While steaks remain a high priority on our dish list, we can’t exactly deny the allure of going green. As the city constantly sees a crop of vegan and vegetarian cuisines open shop, we wonder whether the Kinspiracy date places could be a response to a growing need for VSCO-edited Instagram snaps, a collective want to get healthy(er), or an indicator that the Manila market is ready for the green light.

Enter Bianca Mabanta’s brainchild, Susi.

A restaurant in Burgos Circle that openly proclaims itself the “key to sustainable living,” is, incidentally, sustaining with the flock of serious green-minded foodies and curious cats who discovered the restaurant through Instagram’s geo-tag. “The interiors look so good photographed that you kind of want to check the place out and just see what they have,” admits a Susi-goer.

Beyond the thoughtfully-designed interiors and rustic charm, Susi and the restaurateur responsible for almost every facet of the food haunt seem like they’re not just concerned with responding to a trend. Though the platings do beg for top shots (complete with the key wooden surface), the dishes, once visually ruined with help from a careless fork don’t at all underwhelm. With a menu stocked with recipes she’s accumulated over 10 years of being a vegan, Mabanta offers crowd favorites Carb-No-Nara and Mac and Gezz (freshly made pasta from quinoa), and a beetroot burger that rivals, dare we say it, Wagyu beef.

“I think more people are open to the idea of it,” issues Mabanta about vegan cuisine. Eager to dispel the notion that healthy eating is expensive and is just one of the many trends in the food industry, Mabanta seems more than willing (and IMHO, perfectly able) to take on Instagram’s flock and argue her case for Susi’s philosophy.

Susi. Forbes Town Road, Burgos Circle, Taguig City. (02) 833-7874.

Source: Denise Alcantara for Northern Living, “Vegan Again,” May 2015 

Photos by Gabby Cantero