexican and Puerto Rican. On the surface, I learned French and Spanish cuisine, but it was my time to explore the style that I would stick with. It was naturally South American cuisine because I was very curious [about] their ingredients, their way of cooking, the traditions, and the discipline.”

After all, also inked on his skin is “Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta”—traditionally an endearment, but in this lexicon, means a place where Montañez wears the head chef hat.

Vivid energy from day to night

Located in Forbes Town, Taguig, entering Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta feels like prompting a glitch in the matrix. Suddenly, it’s Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and you’re ready to clink glasses with people you don’t know. The quintessential feast begins with the first floor’s open bar showcasing a massive collection of agave spirits, with high stools and intimate lighting setting the liquid courage-like mood.

Then, the vibe shifts upon reaching the second floor sans the jarring feeling. It’s cozier, more group-friendly, and spacious, but still not letting go of the festive mood, thanks to the catrina figurines, calaveras, and colors that subtly bow to the Mexican flag. While it may be easy to feel overwhelmed with all the motifs, it’s actually easier to keep your line of sight focused, with peculiar pieces that’ll catch your attention: a huge sun-designed ceiling mirror. Potted plants that seem to levitate in between floors. Textured walls with hand paint-like details. These elements get even louder with the crowd that the restaurant has managed to attract despite unveiling its doors only in December 2024.

“Mondays here feel like a weekend,” Montañez describes their visitors—usually young professionals having fun, and on Sundays, a lot of families. “We do a very wide range of demographic[…] I think Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta is supposed to be for everyone.”

This extensive list of guests to feed calls for an enticing roster of choices. “We have a very wide range of tequila and mezcals. I would assume we have the biggest, like in Manila, we have 300 bottles sitting on the bar, and with the vibe, we [have] DJs from Tuesdays to Sundays just to set the tone, the atmosphere, and the experience that you would get here,” he says. From the earthy salsa macha to the creamy salsa blanca, Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta also houses more than 20 salsas and sauces not only for customers’ experimentation but also to align with their spice or sourness tolerance.

“Both [the Philippines and Mexico] are colonized by the Spanish, so we may share a very identical palate to the Mexicans. There’s a lot of similarities, not just with culture, but [with] our preferences in terms of flavor. And you’d be surprised how some traditional dishes are actually the same in terms of procedure, just different in ingredients, maybe because ’yung access lang sa produce is different,” Montañez says.“But there are at least 80 percent of dishes that are actually the same.”

“I didn’t know the Filipino market [will] be in a Mexican restaurant multiple times a week. We’ve been getting a lot of returning guests and regular customers. We were able to build our network of regular customers in a span of five months, and I would see a lot of people come here three times a week,” says Charles Montañez

In 2022, the Philippines ranked second among countries that enjoy Mexican food. But despite some similarities, he didn’t exactly have high expectations. 

“I didn’t know the Filipino market [will] be in a Mexican restaurant multiple times a week. We’ve been getting a lot of returning guests and regular customers. We were able to build our network of regular customers in a span of five months, and I would see a lot of people come here three times a week.”

Securing familiar faces—in the earliest months to boot—is a good sign of future staying power. And if you look close enough, some of them might even be wearing sombreros, their accidental badge of membership.

Not the actual wide-brimmed one, but a smaller version that comes with their signature El Chapo cocktail. “It’s funny[…] Initially, we were pissed because people were bringing them home,” Montañez admits. “Then, when we updated the menu, we just started adding the cost to the price.”

“Now, people can bring it home. And hindi siya sadya, but it became a marketing thing because we would see people going to their other plans in the night. For example, I would go to another place after coming to Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta, but they [still] wear the sombrero. It’s actually well spread out in BGC already,” he fondly recounts. “I would see people in my Instagram Stories or my feed—say, [they’d go to] Dr. Wine (which co-owns Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta) after [and] someone is already wearing that.”

Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta, a tenant of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, also gets help from the real estate company in going with the demands’ flow. “For a business that operates at such a high pace, maintenance is important and [Megaworld is] reliable”

Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta, a tenant of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, also gets help from the real estate company in going with the demands’ flow. “For a business that operates at such a high pace, maintenance is important and [Megaworld is] reliable. Their marketing team is supportive and always gets us involved in their initiatives. They also do consistent rounds on checking with everyone, inquiring if there are things we need and want to do. These little details matter as we feel that we picked the right location and property to do our business,” Montañez says.

Tradition meets modernity

Montañez has a stellar culinary career and multiple cuisines under his belt, but the Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta experience becomes special through his “work with foreigners.”

“I learn a lot from them. We have partners here that are actually Mexicans living in Manila, so they’re the ones approving the dishes we’ve been developing. So not just with the food, but in terms of running a restaurant.”

In a previous F&B Report interview, Montañez shared that tacos were one of the dishes he prepared for the partners prior to joining the team as the kitchen’s helmer.

Tacos have been a hit in the Philippines in recent years, integrating themselves in buzzy after-hours, office lunch-outs, or as one’s first foray into DIY snack-making. But what makes Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta’s stand out? “We don’t overthink our approach in creating tacos. We’re very traditional. We try to play with a little curveball here and there, but we maintain a certain level because we want to be very respectful with the traditions of how you create tacos properly.”

