Shi Lin at the Podium

Right now, there are a lot of Xiao Long Bao stores opening in Manila. There's Suzhou for one, and Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, and now, there's Shi Lin restaurant in the 3rd level of The Podium in Pasig.



We visited a few days after it opened. They say it's one of the version of the famous Din Dai Fung of Taiwan, but I have yet to try it there. It's now a growing trend to have a see-through kitchen where you can observe how they prepare your food.



Of course, we had to try their Xiao Long Bao, to compare with all others we've tried. We loved it. I say it's one of the best, in you just consider the taste. It's not as big as the ones served in Suzhou, but a crate has 6 pcs in it. Suzhou's shredded ginger and Chinese black vinegar, the one you dip your Xiao Long Bao in, is still the best in my opinion.



We also got their version of Shrimp and Pork Dumpling, which is equally good. You could taste a good combination of shrimp and pork. Next time I would love to try their Shrimp and Pork Shaomai, which I heard tastes better.



Another dish we ordered was the Noodles with Spicy Sesame & Peanut Sauce. Although I would say that the dish was a lot smaller than we expected (because the serving size is only good for one) the overall taste is great. The noodles were cooked a bit on the al dente side, and the flavors of the spicy sesame and peanut sauce is just fantastic! I tried mixing it with the rice, and it was just insanely yummy.



The last dish we got was the Drunken Chicken. It was my first time to be able to sample a cold dry chicken dish served with soup. It was a little bit odd for my taste, but with soy and chili, I guess it worked for me.



We also tried out their Passion Berry Iced Tea (right) and their Green Mistique Iced Tea (left). I love the latter one, which is what I had :)

XO Kitchen's Special Chinese Comfort Food

XO Kitchen "a chinese delicacy" is a simplistic, almost hole-in-the-wall type, yet artistic and eye-catching Chinese restaurant that serves delicious home-cooked comfort Chinese favorites, passed on in the Tan family, along Jupiter street in Bel-air, Makati. Last week, my former adviser and fellow alumni Florencio Sebastian III (Mr. Sebs or Sebs, as we fondly call him) invited us to try out this restaurant he made and helped designed. As I was intrigued both by the looks of the restaurant and the food, of course, I accepted the invite :)

XO Kitchen's Menu: Ala Carte (Pork, Seafood, Beef/Mutton, Chicken/Pigeon), and Noodles/Soup Menu | Rice Meal (Pork, Seafood, Chicken, Beef), Dimsum, and Others Menu | Vegetables, Rice, Egg, Desserts, and Drinks Menu | New Dishes
From Buendia, we turned right at Makati Avenue, and took the left to Jupiter St. From there, it's to your right; it's easy to spot. At first look, you can see the well designed outside structure, that sure makes passersby curious about the restaurant. Since I don't really like to do the ordering for a bunch of people, and we were just invited, we asked Mr. Sebs to order for everyone. He got us these food, which he likes and are his personal favorites.


Fried Noodle with Seafood (Php 130) - You can still taste the crunchy to soft noodles, with really tasty sauce and generous serving of different kinds of seafood. | Seafood Fried Rice with Salted Fish (Php 120) - I'm not really fond of fried rice with fish, but this tasted well. The fish blended well with the rice and other ingredients put into the dish. I just hope that the serving size was bigger. In any case, two servings of the rice were enough for 5 adult men who had not had their breakfast at 11:30am. :))


Their dimsums are a must try! I haven't had the chance to try their Hakaw, which, in my personal opinion, should be the benchmark on how good the dimsum set of restaurants are (if you had to measure or compare). We had the Fried Shrimp Wonton (Php 85) and the Shrimp Kutchay Puff (Php 75). I would suggest you stick with the Fried Shrimp Wonton; or better yet, get the steamed Hakaw (Php 95), which I would say will taste great, based on the taste of the Fried Shrimp Wonton. Yummy. I crave. I crave!


The star of the show, well one of (because they're all good, I tell you!), is the Steamed Three (3) Kinds Egg (Php 100) - This dish is made up of chicken egg, duck egg and century egg. Can you imagine? It's soft, smooth, and melts in your mouth. The sauce can use some more kick for my taste, but it tasted great as it is.


If you're craving for some beef, I recommend that you try the XO Kitchen Beef Special (Php 230), which is made of premium soft beef with really tasty sauce and herbs in the dish. I also recommend that you get the Breaded Fish with Seaweed (Php 230). Although you can't really taste the seaweed in the fish (or that was just me?) this breaded fish dish is a winner. It comes with a tartar sauce to enhance the flavors.


For dessert, you can try the Black Gulaman (Php 50) or the Mantou or fried bread (Php 60) which comes with condensed milk dip. But I heard their Sesame Ball with Almond Milk is also a winner! :) The photos below are a) Mr. Sebs ordering our food b and c) interiors of the restaurant. I enjoyed my lunch, and I was very satisfied with the food. I will surely go back, maybe with friends or with my family! Nomnomnom! :)))