Tikim 61:Tim Ho Wan, Best Bbq Pork Buns (Central, Hong Kong)

I was lucky that I got good friends from Hong Kong, they take me to dinner whenever I visit them and vice versa when they are here in Manila. On my recent Hong Kong trip, I asked my friend if we could eat at a local dimsum place because I haven't eaten dimsum (yam cha) since I arrive in Hong Kong. Super happy that she brought me to Tim Ho Wan! 

Tin Ho Ma, Central Branch 

You know the saying "It's worth the wait?" Expect a line when you arrive at the restaurant because a lot of locals and foreigners really flock to Tim Ho Wan to eat some dimsum. 

Best Bbq Pork Buns I've tasted so Far!

I am not a fan of pork buns but this changed my opinion! This pork bun is also the reason why my friend brought me to this restaurant; the pork bun gained the restaurant 1 Michelin star and it's the only Chinese restaurant to have a Michelin star. This is a must order! I even took home some pork buns before flying back to Manila.

Spring Roll

Their spring roll is not the usual ones you eat at Chinese restaurants here in Manila. Their spring roll is made from sautéed vegetables which I like and it's the healthier option.

Turnip Cake 

They cook their turnip cake (known as raddish cake in Philippines) traditionally.

Shrimp Rice Roll 

You add light soy sauce or Worcester sauce to your liking.

Beancurd with meat inside

The only thing I didn't like was the beancurd with meat inside just because Im not a tofu fan :)

When you are passing by Hong Kong make sure you get some of Tin Ho Ma's barbecue pork buns! Just thinking about it makes me hungry! Tim Ho Wan is definitely a must stop for meals!

Taste: 4.5/5

Quality: 4/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Tim Ho Wan
Address: Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station (Podium Level 1), IFC Mall, Central, Hong Kong
Contact: 852-23323078

Tikim57: Wangfu (Tomas Morato, Quezon City)

I noticed that there's a few Chinese restaurants in Tomas Morato area, so when I saw in Il Terrazo that there's a new Chinese restaurant, I asked Evan to accompany me here. Wangfu opened just months ago and I am excited to share with you my food experience in this new Chinese restaurant!

Wangfu

First impression before entering: wow! it's a modern Chinese restaurant. I wonder their price range. Why my thoughts was such? The place looks like an clean-upscale-modern fastfood with simple wooden accents so I wondered if their interiors made food prices higher.

Inside the restaurant

Ordering was a breeze, the menu has pictures of house specialties!

Menu

Menu

Ordered the following:

Shanghai dumplings P58.00

It has 3 pieces of dumplings that aren't actually siomai filling. The dipping sauce is not soy sauce, Im guessing it's light soy sauce with vinegar.I liked it and I ordered 1 more of these guys!

Black pepper beef rice P158.00

The serving size is good, it has enough meat for you to finish with your rice. You can really taste the black pepper sauce; it would be awesome if it's served un a sizzling plate.

Cha Chang noodles P120.00

Evan ordered this, he didn't say anything about it. So it's just a normal dish.

Chili potato strings P128.00

I was carving for fries yet avoiding them to have a better diet; so when I saw this I wanted to order it. Evan told me that it's not worth it but I didn't listen to him. Taste wise the potatoes were a bit sour instead of it being spicy. I think they were cooked with light vinegar that were just topped with chili. Well I wouldn't recommend this dish unless they do something special with it.

Honey Lemon Tea P58.00

This drink is on the sweet side. I thought it would be more citrusy but I guess the honey overpowered the drink. My suggestion got this is to have a small sauce cup so the customer can control the sweetness level.

Food and plate serving was appropriate with their pricing thus answering my thoughts on their first impression. If you want something FAST (sit-down restaurant), friendly to the wallet, and Chinese cuisine in Tomas Morato then go for Wangfu!