“We don’t overthink our approach in creating tacos. We’re very traditional. We try to play with a little curveball here and there, but we maintain a certain level because we want to be very respectful with the traditions of how you create tacos properly”

In the restaurant’s taco department, the Baja Fish—a combination of fried fish, chipotle frijoles, cilantro crema, and pineapple salsa sprinkled with pickled cabbage—is an instant tummy-filler, with hints of saltiness, sourness, and sweetness dancing on your tongue. 

Want a stronger kick? The camarones en salsa macha is packed with smoky and spicy layers. Not to mention, it’s also balanced with a nutty taste, making the grilled tiger prawns an exciting addition to your table.

If this doesn’t convince you about Mexican seafood’s magnitude, wait until you try the pescado a la talla, their only spice-infused option under “Platos.” Its fish is butterflied, which is a process of filleting, except the backbone is completely removed. It’s one half citrus arbol, one half jalapeño salsa. You don’t have to choose one for every bite because combining both for a spoonful is where fulfillment lies. As a Filipino, the temptation to pair it with rice was real—or anything, really, that could make the experience even more satisfying.

Even non-cheese apologists would rave about the chorizo queso fundido for days on end. The gooey cheese fondue stuffed with Mexican chorizo, salsa fresca, and pickled jalapeño chips are a complete blessing of flavors. It’s an impossible skip in a Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta visit. Solidify the Treat Yourself agenda even more with their soft and fluffy cinnamon-rolled churros with chocolate dip.

Meanwhile, the mushroom guisada quesadillas tick off the qualities of a comfort snack: light and unassuming but fulfilling. Bonus: It’s vegetarian-approved.

“We found ourselves adding more vegetarian dishes because we’ve been getting a lot of vegetarian customers as well. Personally, I like playing around vegetable dishes because they can hold so much flavor, and of course it’s healthy,” Montañez says.

As of April 2025, the menu has been updated four times already to focus on the quality. With the goal of being as authentic as possible, Montañez shares there are no local elements or flavors in the menu.

“We serve honest-to-[goodness] Mexican food and beverage that is very approachable because our aim is to be a neighborhood go-to in the area. A lot of our ingredients and tools were sourced out from Mexico to bring authentic flavors as well as most of the products we put out go through the process of respecting the Mexican culture’s tradition in producing them.”

What might capture this well is the chicken mole, aka the dish Montañez thinks you can order only at Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta. It graces the wood fire grill before becoming that savory and spicy dish that can pull first-time guests.

Starting a fire within

Interestingly, anything that uses the grill is Montañez’s favorite dish to prepare. “There’s something about being able to manipulate the fire to produce food that actually excites me,” he says.

While that can make him look reckless, the more you talk to him, you’d actually think the opposite. Perhaps, instead, that says more about how he likes to take things under control. 

“[It’s] being in pursuit of too much creativity, that you lack balance,” Montañez tells me, when I asked about kitchen lessons he had to unlearn through the years. 

“In my previous restaurant, we played too much. We were in pursuit of too much creativity that it became very complicated. I found Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta to be very mature in the sense that we started cutting down components and ingredients so it’s more pure now, it’s very raw and proper,” Montañez confesses.

Interestingly, anything that uses the grill is Charles Montañez’s favorite dish to prepare. “There’s something about being able to manipulate the fire to produce food that actually excites me,” he says

“There are a lot of Mexican concepts that went into Forbestown already in terms of history, but I think we’re the ones who really found the sweet spot. We’re a very simple Mexican restaurant; we don’t do anything complicated. I don’t think we’re too different from everybody, from everyone else, apart from the fact that we know what’s proper Mexican food and what’s not. We don’t really try to play around.”

Do note, though, that this assertiveness is not in vain. If anything, it aims to make a ripple effect to the customers. “You have to prioritize consistency. Do not do anything you cannot recreate in the exact way. It’s all about consistency because people would always expect the same thing. Once they like something, the minimal changes, they notice. That’s why we don’t do anything complicated. We want to do something that we can keep doing on a daily basis and have fun around it.” Somehow, this matches with the Filipino trait of instantly noticing changes in one’s go-to dish, even if it’s just an extra dab of salt or reduced serving.

For Montañez, “Understanding what genuine hospitality stands for and making it as a core value is a key essential in running an F&B business.”

“I think by now, Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta can be one of the role models in telling young chefs or young culinary kids that simple is always better, because we don’t really overthink the stuff that we do here. We just want to do it consistently, and we don’t want to intimidate the market as well,” he says. “We want our food side of the business to be very approachable. And in that way, we’ve been building a network of returning customers, and it makes the business stay.”

This emphasis on simplicity gets mentioned in the same conversation as when Montañez stresses, “Mexican cuisine is very complex.” A paradox, yes, but also a reflection of possibility based on structure, efficiency, and love for the craft.

***

“Do you want more food?” Montañez would repeat multiple times during our stay; even once during our interview. In Ma•Ma•Ci•Ta, there’s always more—not in the sense that you’re filling something to the brim just for the sake of it, but a complete dining experience that extends even when you step out of the restaurant, with or without a mini sombrero on your head.

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls’ World of Flavors celebrates the artistry, passion, and compelling stories of culinary visionaries and restaurateurs.