Gastronomic treats for Easter staycationers

The week leading to Easter Sunday inevitably presents a conundrum for people in Manila. Because it’s the longest weekend of the year — officially only four days but many take the whole week off — you’re now left with choices.

To stay or leave town for a break? To enjoy a quiet, traffic-free Manila or head to the beaches where a million others are going?

If you’re staying, treat yourself to a vacation at the new leisure and entertainment destination that is City of Dreams Manila casino resort in any of its three hotels — Crown Towers, Hyatt and Nobu — their swimming pools, gaming floors, shopping, and highly rated dining outlets.

The latest hotel to open is Crown Towers, designed by world-renowned architect Michael Fiebrich. It is also the most luxurious among the hotels and the choice of COD’s high-rollers.

Crown’s Tower Suites has 80 rooms and seven villas, the biggest of which are The Crown Villa and the bi-level Presidential Villa at 453 sqm. each. The Resorts Tower has 174 rooms with sizes ranging from 36 to 82 sqm.

City of Dreams Manila VP for public relations Charisse Chuidian says, “There’s a lot of things to do for a staycation.  Most of our dining outlets are open even on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, when majority of restaurants in the country are closed,  as we cater to the  needs of our foreign guests too. Kids can experience DreamPlay by DreamWorks,  which will be available by March 31 for a soft opening. The whole family can swim or simply relax by the swimming pools, or enjoy some spa pampering.  You can do a visita iglesia around Manila,  then have afternoon tea at Crystal Lounge and dinner at any of our restaurants, like Crystal Dragon.”

Crystal Dragon is Crown Towers’ signature Cantonese and classic Chinese restaurant. Last week, we did a sampling lunch and it was wonderful!

The restaurant can seat up to 92 diners, making it an intimate enough space for a cozy lunch or dinner. Its interiors are tastefully designed with muted colors of red, gold and blue-green. There are tables for small groups and two private rooms for bigger groups.

Beyond the imperial and majestic doors of Crystal Dragon, the atmosphere is casual and classy, making it a nice venue for outings with friends and family gatherings.

Chinese executive chef Bong Jun Choi, who helms the kitchen of the restaurant, has put together a selection of dimsums, a la carte choices  and set menus for lunch or dinner if you want to enjoy your meal leisurely.

Our lunch starts with three kinds of steamed dimsums: Four Seasons, Crystal Prawns and Abalone Sao Mai. All of them are so tasty, but I think my favorite is the Four Seasons.

Soup is Braised Supreme Sea Treasures and Spinach in Broth — very refreshing and not at all heavy. It gets the palate ready for what would turn out to be my favorite dish from the lunch — Oven-Baked Marinated Codfish Fillet with Five Spices.

This is the dish to order if you’re doing a la carte. Codfish may be my favorite of all for its subtle taste — and combined with the chef’s five spices: cinnamon powder, whole peppers, black peppers, Sichuan pepper and star anise powder — there’s nothing to not like about it!

The Stewed Pork Ribs are cooked with Chinese wine and vinegar, and are followed by Ohmi Wagyu Beef with Chef’s Special Sauce. Between these two, the Wagyu wins hands down — it is so tender and flavorful that even if we were already full from the previous dishes, we had to have the Wagyu.

We can’t take any more dessert but Crystal Dragon’s restaurant manager insists that we try the ice cream. And we’re glad we did! The dessert is crispy pancake filled with lotus paste and Hennessy XO ice cream.

The Hennessy cognac blends so well with the sweetness of the ice cream, we’re glad we didn’t pass up on it. I particularly love this Hennessy ice cream because three years ago I visited their vineyards and cellars in Cognac and stayed at their Chateau de Bagnolet Hennessy. There, they showed us all the things you cook up with Hennessy XO — but not ice cream!  

Crystal Dragon also boasts barbecue specialties. You can order portioned roasted suckling pig (P1,688), roasted US duck in Cantonese style (P1,055 for half and P2,110 for whole), roasted crispy marinated French pigeon (P2,780) and barbecue meat platter (P668), roasted US farm Peking duck (P2,880) with a choice of wok-fried diced duck with lettuce or braised shredded duck meat with rice vermicelli for the second course

Their soups range from sea cucumber to abalone, bird’s nest (from P2,560 to P3,340).

They have a deep menu for seafoods, too — different varieties of groupers cooked any way you want; fresh fried scallops; prawns with XO sauce; and lobster whether you want it baked with cheese or black pepper sauce, fried with chili and garlic, or crispy butter-fried. An added selection of seafood specialties will be offered in a month-long promotion in the restaurant, starting April 5.

Meat selections include pork belly in traditional Fujian style, wok-fried chicken with walnuts, stewed chicken with pork and mushrooms, and sautéed chicken with cordyceps flowers.

If you’re still on Lenten abstinence, there are the vegetable dishes, like bean curd with morel mushrooms, season’s best Hong Kong vegetables, and other choices.

Charisse says that Crystal Dragon has been a big hit with hotel guests, families celebrating a special occasion,  diners who indulge in the sheer pleasure of luxurious Chinese dining, and businessmen for lunch meetings.

For this coming long weekend, I can see myself relaxing with friends at the Crystal Lounge for afternoon tea that could go on and on.

Located at the lobby of Crown Towers, Crystal Lounge features luxurious details in its interiors. It has plush seats and an attentive staff.

The lounge can seat 64 diners and Crown hotel guests have their breakfast of continental buffet here, from 6 to 10 a.m. Open from 6 a.m. to 1  a.m., the lounge offers an all-day a la carte menu.

In the afternoon, Crystal Lounge turns into a quiet space for afternoon tea, with a choice of the traditional (P1,180) or Asian (P1,080), both  offering a wide variety of flavors and finger sandwiches, cakes, warm savories, and pastries.

It also has premium French wines, and whiskies imported by City of Dreams Manila and not available anywhere else in the country. 

So, the choice of staying in Manila for the long weekend just got a whole lot better. It would be a rare glimpse of a calm city, and at the Crown Towers await gastronomic trips and a relaxing vacation. Without even having to leave the city.

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Crystal Dragon restaurant is located at the upper ground floor and Crystal Lounge is located at the lobby of Crown Towers in City of Dreams Manila. Prices indicated are exclusive of service charge and tax.