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LET'S EAT — Jan. 2014

WAI Y ING • K ING CHEF • P . F . CHANG 'S

THE CH INATOWN ISSUEJAN. 2014 ISSUE NO. 08

L E T ' S E AT

W H AT ' S I N S I D EJAN 20 14 ISSUE NO . 8

04KING CHEF

06SHINE

07P.F. CHANG'S

10WAI YING

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LET'S EAT — Jan. 2014

FERNANDO MIGUEL BELMONTEPublisher

DON JAUCIANManaging Editor

THYSZ ESTRADAEditorial Associate

PATRICK DIOKNOArt Director

SPANKY HIZON ENRIQUEZWriter

GABBY CANTEROPhotographer

LUCIEN DY TIOCOHead of Sales & Marketing

ANNALYN DELGADOEditorial Assistant

Golden Letter Publishing,1497 E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City

For inquiries, call 5277901 local 132 or email letseat062013@gmail.com

“Nobody respects Chinese restaurant service, when in fact, it is absolutely superior,” observes Lucky Peach editor Dave Chang in their Chinatown issue. Chinese restaurants, ever the paragon of efficient service and excellent cuisine, have long been our go-to place for comfort food (in every sense of the word ‘comfort’). You order your food with less chitchat from the wait staff and it arrives in front of you in bountiful plates, and it’s recommended you eat it right away while it’s hot as customary. As our resident foodie Spanky Enriquez writes in his piece on the legendary restaurant Wai Ying, eating Chinese food evokes a different source of nostalgia; a trip back in time “to a simpler era before the advent of social media; that golden age when restaurants became immensely popular by organic word-of-mouth, and not because of a digital tweet from a quasi-celebrity.”

The Let’s Eat Team, with our new look for the New Year by our new Art Director, Patrick Diokno, is proud to present our Chinatown Issue. We combed through Manila to give you three of the best Chinese restaurants and a desserts place if you’re craving for something sweet to top off your Cantonese adventure.

Dig in!

ED ITOR 'S LETTER

Asado Congee from Wai YingPhoto by GABBY CANTERO

ON THE COVER

THE CH INATOWN ISSUE

L E T ' S E AT

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LET'S EAT — Jan. 2014

F I T F O R A K I N GBY SPANKY HIZON ENRIQUEZ PHOTOS BY GABBY CANTERO

King Chef ’s healthy Cantonese fare

China is in my DNA. I suspect that my Spanish “Enriquez” family name was merely adopted by one of my Chinese great great grandfathers sometime in

the 19th Century. The genetic evidence is irrefutable. My dad, the late Atty. Eddie, looked so Chinese, his friends nicknamed him “Wah Tung”. My brother Joey, whose countenance is almost an exact duplicate of our father’s, likewise gets his share of questions about his ethnicity, more so now that he’s migrated to Toronto—he’s never mistaken for Filipino. The more I look at old photos in our family archives, I see absolutely no trace of Castilian bloodlines among my forebears in my dad’s side. Fujian would be more likely. 

Coincidentally, when I was very young, it seemed that many of the most memorable family occasions were celebrated in one of the legendary restaurants that used to line Ongpin, Soler, and the other well-known food streets in Binondo. I still remember these iconic names: Panciteria China, See Kee, Lido, Marquina, Antigua, and Peace Panciteria. Most are gone now, replaced by, horror of horrors, coffee chains and fastfood outlets. I actually feel wistful when I recall those grand old temples of classic Chinese cuisine, where meals always began with a steaming hot cotton face towel, rolled like a “lumpia”, and inevitably ended with a bowl of icy cold almond gulaman and pink lychees. Nothing but happy memories. 

A few weeks ago, I dined at King Chef in the Lucky Chinatown mall for the first time. It’s an elegant restaurant, but also very warm and welcoming; it is a massive enterprise, but with an emphasis on friendly and personalized service. Walking in for the first time, and seeing the hustle

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King Chef Fine Dining and Dimsum Kitchen is located at 987-989 Banawe St, Quezon City ( for reservations 3527534 / 4136619 / 4414177 / 6977781; for delivery: 4104919)

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1 Wintermelon Seafood Roll2 Chilled tofu topped with century egg and bok choy 3 Smoked Duck Crepe

and bustle of tables full of happy families, from grandparents to parents to grandkids, brought me back to the Chinatown of my childhood. I couldn’t restrain my smile, and as I soon found out, I wouldn’t be able to restrain my appetite either. 

