Shop at SM Hypermarket, have it cooked at Taste Asia
The family that goes to market together can have lunch together. Impossible? Not at SM Hypermarket in SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. After the family has shopped for goodies at the fresh section of the supermarket — anything from beef, pork, chicken, fish, vegetables and fruits — they can bring their groceries to Taste Asia just outside the supermarket and have them cooked any way they want them.
The concept isn’t new, since there are many paluto markets and restaurant complexes in Metro Manila. But what you get at SM Hypermarket is the assurance of freshness. Since your purchases are cooked almost immediately after you’ve paid for them, you are assured that everything is freshly cooked.
SM Hypermarket fresh manager John L. Factoran says families intending to spend the Chinese New Year at the mall have a number of options to go Chinese.
The supermarket has a frozen section stocked with dim sum, such as fish, squid, crab and lobster balls, pork and vegetable dumplings, kikiam, pork and shrimp siomai, lumpia in fish, beef, vegetable and cheese variants, and asado and bola-bola siopao.
There is also an exclusive section on hot pot items, which may be cooked either in a soup or deep-fried. The choices are endless: fish tofu, crab ball with corn, crab egg, fancy fish ball, fish dumbbells, salmon ball, chikuwa, lobster ball, crabstick, and more.
Apet Mathay, Taste Asia business development manager, says the restaurant has a number of kitchens where you can have your fresh purchases cooked any way you want. There are also set meals that are good for four to five diners, and all are reasonably priced.
Here are some suggestions. Prawns may be cooked either as tempura, with butter and garlic, Szechuan, camaron or as shrimp omelet. Noodle choices include canton, miki-bihon, sate miki-bihon, lomi, beef hofan, or seafood fried noodles.
Whatever your choice, at SM Hypermarket and Taste Asia, you’ll surely have a lip-smacking good time.
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SM Hypermarket and Taste Asia are at the ground floor, North Parking Bldg., SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.
Dim sum specials at David’s Tea House
There’s a big tarpaulin outside David’s Tea House that has photos of more than 20 dim sum varieties. I was later told that all of them, 38 in all, are served at the restaurant. Dim sum lovers, rejoice!
David’s Tea House has been franchising its menu of Chinese teahouse favorites since 2003, and the SM Mall of Asia branch has been open for three years now. It serves Chinese food fanciers their fill of congee, noodle soups, and dim sum all week long. Although it is open during mall hours on weekdays, on Saturday and Sunday, it is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. That’s why if you feel the need for a bowl of steaming hot congee after jogging around the CCP Complex one early morning, run a little bit more to SM MOA to get your fill.
Unlike most teahouses, David’s sports a really modern look. Take away the Chinese characters etched on the glass panels separating the dining areas inside the restaurant and the Chinese accessories within, and you can imagine yourself dining at a fancy fine-dining place.
The paper placemats at David’s also serve as a picture menu. There are photos of 24 of the more popular dim sum orders here: hakao (shrimp dumpling), scallop dumpling, siomai, chicken feet, kuchay (chive dumplings), and taro puff among others. Popular congees include the so-called David’s congee, pork-century egg, and asado.
Aside from the teahouse items, it also serves short orders of popular Chinese dishes such as pineapple fried rice, steamed prawns in garlic, beef with broccoli flowers, and soy cold cuts.
Service is quick and efficient. All dim sum are steamed to order, served at your table in seven to 10 minutes during busy hours. For dim sum lovers, that’s not too long a wait.
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David’s Tea House is at the ground floor, South Arcade, South Parking Bldg., SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.
Steaming hot noodles at Mongkok
Ask anyone what their favorite Chinese food is, chances are they’ll tell you it’s either a bowl of steaming hot noodles or a platter of dim sum and some fried rice. For many, noodles, dim sum and fried rice are the quintessential Chinese food, bringing comfort any time of the day. That’s probably why in any city in the world, there’s a teahouse to satisfy you.
At the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, there are a number of Chinese restaurants to choose from, but for those in a hurry for a bowl of steaming hot noodles, then Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles is the place for you.
The restaurant’s name says it all. Here, you’ll find 40 kinds of dim sum and an equal number of noodle dishes, with and without soup. Oh, to be spoiled with choices.
Noodle favorites include seafood fried noodles, Cantonese chow mien, Shanghai guisado, beef and vegetable fried noodles, and a number of noodle soups with either seafood, wanton, dumpling, beef brisket, beef tendon, beef ball, fish ball, squid ball, and soy chicken. The dim sum includes favorites like siopao, siomai, shrimp dumpling (hakao), taro puff, radish cake, and chicken feet, as well as specials like mantao, vegetable pao, stuffed pepper, stuffed eggplant, clams with tausi, bamboo shell with tausi, and shrimp puff.
It also serves a variety of congee such as seafood, fish fillet, sliced chicken, sliced beef, meatball, pork with century egg, and fresh egg.
The Mongkok franchise is nine years old, while the MOA branch is two years old. All orders are cooked to order, so that guests are assured they are getting delicious freshly cooked food. A word of warning though: the restaurant is packed on weekends, so come early or be patient to wait in line.
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Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles is at the ground floor, North Arcade, North Parking Bldg., SM Mall of Asia.
Hong Kong-style meals at Mandarin Wok
Although it is just a year old, Mandarin Wok already has three branches in Metro Manila. And from the busy business it gets during the weekday lunch hour and weekends, this casual dining place has found a niche with its menu of rice meals, noodle soups and congees.
The Mandarin Wok branch at the ground floor of the Entertainment Mall of the SM Mall of Asia has a minimal, unfussy look to it. The restaurant layout gives diners as much room to enjoy their meals. Definitely, there are no tight spaces here.
But what sets the ambience here is the menu that is printed on a display that is tacked on the wall by the door. It brings memories of Chinese fast-food restaurants in Hong Kong, except that the menu board there is written out in Chinese characters.
The restaurant’s specialty is its baked chicken rice. You get a big bowl of rice that has been topped with sliced chicken and a savory egg custard sauce. When it is served, you get an out-of-the-oven hot rice meal that has a golden crust that’s really inviting.
Apart from its rice meals, Mandarin Wok also has a number of house specials that are for sharing. Choose from the Szechuan eggplant, Mandarin fried chicken, hong ma (braised pork belly), and salt and pepper pork chop.
Yes, all orders are cooked upon order, assuring patrons that they get food that is fresh out of the kitchen, making sure that they are still piping hot. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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Mandarin Wok is at the ground floor, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.