27 Septemeber, Binondo Manila - Food. Food. and Food everywhere. Aside from food, Chinese, Chinese, and Chinese everywhere. When put together, Chinese Food everywhere. Almost every country that I have been to has their own China town from Petaling Street of Malaysia to Chinatown, Singapore. I have not been to Mainland China so I do not really know how authentic Chinese food taste like, but Chinatowns' foods are the most authentic that I could get every time I am travelling be it in South Korea, Singapore or any where in the world.
Philippines Chinatown also known as Binondo is just a few minutes walk from Manila Central Post Office, and from the famous shopping lane of Divisoria. I have been to Binondo many times but still have not explored much of the food there. So this time, we give it a try to explore Binondo's hidden food gem. With our deep love with Chinese food, we will take all the risk and cost of this journey just to satisfy our cravings for it. So after our countless readings for food blog reviews, and thorough research about the area, these are some of the places that we have been to. We haven't reached our target of ten food stops, but five food stops is really not that bad. Dong Bei Dumplings (642 ET Yuchengco St. cor V Tytana St., Binondo Manila) - Famous place for their own Kuchay dumplings and also their Xia Long Bao. Their Xia Long Bao is even included in the Looloo's Xia Long Bao's list to try in the Metro. Their dumplings is made to order and you can even see their staffs doing it once you order it. Better be in the restaurant early as the seats could get crowded on meal time and only limited to a few customers. Also one thing to try is their Wong Lo Kat herbal tea to quench the heat and to pair for your dumplings.
Wai Ying Tea House (Benavidez St., Binondo, Manila) - We ordered Curry Pork Siomai, Hakaw and Chiuchao dumpling. We also ordered their Milk Tea. Hakaw must be my favorite among on what we ordered. Curry Pork Siomai tastes also great but just too oily for me. Chiuchao dumplings is made of chicken, peanuts, and some herb, which make it taste weird for me. But over all, I like it all except their Milk tea. Comparing their Milk tea in what is sold in the streets of Thailand and mamak of Malaysia, theirs is way way behind. I also somehow find it overpriced.
Eng Bee Tin - A trip to Binondo would not be complete without bringing home flavored Hopia. This place is famous for their flavored hopia aside from the normal flavor of monggo and ube. You can try their famous Kondol (Wintermelon), Buko Pandan, Mochacinno, and Custard. Each pack of four hopia will not cost you more than $1.00. Not bad, eh?
I know these are just few of the restaurants out there but due to time constraints, we haven't visited much of it. Our target was to try almost ten restaurants but we got very full even only on our third food stop. Maybe next time, we could give it a try for the other ones out there. That's how passionate we are with Chinese food. We will never get tired of it even over and over again. So if you ask us how much is the total damage, I must say more or less P500 ($12.0). Really not bad, eh? Delicious Food, Cheap Prices - What's not to love about Binondo, right?