Taste: 3.5/5
Quality: 3/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5

Wangfu

Address: Unit G5 Il Terrazo building, Tomas Morato avenue corner scout madrinan street, 
south triangle, Quezon City

Contact: 7090569

Tikim51: Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (Mall of Asia, Pasay)

I seldom go to MOA because from Quezon City, it takes around an hour for me to arrive there. On the few times that I go to this mall, there's always a reason...a week before the The Dark Knight Rises movie, me and Evan went to MOA to buy in advance imax seats for the much awaited movie! We roamed around the mall, and when dinner time came, this,Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe, restaurant caught my attention. I guess I have been eating too much Japanese food that I kinda missed Chinese.

Xin Wang Menu

Inside, the restaurant has a clean modern look. It is mot like the usual Chinese restaurant you see in Binondo; this one is spacious and it has a youthful vibe. Also, the colorful graphics of Hk landmarks in its wall complements the monotone furniture. 

Inside Xin Wang HK Cafe

Check out the wall graphics

I noticed in their menu that they have lots of specialties; from Hk western to dimsum to congee to bamboo rice it's all available here. You might think that they serve too many specialties but i ate un a Hk cafe just like Xin Wang in Mongkok Hong Kong and their menu really has a large variety; I guess Xin Wang stayed true to a Hk style cafe. 

Siew Mai P95

Deep fried spring rolls P95

The dimsum are a bit normal for me, i hope they do something with the siew mai because it doesn't look appetizing and it doesn't look hand-made. On the other hand, I liked their spring rolls, it has shrimp meat in it!

Hk steamed Chinese sausage bamboo rice P184

Nice concept but bamboo rice does not just mean, eating straight from a bamboo bowl/cup. I hope they put some bamboo shoots with the rice to make it more "Chinese".

Dry chili noodle with char siew and wanton P185

Evan ordered the dry chili noodle with char siew (bbq pork) and wantons. If you don't like spicy food, I suggest you don't order this one. Their chili here is quite overwhelming when you taste it.

Iced HK Milk Tea P75

Whenever I go to HK, I always order some milk tea in restauarants. Xin Wang's metal cup and the milk used for this drink did remind me of my HK vacations.

I did some checking on the net and found out that Xin Wang is actually a franchise from Singapore. If so, I wish they have a branch in San Juan area since there's a big Chinese population in the area; also Quezon City Tomas Morato would be awesome since it lacks a Hong Kong kind of Cafe --- a place which closes late; has coffee, snacks, and real food! I'd go back here for a quick Hk food fix!;)

Taste: 3.5/5

Quality: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

Address: G/F SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Blvd,

               Manila Bay Reclamation Area, Pasay City

Website: www.xinwang.com.ph

Tikim12: X.O Kitchen (Bel-air II, Makati)

X.O Kitchen seemed like a new restaurant to me in the few times that me and Evan passed by Jupiter street. Since our first choice of dinner "Mickey's Delicatessen" was already closed :(, the bright lights and big windows of X.O Kitchen attracted me to try out the place.

X.O kitchen seems a high class restaurant from outside

First thing I asked Evan, "what is X.O sauce"? Neither of us knew about anything about the sauce except that it is served in Chinese restuarants. Here is a definition by Rhonda Parkinson of about.com

 "X.O Sauce -->  is a flavor-packed sauce made with dried shrimp and scallops and spicy seasonings, including chile and garlic. The exact origins of X.O Sauce are unknown, although it is said to have originated in Hong Kong, where it is served as a table condiment at higher-end restaurants. In cooking, X.O sauce is used in stir-fries, particularly seafood dishes."