Each King Chef dish—and they are legion—is conceptualized, tasted and tested, and gorgeously plated by a team of passionate kitchen professionals led by the owner herself, Marites Apiado-Ang. Her love for Cantonese cooking is apparent, and her vivacious enthusiasm for her restaurant, contagious.  Several times a year, she brings her team to the culinary hotspots of China to research the latest trends in taste and technique, and tweaks them for the Filipino-Chinese palate before they are introduced in the two branches of King Chef. The first opened in 2010 on Banawe Street in Quezon City, and the second opened just a year later in Chinatown. 

Another dish I enjoyed is one that I baptized Game of Prawns, a.k.a the shredded taro with prawn salad. It’s a hypnotic composition of dramatic red and deep orange hues, the bright flavors reflected in the saucy colors, and served with an exquisitely detailed dragon meticulously carved from a fresh squash. For dessert? Carrot rolls, an ingenious presentation of buchi shaped and tinted exactly like a carrot, complete with green “leaves”, then filled with a delightful lotus cream. Precise and playful. Fun and flavorful. I’m an unabashed fan of this kind of food.

I’m so pleased that a restaurant like  King Chef is now around to create wonderful new culinary memories for the next generation of foodies. And as I type this, just thinking of my next meal there with my family and friends, I already have a wide smile on my face.

Se. Xiang. Wei. Color. Aroma. Taste. These are the intrinsic requirements of every King Chef specialty, and the supreme example of this philosophy is their signature dish, Sautéed Suahe with Tea Leaves. The plumpest shrimps made crisp in a wok together with dark oolong tea leaves, resulting in an absolutely ravishing new flavor profile: briny, herbal, salty, savory, and spicy all at once. It’s the most unique variation on crispy shrimp that I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. And the plating is as special as the ingredients; the glorious goodness served in a weave of rattan strips, reminiscent of a fisherman’s catch.

02 03 HEALTHY OPT IONS

Smoked Duck Crepe, Wintermelon Seafood Roll, Carrot Roll, Chilled Tofu with

century egg and bok choy, Fried suahe cooked in tea leaves

PR ICE RANGE

*selected

PREMIUM DIMSUM P110 (Mango Balls) to P140 (Fried Prawn Dumpling, Fried

Prawn Fingers, and Crystal Ball Dumpling)SEAFOOD P420 (Satay Seafood Sotanghon Hotpot Small) to P1530 (Mongolian Seafood Skewers lrg)

FISH P320 (Steamed Fish Fillet with Japanese Tofu or with Garlic/Chili Taosi Sauce sml) to P875 (Sauteed Fish Fillet

with Black Fungus or with Seasonal Vegetables lrg)

Squid, Shrimp & Scallops P410 (Shrimp with Seasonal Vegetables sml) to P2350

(Scallop with French Beans in X.O. Sauce lrg)

PORK P250 (Sweet and Sour Pork, Mapo Tofu sml) to P950 (French Beans with

Minced Pork lrg)NOODLES P260 (Satay Chami Guisado

sml) to P930 (Crispy Canton with Seafood lrg)

T IPS

1. Considered one of the healthiest places to eat Cantonese food, King Chef can

customize your food from less MSG, no MSG to full on vegetarian.

2. King Chef organizes an Iron Chef type of contest between their chefs and kitchen

staff to foster creativity. Winning dishes then become part of the main menu.

3. Be request, the wait staff will perform a song and dance number with gusto. Ask

the manager and amaze your guests!

KingChefPH

King Chef Seafood Restaurant is located at 2/F Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo, Manila (Tel. 7208594 / 4665765 / 7209062)

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B R I G H T E R T H A N

T H E S U NBY SPANKY HIZON ENRIQUEZ PHOTOS BY GABBY CANTERO

Shine gives us this year’s cronuts

Shine is the bright new bakery and café from the chef with an even brighter name, Sunshine Pengson.  With her husband Rob, she helped redefine the concept of degustacións with their

much lauded restaurant, The Goose Station. Her new baby is even more playful. Willy Wonka would feel right at home in this factory of unique treats: a game-changing maple bread pudding made from a brioche, then topped with bacon. Mojito and Bailey’s cupcakes.  And a spectacular reinvention of the éclair in Belgian chocolate, salted caramel, and s’more flavors. The overstuffed, overtopped versions of the French classic literally ooze with scrumptiousness; so good that they beg the question: can éclairs be this year’s cronuts? I’d say—why not?

