Filipino Sojourner: Chinese food

Showing posts with label Chinese food. Show all posts

Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 16): A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City

As someone who frequents Binondo Chinatown, I am very familiar with the Chinese dishes. I posted previously about some restaurants that I dined in Binondo Chinatown such as the Lan Zhou La Mien and Ho Kui Tea House. Eating Chinese food is already passé for me that I am not keen to try one during my trips to Cebu. However, our generous host invited us to a dinner in a Chinese restaurant called A Taste of Mandarin.

It is my first time to dine in a big (and I daresay upscale) restaurant in Cebu City. I usually eat in fast foods and food courts to save money. A Taste of Mandarin is comparable to Golden Bay Fresh Seafood Restaurant, where we held our wedding reception.

Red tables in A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City

We are a big group but our generous host said that we can order anything.

So we ordered Fried Lapu-Lapu in Sweet and Sour Sauce…

Lapu-lapu dish in A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City

…Shredded Beef with Green Pepper…

Beef dish in A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City

…and these fried noodles.

Fried noodles in A Taste of Mandarin in Cebu City

I was not able to get good photos of the food because my friends are very quick eaters. I had to take quick shots lest I will not get any food.

All in all, our group had a good time in this Chinese restaurant. The food is quite nice and it reminded me of the good dishes that I had in Binondo Chinatown.

During the Spanish Era, the Chinese were a given the Barrio de Pari-an, which is the area north of the ciudad (or the Spanish settlement). Majority of the Chinese were merchants and the center of commerce is along Calle Colon, which is the oldest street in the Philippines. Unfortunately, much of the old Chinese stores and houses along Calle Colon were tore down and replaced by modern commercial buildings.

The hidden Chinese heritage of Cebu City explains why there is such place as Taoist Temple in the city. Aside from that temple, the only reminder of that lost heritage are the Chinese restaurants such as A Taste of Mandarin.

Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 3): Feasting on Consolacion’s Fresh Talaba
Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 2): Finding Consolation in Consolacion Church

Laag-Laag sa Cebu (Part 1): My Boat Ride Under the Bridges of Mactan Channel

A Foretaste of Cebu in Mactan Cebu International Airport

Lunch Break at Lan Zhou La Mien

Lunch time found our group in Manila's land of yummy Chinese food. AJ, our group leader, wanted to reach Binondo at lunch time not only because of Binondo Church but also because he wanted us to try his highly recommended Chinese restaurant. That restaurant is the Lan Zhou La Mien located along San Fernando Street.

Lan Zhou La Mien restaurant in Binondo Chinatown

I was surprised that the Chinese restaurant that AJ recommended is just a stone throw away from Hou Kui Tea House, which is the restaurant highly recommended by my Boss.

Lan Zhou La Mien is a cozy place. The space is quite small to fit many tables and chairs and even customers. Despite of that, AJ said that this restaurant is popular and many people still go to eat at this place. I think that cozyness is typical for the restaurants in Binondo Chinatown.

Fortunately, Lan Zhou La Mien has a second floor. Each pilgrim had a table for himself.

AJ guaranteed that the noodles at this place is delicious so I ordered the Kan Pan Lamien. Our group also ordered the steamed dumplings. We waited 15 to 30 minutes for our orders to come.

The first to reach our tables are the water and the tea.

The long walk from Monumento made us very hungry. I could eat a whole cow just to satisfy my hunger.

Kan Pan Lamien

The serving of the Kan Pan Lamien is big. I think that two people can share one plate of this noodles. Fortunately, my appetite during that day is for two people. I finished Kan Pan Lamien in no time.

I understood now why AJ recommended this restaurant. The Kan Pan Lamien tasted good. It is one of the few best-tasting noodles of all the noodles that I tried.

The steamed dumplings that followed also tasted good.

I think that Lan Zhou La Mien's dumpling is way beyond that typical dumplings offered by the stalls of Master Siomai or even by Chowking. The dumplings have meat and leafy veggies inside.

Yum yum yum yum.

If you want to try wating at Lan Zhou La Mien, I suggest that you prepare enough money because the dishes in this place is not that cheap. The Kan Pan Lamien costs 130 pesos while the twelve pieces of steamed dumplings cost 160 pesos. Refer to the image below to see the costs of the dishes from Lan Zhou La Mien.

Menu of Lan Zhou La Mien restaurant in Binondo Chinatown

The food at this restaurant may not be cheap but the taste of the food will not make you feel that you are robbed. The food at this place tastes really good.

We, the pilgrims, were energized again after eating at Lan Zhou La Mien. We left the restaurant to finish the final stretch of our pilgrimage to Baclaran Church under the hot afternoon sun.

A Parade of Delicious Chinese Dishes

Binondo Chinatown is just a small area in the City of Manila but it has nooks and crannies that delights the blogger in me. The whole town town is brimming with culture, history as well as food. That's why I believe that I can make a whole blog that is just focused on Binondo Chinatown, especially on the restaurants found in its every streets.