The restaurant offers a lot of food variety; I just think that the X.O sauce was not given justice as it was not highlighted in their menu. Food was served quickly [except fot the Ferrero butchi] and in small serving. We were both a bit dissappointed with the serving size and the food tasted "normal --- nothing special about it".
We ordered the following for dinner:

Egg Chinese Sausage Rice Meal P120

X.O Kitchen Special Beef P230

Asparagus with Oyster Sauce P120

From my dining experience here, all i could remember was the little serving we had! I guess the price compensates with the quantity of food. I ordered Egg Chinese Sausage Rice Meal which costs only 120; I was excited at first but disappointment took over when I saw how little meat/Chinese Sausage there is in the meal :( I also think that the restaurant uses some kind of flavoring because even if there is not much meat in my rice meal, the food was so tasty! In fairness with the X.O special beef, I like this better than my original order. The beef brisket was tender and it highlights the X.O component in its sauce :)

Buchi Combinations with various chocolate filling

Ferrero Buchi: Hot warm and a new kind of buchi

For dessert, me and Evan got intrigued with their specialty buchi combinations so we decided to give Ferrero buchi a taste. When it arrived (it took a while for it to cook so I suggest you order this at the beginning, not after eating your main meals), I excitedly took a bite..hmmm...warm..the chocolate has melted with the buchi was fried..can't really describe it properly since   I am not a fan of chocolates but you might like it! Give it a try! Let us know what you think of X.O Kitchen :)


Quality: 3/5
Price: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5


X.O Kitchen
134 Jupiter Street,
Bel-air 2, Makati City
Telephone: 519-1238

reference: 
X.O sauce - Glossary of Chinese Ingredients and cooking terms, Rhonda Parkinson, http://chinesefood.about.com/od/glossary/g/xosauce.htm (June 2011) 
X.O sauce - Picture, Chokeedee, http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chokdeedimsum.com/menu-pics/xo-sauce.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chokdeedimsum.com/en/menu.php&usg=__FNB_7sDJNKCs8DTBYyzQgyL_JZU=&h=600&w=400&sz=138&hl=tl&start=5&sig2=stBHZ_UpbMxEEVyJWhD_sA&zoom=1&tbnid=xUhnWV0xChH0MM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=90&ei=e4XvTauGJI6-vgPSxN2VCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dx.o%2Bsauce%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dtl%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1 (June 2011)

Tikim8: Kanzhu, Hand Pulled Noodles, Little Baguio, San Juan

A new restaurant has recently open in the San Juan area, right along Abad Santos street near Wilson called Kanzhu. It's right in front of the famous tea craze shop Serenitea along the side of Ristras and Tofu store. It's a chinese cuisine operated by Master Chef Kevin Yu. It's noodle house with striking similarities to the old Pot & Noodle chain in Manila  in which noodles are hand pulled and cook at the time of your order. The interiors of the establishment is pretty basic, a typical Chinese fast food cuisine. One side of the cuisine shows a brief history on how the family recipe dating back to medieval China came about. 

Then right in front you get a full glimpse of the kitchen and the kitchen staff on how they prepare your meal. Showing you that these guys are authentic. The noodles themselves are hand pulled and cooked by the head chef himself.

Ordering food was a breeze, a variety of noodles is on the menu, dry and wet (both comes with soup). Obviously, we had to order the house special which we found out as it was written on the walls of the restaurant that it was the dish that made them famous. The Braised Beef Noodles.

Obviously as a noodle lover I am [Evan only =p] quite picky on my noodles, and boy their noodles are really delicious, the beef is so tender that you may think that they've been in the pressure cooker forever. The noodles themselves even without the beef are a delight to eat, but the key ingredient here is not the beef nor the noodles but the special sauce that comes with it. Three of them together creates one fine fine dish.

Since we will not be contented with just a single order, a second noodle order we got was a stir fry one with chicken. Initial glance will tell that this is one of your typical pancit canton dish but looks can be deceiving. Noodle lovers will love this but too bad it doesn't have the same effect that we had with the braised beef noodles.

Both orders comes with complimentary soups and for a complimentary soup, boy were they tasty, we had to get second rounds for it, glad the staff serve them to us without hesitation.

Judging from the review, we are definitely coming back to this Kanzhu hand pulled noodles cuisine. But this time, the order will be two of those house special braised beef noodles. Definitely a winner here.

Kanzhu
Unit 4 Citiplace Building,
8001 Jose Abad Santos Street;
Little Baguio, San Juan
Metro Manila

Verdict: 4/5