In the first Binondo Food Trip, a printed makeshift map marked some of the restaurants that would be interesting to try,however there was just too many to try in one day. Time, money and stomach capacity were limitations imposed on mortal men.
Which just means that there’s more reason to go back for a second wave 😀 !
Luckily, this trip was joined by a foodie group with an unofficial tour guide to try some of Binondo’s yummiest. So off again to another En Route adventure.
Tasty Dumplings Revisited
Tasty Dumplings was first encountered in a small side trip to Binondo, trying out their porkchop rice and fried kuchay dumplings. This time, it was to sample the steamed version of the kuchay dumplings and compare it to the fried one (PHP 69.00 each):
Either variety will be satisfying, but the fried one will give a good crunch and oily complexion that you will sometimes crave. Best partnered with the universal sauce/dip and an order of soya milk (PHP 22.00).
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A Quick Peek Inside Carvajal St.
Up next was a trip to the famous Carvajal St. to gorge on a much celebrated short order shack: Quick Snack
A superstition that some Chinese restaurant owners believe is that don’t change anything in the restaurant if it feels like it is what brings good luck. This goes for their tables, chairs, and even their signboards 😀
If there is something Quick Snack should not change, though, it is their recipe for their miki bihon and ma chang.
The mix of peanuts, spring onion and their miki bihon sauce is a delicious ensemble of flavors. The ma chang is strong in taste and will appeal to the customer looking for umami, sweet and salty flavor with its pork and shiitake mushrooms. And its chewy sticky rice is addicting!
After this stop, things took a turn for the bizaare kind, both in food and its location:
Al Fresco Dining for the Brave
One glance at the picture above, and only a few will find themselves trying this place. However it is surprsing that it has its own bustling community of restaurants:
The most famous would be the Estero Fast Food. They cook seafood fresh and on demand. You even pick it yourself!
Just imagine for one bit that you are not eating beside a Manila estero. Because if you do, then it would be hard to swallow anything, no matter how deep fried it is.
Everything is a feast for the adventurous foodie. Sauteed sea cucumber, bamboo clams, oyster cake and frog legs (for those who cannot distinguish its look from chicken wings, dont’ worry. The taste isn’t that different :P)
Back to Familiarity
After that ordeal, there was a demand for something more familiar and probably the most common cuisine in Binondo: Chinese Food!
Wan Chai Tea House is already a known name so it is difficult to go wrong to get your Chinese food fix here.
Wether it was the familiarity or the shock, the group went ballistic with the orders here: Dumplings of all shapes and sizes, soups, and even radish cake just flew into the table. All savored until the last bite.
Worth trying are hofans and this fried crabstick salad roll. The mix of sweet, salty and fried oil apparently works!
After another afternoon of savoring a little bit more of the Binondo flavors, human limitations kick in once again. So what does that mean?
Another Binondo Food Trip in the future, of course 😀 !
To read more about the other Binondo articles and see what other restaurants were visited, click the link below:
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I miss Wan Chai! 🙂 Yeah, the frog leg tastes good naman e.hehe
Hehe. I also tried it for the first time only when we went to Estero. 😀
[…] Part 2 of our Great Binondo Food Trip is right here. […]