Heading North for Chinese

You know when someone suggests we eat chinese, we immediately sense this person is really hungry. Anyone in the Philippines knows that instant meal satisfaction would mean lots of rice, and some good ol Chinese food. In CdO, we would normally head to Mandarin Restaurant for some good Chinese food. Here in the metro, I believe its equivalent would be North Park. We go to North Park when we're craving their garlic squid, and some of that Yang Chow Fried Rice.

On this particular evening, our good friend Eric, treated us to dinner for a post birthday bash. With his sister in tow, all four of us were seeingly undecided on where to go. Mark, who had been apparently craving for Yang Chow Fried Rice, drove us to the nearest North Park in Pasig.

Now, at North Park, we usually order these:

Garlic Squid
Tender morsels of deep fried squid in garlic oil

Yang Chow Fried Rice
This is my husband's favorite.
I am not particulary fond of it, but when it's there I eat enough.
I like that it has lots of stuff in it, but I have tasted better somewhere else.

Next stop is the Crispy Noodles something.
I forgot the full name. It was my first time to try it, and I actually liked it.
It was nicely presented, and I think we'll try this again sometime. :)

Crispy Noodles
The waiter mixes the crispy noodles in the thick, hot sauce.

Tada!

It has loads of mushrooms, and squid. I really think it's worth a try :)

Thanks Eric for the lovely meal!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

... or Kung Hei Fat Choi or however else you greet Happy New Year in Chinese. :) And because of this, I am posting our latest Chinese food venture. This is not so recent though.

We ate at Luk Yuen after a grueling half day drive from Baguio last December. And because we loved our Chinese soup adventure in the City of Pines (hmmm, on second thought.. I should post that too! Next time!), we wanted to be comforted by some hot, soothing chinese soup after our drive.

Luk Yuen was the nearest one from home, a 5 minute drive to the Magallanes Subdivision food arcade. It was a big place. The food was okay. But for soup, we only ordered Corn Soup.

Pork Siomai P100

Steamed Shrimp Dimsum P90

Spareribs/Chicken Feet P140
Mark liked it. Hehe. Men.

This was my order- fried fish fillets with black bean sauce.
Surprisingly better than I expected. :)


The food, and place was alright. Chinese food is so ingrained in the Filipino system so much so that it has become easy for us to like. Although personally, I've tried better.

A Taste of China

Because we cannot afford to go to Beijing for the Olympics, we did the next best thing to enjoying a full China sensory experience ... we headed off to Chinatown in Binondo, Manila!

It wasn't easy to look for parking. From Makati, we found the President's Tea House after two hours! The streets were narrow, crowded, and impossible to park in, without getting goosebumps! After parking some blocks away, we hired a pedicab to get us to The President's Tea House.

Salazar Street

We were so hungry, I fear we ordered too much! And because we wanted to have something quick so badly, we got some dumplings before getting to the main dishes. We ordered Hakao Prawns (P75.00) and Spareribs Dimsum (P60). I love their dimsum! The Hakao Prawns were so moist and fresh. And the Spareribs, tender and tasty. Perfect!

Hakao Prawns

Spareribs

The Dimsum Cart

For the main course, we ordered three dishes. First came the Fried Frog's Legs (P260) . I had never eaten frogs' legs before, until this day! I swore I would never eat frogs, but then again... never say never! If I hadn't known they were Frogs' Legs, I would have been the first to stick my fork in them. They were golden crispy and loaded with garlic. After a little hesistation, I bit into one and liked it! It did taste like chicken-with the tinest chicken bones. Had they deboned these, I would never have guessed the difference. Well, I guess there's always a first time.

Fried Frogs' Legs

Next came in my choice-the Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Tausi Sauce (P280). Steamed Lapu-lapu is my personal favorite! And although I am not a big fan of Tausi sauce (black bean sauce), I liked it. I would have liked the fish to be more moist, but it was alright. :)

Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Tausi Sauce

The rice came a little late. I have no idea if this is distinctly Chinese, but we Filipinos want the rice served ahead! So we had to follow up our rice order with the waiter. The Yangchow Fried Rice (P180) was alright. It was a big serving, and would have served four under normal circumstances :) Hehe!

Yangchow Fried Rice

For the main dish, we ordered Peking Duck in Two Ways (P800). They separated the skin from the meat. They served the very crispy duck skin first over deep-fried cracklings, steamed molo wrapper, and vegetable sticks. I guess you have to eat those together. I can only assume, coz we were stunned to see that much food. Next came in the Duck meat - chopped and fried with potatoes and served over crispy vermicelli. It was so good.

Peking Duck 2 Ways

The Vegetable Sticks accompanying the Peking Duck

Peking Duck meat chopped and fried with potatoes
over crispy vermicelli

Duck meat wrapped in crispy Iceberg lettuce

Crispy Duck Skin

Crispy Duck Skin

Molo wrap over duck skin

It was a feast! We'd love to go back again someday. Until then, I have to excercise the duck cholesterol away!

Mr. Choi's Kitchen

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Metro. We ate at their branch in Waltermart; but I do know they have a branch in the Manila area, at Robinson's Place Ermita. They claim to serve no MSG, so that's really healthy and good!

I so like the ones we ordered namely :

Steamed Fish with Garlic

And the Peking Duck- Crispy skin like lechon.. and the tastiest meat.

I should say 5 stars for taste and presentation. You might want to have some of the (free) service tea too to wash it all down. Yummy.