This belief of mine was affirmed when I, together with some officemates, went to small restaurant located along San Fernando Street. The name of the restaurant is Hou Kui Tea House. My officemate said that Chinese restaurant is as narrow as a corridor but many people eat at the place.

My officemates are especially hungry, that's why they ordered a lot of food. The dishes that they ordered came one by one, as if they are in a parade. The first dish that reached our table is a plate of lomi (100 pesos), which is good for 3 to 4 persons. I enjoyed eating the lomi, which definitely tastes better than the ones in Chowking.

Big plate of lomi and my cup of rice.

Since it is a tea house, the lomi is accompanied with a cup of tea.

Another delicious dish that we ate is this fish dish in sauce with onion springs.

I focused too much on eating that I forgot to know the name of that Chinese fish dish.

We also ate beancurd (tokwa) with salt and pepper (120 pesos), which was hghly praised by an officemate. Another dish that I liked is the Taiwan pechay in oyster sauce (120 pesos).

Taiwan pechay in oyster sauce at Binondo Chinatown

We talked about other restaurants and food shops in Binondo Chinatown that offers delicious dishes. My officemates mentioned a lot of restaurants that made my mouth water. I will find time (and money) to visit those restaurants and discover the yummy things that Binondo Chinatown has to offer.

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Yummy Hopia from Salazar Bakery

Last week, I had a craving for hopia so I visited Binondo Chinatown to buy me some packs of these delicious mongo paste filled goodness. Since I already tasted the hopia from Eng Bee Tin and Polland, I decided to drop by Salazar Bakery, which is another popular bakery in Binondo Chinatown.
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Salazar Bakery is located along Ongpin Street, Binondo Chinatown. It is just few minutes walk from Binondo Church. The bakery can easily be seen once you crossed two small bridges as you walk along Ongpin Street.

Salazar Bakery was established in 1947 and it offers authentic Chinese delicacies. Salazar Bakery now has branches in different malls around Metro Manila. However, only the Binondo Chinatown branch of Salazar Bakery can only give customer that Chinese ambiance.
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Salazar Bakery, Ongpin Street, Binondo Chinatown.

I bought Hopia Mongo, which costs 38 Pesos, and Hopia Dice, which costs 39 Pesos. The plastic wrapping of Hopia Mongo is simpler than those of Eng Bee Tin and Polland.
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Hopia Mongo of Salazar Bakery.

The Hopia Mongo tastes good but it is different from the hopia of Eng Bee Tin and Polland. The Hopia Mongo of Salazar Bakery has thicker breading and tougher than the hopia of the other two bakeries. The mongo paste, on the other hand, is less sweeter. I am a fan of very sweet delicacies but I am not complaining with Salazar Bakery's hopia.
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Yummy hopia dice.

The Hopia Dice also tastes good. I can't compare it with similar hopia from Eng Bee Tin and Polland because I am yet to buy Hopia Dice from those two bakeries.

All in all, I give both Hopia Mongo and Hopia Dice a thumb up. I am placing Salazar Bakery in my list of good food shops around Binondo Chinatown.

Now that I had tasted hopia from Eng Bee Tin, Polland and Salazar Bakery, my next target is Ho-Land Bakery that is also located in Binondo Chinatown.

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Read my post about the wedding cake from Salzar Bakery.

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Fried Shark Wantan Anyone?

I think I just tasted my first shark dish when I and my beloved ate at a stall at an SM Mall.

It was a Saturday but my beloved still has to go work. So, I accompanied her as she goes to her workplace. However, our stomach grumbled so we decided to take our lunch first before she enters her office. Since we are sated with Jollibee, McDonalds or other usual fast foods; she took me to one of her favorite food stall and that is the Pao Tsin Dim Sum shop located inside the mall.
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PaoTsin stall at SM.

Pao Tsin Dim Sum, as the name implies, sells dim sum with rice so it is a perfect place for us to eat our lunch. Pao Tsin Dim Sum offers different kinds of Chinese dim sum that I forgot to remember. What I do remember is the wantan dim sum that we ordered. My beloved ordered the Shrimp Wantan Dim Sum.

Shrimp wantan with rice.

For those who do not know, wantan (or more popularly spelled as wanton, wonton, and wuntun) is a type of dim sum commonly found in Chinese restaurants. I remembered eating a wantan in Chowking when I ordered their Beef Wantan Noodles. The usual fillings of wantan are minced pork, shrimp or oysters, ginger and onion, sesame oil and soy sauce.

If my beloved ordered the shrimp wantan I, on the other hand, became curious on what shark tastes like so I ordered the Shark Wantan Dim Sum.

Shark wantan with rice.

Well, in the photo, the shrimp wantan dim sum looks similar to the shark wantan dim sum. The difference is found within the wantan’s wrapper.

So, what can I say for my shark wantan dim sum? Well, I like it. I thought that shark tastes bad. The shark wantan dim sum tastes way better than the siomai that I buy from Siomai House.

