Raising the Red Lantern
Millet Mananquil: Our lunch at Red Lantern reminded me of the movie Raise the Red Lantern, which depicted the oppressive values with which women were regarded in feudal China. No wonder it was banned in China, though it was hailed as spectacular and sublime.
Spectacular is also how I would describe our lunch. I loved the wok-fried lobster with sweet and spicy sauce. I am a lobster fanatic, and it is refreshing to find lobster being presented in not just the predictable grilled way. Sublime were the noodles with scallops and bok choy, spiced just right with black pepper.
The baked “Swan” puff with strawberry, red egg rolls, mango and cinnamon blueberry sauce beneath its seemingly pleated wings reminded me of haute couture — that of Cary Santiago with his winged birds perched on his gowns, and of Joey Samson with his accordion-pleated creations in beige.
From a multi-awarded Chinese movie to much-acclaimed Filipino couture to a modern restaurant with excellent cuisine — that’s the breadth and depth to which this lunch transported me. I love everything about Red Lantern. Including its powerful murals of Chinese women. The experience literally left a good taste. And not only in the mouth.
Scott Garceau: For the carnivore, Chef Ralff’s main dish of braised USDA Beef Short Ribs in Sichuan Spicy Sauce takes you to Sichuan, with a bowl more rightly described as a spicy stew, with fall-off-the-bone ribs taking center stage. The soup is a bracing broth of stock, Chinese herbs and Sichuan pepper, best slurped from a spoon (though tempting to lift the bowl and tilt it down your gullet); the ribs themselves are tender, flavorful and three-alarm spicy (likely from the chili bean paste). It’s the kind of warming stew you’d expect to enjoy in the chilly mountains of Sichuan in November, served up in a Manila dining room in June.
Therese Jamora-Garceau: Red Lantern combines two of my favorite things — Chinese cuisine and seafood — in the most elevated ways. Chef Ralff is all about innovation, and you can see and taste it in his creations, which are as modern yet Sino as the art on the walls. Prized delicacies on the menu include abalone, lobster and scallops, which you can have in the Prawn Pumpkin Soup with Abalone, Scallop, Shrimp and Pumpkin Chips — warm and soothing on a rainy day; the Wok-fried Boston Lobster with Sichuan Sweet and Spicy Sauce — chunks of perfectly cooked lobster tail coated in a piquant sauce over sautéed vegetables; and Wok-fried Noodles with giant USA scallops sparked by black-pepper sauce. All are artworks on the plate, and on your tongue.
Kathy Moran: It was a vegetarian lunch to live longer for that I had recently at Red Lantern in Solaire. The vegetarian in me was a happy camper, as all the dishes prepared — and there were six of them — were cooked with only the freshest of vegetables.
My fave? The tofu dish, because we all know tofu is a good source of protein. The cabbage, asparagus and mushrooms were the perfect blend to the tofu and it was made even yummier, as it was lightly salted with soy sauce.
A true vegetarian delight.
Lai Reyes: A fish of paradise. That’s what Chef Ralff’s Deep-fried “Squirrel” Fish with Sunzhou-style sweet and sour sauce is. Elegantly plated, the dish looks like a precious coral sitting on a bed of asparagus with Boston lobster and green peas on the side. Perfectly seasoned, this flavorful bomb tops the menu for me. The braised USDA beef short ribs were equally memorable, with its mildly spiced broth.
Marbbie Tagabucba: The rain pelts relentlessly outside — a backdrop to my cravings for Chef Ralff's braised beef soup at Red Lantern. USDA beef short ribs, bone-in for maximum flavor, make for a deeply savory broth with just the right tingly heat and brightness from the Chinese herbs and seasonal vegetables in Sichuan spicy sauce, infused into the tender, succulent meat. I have a crustacean allergy and I never felt like I was missing out, as Chef Ralff played up the richness of mollusks, such as in the creamy mouth feel of USA scallops in place of lobsters in his wok-fried noodles with black pepper sauce.
Igan D’bayan: Let’s talk about endings: the dessert, firstly, a Baked Chinese “Swan” puff stuffed with strawberry and sweet egg yolk, Chinese red date rolls, glazed fresh mango, baked honey cake, served with mango sauce, cinnamon blueberry sauce and mango sorbet. The journey to get to the finale with varying degrees of sweetness, textures and culinary aesthetics (imagine puff pastry in the shape of a swan) was so worth it. Each bit on the plate was sweetened differently, culminating with a mango sorbet with its palate-cleansing power. Red Lantern is ideal for celebrating hellos, farewells, interspersed with milestones and meetings. As a colleague bids adieu to an old career and welcomes a new one, the gathering is lit in metaphorical red for a resplendent future. Much eating, much living left to be done. Swans symbolize transformation, after all.
Monique Toda: This meal had me at ni hao (hello). The six-course lunch prepared by Chef Ralff was presented in western fashion, individually plated, which was creative and delightful. But the essence of each dish was regional Chinese. The classic dim sum platter that greeted us as our first course had this squid ink har gow, all black with a brushstroke of gold. There was a wagyu beef egg-yolk tart, a green triangular steamed scallop dim sum with black truffle and bokchoy. The end — or shall I say, farewell — dish of the meal, was an intricately prepared “swan” puff pastry stuffed with strawberry, accompanied by delicate red date rolls, honey cake, and mango sorbet. Amazing.
Lisa Guerrero Nakpil: Red Lantern is quite simply Manila’s best-kept secret: It has a “Blade-Runner” exterior with private rooms dominated by monument-sized artworks printed on fine silk. The menu is to match, with delicate offerings that would suit the refined palate of the Last Emperor Pu-Yi. (Incidentally, his Patek Philippe Quantieme Lune just smashed records at a Hong Kong watch auction, when it went for P322 million.) Outstanding in a crowded field of delights were Deep Fried “Squirrel” Grouper Fish with Suzhou-style Sweet and Sour Sauce that combined the crunch of an artfully sliced lapu-lapu with a symphonically balanced dressing.
Ricky Toledo and Chito Vijandre: Entering Solaire is always a delight because of the fresh flower arrangements all over, a welcoming prelude to a world of refinement and sensory pleasures offered at its restaurants like Red Lantern, where Chef Ralff creates classics we miss from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong but with surprising twists. The dim sum was excellent, a feast for the eyes and the palate — gold-flecked squid-ink hargow, scallop with truffle bok choy dumpling, and tender wagyu beef in a rich egg yolk tart.
The Suzhou sweet-and-sour grouper was delicious and festive in a fringed “squirrel” version. The Boston lobster was perfectly steamed with just enough pepper sauce to complement it, together with al dente, wok-fried noodles. Loved the joyous finale of a dessert platter — the Swan puff pastry with creamy strawberry filling, the red dates roll and honey cake with cinnamon blueberry sauce and mango sorbet on the side.
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Red Lantern is located on the ground level of Solaire Resort & Casino, 1 Aseana Avenue, Tambo Entertainment City, Parañaque. Go to https://www.solaireresort.com/dining/red-lantern to make a reservation.