1 L-R Red Velvet, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Fudge cupcakes2 Salted caramel eclair3 Brioche Bread Pudding 4 Chocolate Cake

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LET'S EAT

SWEETS

Shine Bakery & Cafe is located at 3/F SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City. Call 553-6566

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G O O D L U C K C H A R MBY SPANKY HIZON ENRIQUEZ PHOTOS BY GABBY CANTERO

Find foodie fortune at P.F. Chang’s

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Guy walks into a bar. Guy orders a minty Asian Pear Mojito. Guy sips, swoons, and is instantly smitten. In three short sentences, that describes

the first few minutes of my very first visit to P.F. Chang’s in the Alabang Town Center two years ago. P.F. Chang’s predated the current cocktail craze that’s sweeping our city with their menu of specialty cocktails, each made using the most premium libations, and each, inspired by the Orient. “The Forbidden City”: a potent mixture of Smirnoff, Beefeater, and Bacardi, infused with a hint of Chai Tea.  The Sichuan Mary tops my bar list: a spicier spin on the Bloody Mary, made with thick, tart tomato juice and generous splashes of Absolut Peppar.

1 Norwegian Smoked Salmon2 Lemon Chicken3 Interiors of P.F. Chang’s4 Grilled Spare Ribs5 Shrimp with Candied Walnuts6 Crab Wonton

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Cocktails before Dinner. Very much an American concept. And to a very large extent, that’s the conceit behind P.F. Chang’s too—fine Chinese food, but distinctly American in execution. Purists will argue that P.F Chang’s isn’t classic Cantonese or fiery Sze Chuan. Neither Shanghai nor Beijing. Not Fujian or Hunan. It’s not, nor does it aspire to be. I appreciate what some would call audacious: P.F. Chang’s is a Modern Chinese Bistro that celebrates the cuisine of the myriad, multiple Chinatowns that dot the United States. I call it American Chinese comfort food. I know what to expect here, and I really really enjoy how the exotic dishes from the East are executed with that distinct Western flair for healthier fare.

The restaurant’s deservedly famous for their full-flavored yet relatively guilt-free menu items: the bestseller, by far, is their Chicken Lettuce Wrap, wok-seared minced chicken, water chestnuts, and mushrooms served in pockets of fresh, crisp greens.  Dynamite Shrimp, inspired by the shrimp cocktails of yore, crisped up crustaceans bursting with explosive flavors, served smartly in a sexy martini glass.  Moo Goo

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Gai Pan and Kung Pao too, those beloved delivery and take-out items, indispensable to the busy citizens of both U.S. coasts, from New York to San Francisco.

My top recommendation would be the refreshingly creamy Shrimp with Candied Walnuts. This is the dish that I never fail to order, and the dish that never fails to satisfy. Succulent shrimp tossed in a citrusy mayonnaise dressing, topped with sweet honeydew melon balls and sprinkled with glazed candied walnuts. With all those tastes and textures teasing the palate, it’s a perfect sweet-nutty-savory appetizer, and a wonderful pairing with P.F. Chang’s cocktails, especially with the white rum-based Coconut Lemon Sour, their newest concoction. 

Much is new in P.F. Chang’s in this Year of the Horse. A third branch is opening in the new East Wing of the Shangri La Plaza mall this April, following the success of the second restaurant in the Bonifacio Global City, which was inaugurated in January of 2013. A veritable army of new items will be introduced as well: Northern Style Spare Ribs with the unmistakable flavor notes of that essential Chinese ingredient, Five Spice Powder. Wontons made with chunks of Alaskan Blue Crab, complimented by a spicy plum sauce that’s reminiscent of our childhood favorite, “champuy”. A Cantonese influenced Lemon Chicken redolent with the scent of freshly ground cumin. And since P.F. Chang’s is a marriage of East and West, a grilled U.S. Angus steak, marinated in garlic and sesame oil, and plated with grilled peaches and roasted eggplants!

There’s one more thing you need to know about P.F. Chang’s if you haven’t discovered it already: while Chinese restaurants are never recommended or even considered as “date places”, I’m endorsing it as one of the sexiest venues around, specially for first dates. With their dramatic interiors, flattering lighting, exotic yet familiar food, and yes, their thirst-quenching Unlimited Cocktail promos, the P.F. Chang’s restaurants in the Metro Manila not only satisfy the stomach, but they stir the soul as well. 