For 35 pesos per meal, I think eating at Pao Tsin is not that bad. You already have three pieces of wantan dim sum, then rice, plus soy sauce for the dim sum. However, drinks are not included in the 35-peso meal so we just bought bottled water at SM Hypermarket.

Well, I guess this is bad news for the sharks. They have another fan of their dishes. :-P

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Discover My Favorite Hopia

In an old post about Polland hopia, I said that I will try to compare that hopia to other hopia that is being offered by other stores. Guess what, I finally visited the most famous hopia shop in town and I got the taste of their special hopia. I also discovered my favorite hopia, which I tell you later.

The shop that I am talking about is this:
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This is Eng Bee Tin, the most popular Chinese food shop not only in Binondo Chinatown but also in the City of Manila. During the recent Chinese New Year, many people flocked to all branches of Eng Bee Tin to buy tikoy.
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People lining up for tikoy.

As I had said, Eng Bee Tin is also the home for best hopia.
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A rackful of hopia!

Eng Bee Tin offers hopia with different kinds of flavors. There is the original red mongo hopia and the hopiang baboy. Other flavors are the ube hopia, mocha hopia, wintermelon hopia, choco hopia and other flavors that I never thought would be good for hopia.
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Mochipia and hopia red mongo.

Last December, My Beloved's parents (a.k.a. my future biyenans) visited Manila. As a pasalubong for their grandchildren in Davao, I bought a basket-full of hopia.
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There I discovered my favorite hopia and that is pastillas-ube combi hopia. It became my instant favorite because I love pastillas and it suits my addiction to sweets.

Sadly, I also discovered my most unliked hopia and that is pandan hopia, which tastes bland.

Compared to Polland's hopia, Eng Bee Tin's hopia is softer and tastes better. So, whenever I crave for hopia, I prefer Eng Bee Tin's hopia than Polland's hopia.

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Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about the shops where you can buy the best hopia.
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Of Siomai, Wantan Noodles and Dining at Chowking

My beloved is sick for five days but still she went to Ortigas last Friday to attend a seminar for her work. After the seminar, she felt worse and has high body temperature (a clear sign of fever). Before going home to Laguna, she asked for a “masabaw” (soupy) lunch.

I took her to Chowking at Starmall Ortigas. We both ordered Chowking’s Beef Wantan Noodles. I also ordered some siomai to compare Chowking’s siomai with the siomai sold at the stalls inside the LRT/MRT stations.
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Beef Wantan Noodle of Chowking.

Chowking’s Beef Wantan Noodles is just like a more expensive version of Lucky Me! Instant Beef Noodles. However, Chowking’s noodles are thicker than that of Lucky Me!’s and more al dente. It is quite al dente to the point that I thought that the noodles were not fully cooked. Chowking’s beef wantan noodles have big chunks of beef meat and two pieces of siomai-like food, which I believe was the wantan.
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Of course, my beloved left her food unfinished. :-)

The beef wantan noodles of Chowking are not bad and I think that I will eat that if I drop by Chowking again. What I don’t like about Chowking’s beef wantan noodle is the Chinese pechay because they included the stalks of that vegetable. They should have removed the stalks and just left the pechay leaves.
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Oooops…only two siomai left.

Chowking’s siomai is not as good as the ones I buy at Siomai House located in the MRT/LRT stations. Chowking is unreasonable for its siomai that costs 39 pesos with just 3 siomais. Siomai House’s siomai taste better and only cost 25 pesos for four siomais. If you are craving for siomai, don’t go to Chowking but visit the siomai stalls because their siomai is better.
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Siomai is better at Siomai House.

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Hainan Chicken and Roasted Duck

Before one of my friends flew to USA, he decided to treat me for a free lunch. Of course, as a person who likes free food, I gave his treat a go. Since we are in Binondo area and we are sated with the food from the fastfood restaurant, we decided to look for a Chinese Restaurant and this is the restaurant that we found:
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Golden Fortune Hongkong Cuisine

It is my first time to dine in a Chinese restaurant in Binondo. I have eaten in Chowking but that restaurant is not a real Chinese restaurant. Golden Fortune is a nice place. It has courteous and attentive crew, which made me give them a generous tip.
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My friend and I both ordered a meal of one cup of rice with Hainan Chicken and Roasted Duck.

I can’t recall the price of my Hainan Chicken and Roasted Duck meal but it is will not exceed 100 pesos. I first ate the roasted duck and I find it tasty. That is not bad for my first taste of roasted duck. I guess the cooking is right and it is still juicy. I did not event use any sawsawan (dip) for my roasted duck.
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Hainan Chicken and Roasted Duck

My friend first tasted the Hainan Chicken and he commented that it tasted like Tinolang Manok without sabaw (broth). For those who doesn’t know, tinolang manok is a dish made by boiling chicken meat then adding papaya, chili leaves, and spices. I agree with him that the Hainan Chicken tasted like that. In the future, I might not order another Hainan Chicken.

I enjoyed eating at Golden Fortune. I’ll go back there to taste their roasted duck and taste other Chinese delicacies.

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