I've been away and, on the last month, been terribly irresponsible because I've been skipping food trips. I have my reason: I went on a short side trip to Manila. My immensely short trip is not disappointing at all. I realized that I'm missed and loved. But most importantly, my family thought I have not been eating well, because, believe it or not, I LOST WEIGHT! Still, losing weight should not be a justification to stuff myself up. Going back to my first ever dinner out in Manila, of course, should be aptly held in Chinatown, where I was born.
I can't begin to describe the craziness that is Manila's Chinatown. It's probably the world's smallest but, believe me, you'll be astounded as to how busy this piece of area can get, specially during Chinese New Year.
One of the many number of things that you simply cannot miss out while in Chinatown is the food. We had a feast that night with almost 10 dishes. Imagine how you can eat 10 dishes in one seating! So I highlighted the ones that I liked the most.
The first dish out is called a Cold Platter. It consists of cold cuts mainly such as soy chicken, roasted pork, a type of marinated and crunchy seaweed (in the middle) and century duck egg among other items surrounding it. I liked the seaweed the best.
Skipping a good number of dishes, let me introduce you to one of my all time favorite dishes: The Chicken Pie. I remember so many New Year's Eve dinners when one of my aunts would stop by this shop just to buy this chicken pie for NYE. Until one year, this shop closed down. How disappointed I was! So it's indeed a pleasant surprice when I found out that this dish was part of the line-up. I'm not sure what's the best part about it, whether it's the buttery, flaky crust on top or the creamy, oozing chicken with carrots and potatoes inside. I know this may sound like a simple dish to anybody, but it brought so much nostalgia to me, I was almost teary-eyed.
Sticky Rice with Mud Crab Crockpot is probably not so high-up my list but I loved the way the dish smelled when it was placed on our table. You can literally smell the smokiness of the rice and the crab. I liked it that the crab was not salty at all and the rice, though a bit bland, has a nice bite.
The steamed scallop was the night's most sophisticated dish for me. Though not up to par in terms of taste, it was still tasty.
Sticky Rice with Mud Crab Crockpot is probably not so high-up my list but I loved the way the dish smelled when it was placed on our table. You can literally smell the smokiness of the rice and the crab. I liked it that the crab was not salty at all and the rice, though a bit bland, has a nice bite.The steamed scallop was the night's most sophisticated dish for me. Though not up to par in terms of taste, it was still tasty.
The night ended up with group photos taken, reminding me of how much part of a family I am. And a big one at that =)
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