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P.F. Chang's is located at Alabang Town Center | 869-7837 and 869-9776 and Bonifacio Global City | 664-5956

HEALTHY OPT IONS

Tuna Tataki, Vegetarian Dumplings, Crispy Green Beans, Norwegian Steamed

Salmon, Gluten Free Menu

PR ICE RANGE

STARTERS P125 (Shrimp Rolls) P385 (Seared Ahi Tuna)

DIMSUM P125 (Xiao Long Bao) to P415 (Dim Sum Platter)

SALADS P365 (Ahi Cucumber Salad) to P385 (Chicken Chopped Salad)

SOUPS P65 (Egg Drop Soup) to P380 (Chang’s Noodle Soup)

NOODLES AND RICE P45 (White or Brown) to P495 (Dan Dan Noodles)

VEGETARIAN P175 (Stir-fried Eggplant) to P345 (Buddha’s Feast)

GLUTEN FREE P65 (Egg Drop Soup cup) to P895 (GF Steamed

Norwegian Salmon) CHICKEN P285 (Ginger Chicken with

Broccoli) to P435 (Cantonese-style Lemon Chicken)

PORK P345 (Sweet and Sour Pork sml) to P750 (Chang’s Spare Ribs and

Northern-style Ribs)BEEF P475 (Mongolian Beef sml) to

P995 (Grilled Angus Flank Steak)SEAFOOD P365 (Hunan-style Hot Fish) to P1750 (Oolong Marinated

Chilean Sea Bass)

T IPS

1. Dishes can be served gluten-free2. The spiciness level of dishes can be

adjusted to suit your taste.3. Dishes can also be reconfigured

depending on your allergies. Ask the wait staff about it.

pfchangs.com.ph pfchangsph phchangsph

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T H E S T U F F O F L E G E N DBY SPANKY HIZON ENRIQUEZ PHOTOS BY GABBY CANTERO

Why we keep coming back to Wai Ying

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Benavides in Binondo was perhaps the very first street that became a destination for foodies, and I’m talking many, many generations of foodies,

dating back to  pre-war Manila, when Ma Mon Luk first opened on the narrow thoroughfare back in 1930. Today, the original house of Mami is still there, but it’s now called Masuki. But their noodles are still cut with shears, and their famous jumbo asado siopao, still “injected” with that sweetish, starchy sauce.

Since 1999, Benavides has become even more famous, thanks to a newer restaurant up the road, just a few steps away from the corner of Salazar.  It’s called Wai Ying, and foodies from all over MetroManila swear by its line-up of dimsums, congees, and roastings. Every single item on the menu, elevated from the ordinary by the secret combination of ingredients and cooking techniques that the restaurant’s owners and loyalists simply call the best timpla ever.  No surprise there—the founder of Wai Ying is from the culinary clan that created another Chinatown legend, the Salazar Bakery, which first opened for business on Ongpin St. in 1947, renowned for the best Cu Chay So dumplings in the country. 

Walking into Wai Ying is like walking back in time, to a simpler era before the advent of social media; that golden age when restaurants became immensely popular by organic word-of-mouth, and not because of a digital tweet from a quasi-celebrity. Wai Ying isn’t concerned about a hipster ambiance and over-internalized interiors. Wai Ying is all about excellent food, large servings, clean surroundings, and surprisingly easy-on-the-wallet prices. And that’s the way it should be; and it’s been the Wai Ying way for a decade and a half, and I suspect, that’s the way it will always be. 

I love the cacophony that greets me whenever I enter the always crowded restaurant—the clatter of utensils, the shouted orders from the servers to the cooks, the hubbub from dozens of

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conversations and the sounds of satisfied slurping and burping from the diners. I love the neatly arranged blue cans of old-school “Gina” brand mango juice and the array of retro siphon coffee makers on the counter. I love the aromas of the steaming baskets of shrimp hakaw and pork siomai, the piping hot bowls of noodles and porridge, the smoky aromas of roasted duck and asado pork, all intermingling into one intoxicating, irresistible aromatic whole. But most of all, I love the obvious pride that the cooks, the serving staff, and the management have about the food they serve from seven in the morning ‘til two a.m. the next day, all day, every day, 365 days a year. It’s one of the rare restaurants that have to stay open even during Good Friday and Christmas. Why? The demand must be filled and the needs fulfilled. 

