Thursday Date Night: Crystal Jade Finally Here in Manila!
The Xiao Long Bao sensation has finally hit Manila. Last month, Crystal Jade opened its doors in Virra Mall, Greenhills Center. Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts Holding is one of Asia’s most celebrated and multi-awarded food and beverage companies. It has been satisfying the cravings of authentic Chinese cuisine aficionados in more than 80 outlets with 19 culinary concepts in Singapore and other major cities in the Asia-Pacific region. A name respected for the success it has been relishing over the years, it hails itself as a reliable provider of consistent quality food and service.
This famed restuarant brings good and not to mention tasty memories of our family Hong Kong food trips. Joel has been wanting to go for the past 2 weeks but my sister said the line there during weekends (especially during lunch service) gets crazy. The wait time is about an hour and half or so. We decided to wait it out first and let the craze subside. Finally last night, we gave in to the temptation and spent our "date night" there.
Their Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings (Php 158.00) - They're not the best we've had (I think after Din Tai Fung, no xiao long bao can possibly be better!) but it's good enough. It was able to satisfy Joel's Chinese craving.
Steamed Sliced Pork with Assorted Capsicum & Bean Paste served with pancakes (Php 260.00)
Noodle with Spicy Cold Chicken (Php 288.00) - Joel wanted something spicy so he sampled this was and boy was it hoooot! The cold chicken was well-flavored and married perfectly with the hand-pulled noodles. What I love about it is that it's served with a spoonful of coriander/cilantro on the side which you can mix with the chicken and noodles. It accentuates the flavor beautifully. But waaah! It sure gives your tongue a good burn! hahaha! I had to ask for a glass of milk and Wong Lo Kat to hlep get the spiciness out of my mouth!
Wong Lo Kat (Php 44.00) - This helped my tongue recover from the spicy chicken noodle dish above! This herbal drink actually tastes like Sago't Gulaman without the well...sago and gulaman! Did that make sense?
* The only downside about last night's experience was that they don't have their own restroom inside the restaurant. Joel had to go out and enter the mall only to find out that that when he got there he needed a stub from the restaurant to enter because its a "Pay Restroom". So with much irritation and frustration, he had to go back and get that stub. Argh!
Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Unit 117-211 Ground Floor, Virra Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center
Greenhills, San Juan
570-6912 or 570-6910
www.CrystalJade.com
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