Chinese food galore at Shang Palace

Location: Makati Shangri La

Before I left for Hong Kong last December, B's grandmother invited B and I for a pre-New Year lunch since I wouldn't be around on the actual celebration. We went there without a reservation, and considering it was a Sunday, we were lucky to get a table. According to our server, only one family is responsible for filling almost the entire place that day. We guessed they must be a regular in the hotel restaurant.

What can I say about the dining experience? Everything was fantastic, from the interiors to the service which was attentive, courteous and quick. The food was superb--authentic and far from the hodgepodge cooking of some Chinese-claiming restaurants in Manila. While we weren't able to take a picture of everything, we managed to capture some of the more presentable dishes.

This is rice cooked in soy sauce with minced vegetables and meat, wrapped in yam leaves. I don't know exactly what it's called and what ingredients are in it but I'm guessing you can eat this on its own, like kiampong or the Chinese version of paella.

Eat the rice with this fried prawns in orange sauce though and you'll find yourself going for seconds and third servings. This is seriously very good, but you can't eat it without at least plain steamed rice as the sweet flavor is too strong. There's a nice size of prawn inside that's meaty, tender and gently flavored to offset the sweet and sour sauce.

The winner of them all! Fried gindara in some light soy sauce. It took me forever to finish my fillet because I wanted it to last forever, and at the time our rice hasn't arrived. I was also afraid that if I ate it quickly, I'd want another one, and there was only one for each. Like the prawns, this is best eaten with plain rice. The restaurant manager recommended this dish, and although it's pricey (Php300 each), we were glad to have listened to her. The fish is crunchy without being too oily, with the meat flaky but not dry. I could've been sighing with every bite.

Other dishes that aren't pictured are ravioli soup (clear soup with mushroom and pork ravioli) and beef stew in special chef stock (Chinese version of corned beef in stock, with vegetables). The experience reminds me of the saying, "When you feel hungry, follow the Chinese; they will surely go where food is good."