Hundreds of hungry diners from all points of the compass converge on this small restaurant on Benavides daily; from the new migrants from China, the occupants of the vertical neighborhoods that define present-day Binondo, to the residents of Greenhills’ gated communities, returning to their roots. Lawyers and doctors crowd around tables side by side with blue collar workers and students from surrounding schools. Everyone elbow to elbow, chopstick to chopstick. A true egalitarian foodie utopia in the center of Chinatown.

1 Shark’s Fin Dumpling2 Chicken Feet3 Hakao4 Siomai5 Siopao6 Beef Wanton Mami

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HEALTHY OPT IONS

Steamed Tofu, T.W. Pechay with Oyster Sauce, Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

PR ICE RANGE

NOODLES P100 (Beef Mami/Bihon, etc.) to P170 (Roast Duck Mami)

CONGEE P100 (Bola-Bola, Beef, Mixed Meat, etc.) to P170 (Roast Duck Congee)

RICE TOPPINGS P120 (Pata Rice, Steamed Minced Beef Rice, Steamed

Chicken Mushrooms Rice, etc.) to P170 (Roasted Duck Rice)

VEGETABLES P80 (T.W. Pechay with Oyster Sauce) to P100 (Broccoli with

Oyster Sauce)DIMSUM P50 (Steamed/Fried Tofu) to

P80 (Seafood Roll)RICE P130 (Lemon Chicken, Ying Yong)

to P220 (Roasted Duck/Asado and Roasted Duck/Soy Chicken)

CHONG FAN P65 (Beef, Plain, Asado and Shrimp)

ROASTING P380 (White Chicken) to P3200 (Roasted Duckling Pig)

NEW DISHES P55 (Steamed/Fried Cua Pao) to P300 (Frozen Siomai 20pcs)

T IPS

1. You can have your noodle orders dipping style, that is, the noodles and the

broth will be served separately.2. Wai Ying is open until 2AM! Great for

those inexplicable late night Chinese food cravings.

3. Ask for the lemon Coke - generous slices of lemon swimming in ice-cold cola. Perfect to wash down the intense flavors

from this restaurant.

Wai-Ying

Wai Ying is located at 927 Benavidez St., Binondo, Manila (Call 245 4603)

Up to 50% off on selected dimsum(2-5PM, 9PM onwards)

Get P500 discountfor a minimum purchase of P1,500

FREE Umami Friesfor a minimum single receipt purchase of P1,000.

Coupon is only valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014 at Lucky Chinatown Mall branch. Valid for dine-in only. One coupon only per table.Not replaceable when lost and non-transferable to cash. Only the coupon from the Let’s Eat print edition will be entertained.

Coupon is only valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014 in all P.F. Chang’s branches in the Philippines. Not valid in conjunction with other promotions, discounts and privileges. No split table or checks. Not replaceable when lost and non-transferable to cash. Only the coupon from the Let’s Eat print edition will be entertained.

Coupon is only Coupon/Voucher entitles the bearer to a free Umami Fries for a minimum single receipt purchase of P1000 valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014. Only one (1) coupon/voucher can be redeemed per transaction in a one-time basis only. Usage with other discount or promotion is not allowed.

Reproduction, sale or trade of the coupon/voucher is prohibited. Shine Bakery & Cafe is not responsible for the lost or stolen coupon/voucher.

Coupon is only valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014 at Lucky Chinatown Mall branch. Valid for dine-in only. One coupon only per table.Not replaceable when lost and non-transferable to cash. Only the coupon from the Let’s Eat print edition will be entertained.

Coupon is only valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014 in all P.F. Chang’s branches in the Philippines. Not valid in conjunction with other promotions, discounts and privileges. No split table or checks. Not replaceable when lost and non-transferable to cash. Only the coupon from the Let’s Eat print edition will be entertained.

Coupon is only Coupon/Voucher entitles the bearer to a free Umami Fries for a minimum single receipt purchase of P1000 valid from January 28, 2014 to February 28, 2014. Only one (1) coupon/voucher can be redeemed per transaction in a one-time basis only. Usage with other discount or promotion is not allowed.

Reproduction, sale or trade of the coupon/voucher is prohibited. Shine Bakery & Cafe is not responsible for the lost or stolen coupon/voucher.