PHI: Chowking
The biggest Chinese fast-food chain in the Philippines!
Combining a Western fast-food service style and Chinese food, Chowking was founded in 1985 when burger joints were dominating the Philippine fast-food scene. I remember I dined at one of the branches in Jakarta before, but I couldn't recall what I ate.
Fish Tausi Bowl with Drink PHP 89.00 (~$2.70)
Taste: 7.5/10
The amount of breaded fish fillets and beancurd was adequate. Should they add a bit more salt to the dish, it'd balance the flavour of the black bean sauce which was pretty sweet and slightly spicy. Oh, I paid PHP 20.00 (~S$0.60) extra as I requested for Del Monte pineapple juice instead of anything from the usual selection of common soft drinks.
Sweet and Sour Pork Lauriat with Drink PHP 135.00 (~S$4.05)
Taste: 7.5/10
The pork cutlets were coated with flour before they were fried and drenched in moderately thick sweet and sour sauce which could be a bit sourer. The fried noodle (known as pancit canton in Tagalog, methinks) was pretty average, cooked with cabbage. In my opinion, there wasn't anything special with the rice even though it appeared yellow. Lastly, the deep-fried glutinous rice coated with sesame seeds had an enjoyably sweet lotus cream inside. The drink was Coke Zero.
Beef Chao Fan PHP 69.00 (~S$2.10)
Taste: 6/10
On another occasion, I tried the beef fried rice. Sad to say, it tasted average and pretty mild. There were only a few bits of ground beef with cabbages, carrots and scallions.
Halo-Halo with a Scoop of Ice Cream (Regular) PHP 69.00
Taste: 7.5/10
Nothing could beat a cold, colourful dessert in the middle of a hot day! Sweetened ingredients such as red ruby (or something similar to it) and nata de coco, together with toasted pinipig (a type of immature glutinous rice) were put on top of shaved ice, topped with condensed milk. The purple yam ice cream was nicely sweet and aromatic. Well, even though it appeared like I'd get diabetes should I eat the whole thing by myself, actually it wasn't overly sweet.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 7/10
Ambience: 6/10
Overall: 6.5/10
The rating for the ambience was given for the branch in Intramuros, a fortified district in Manila. Pika's advice: The
prices of the items seem to vary from one branch to another, and those
that appear in the bills I'm holding don't tally with those in the
website. Perhaps the food items are cheaper in non-CBD areas and outside
Metro Manila.
Chowking
8 Aduana Street
Femi Building, Intramuros
Manila
Philippines
(Daily: 7.00am - 11.00pm)
*Prices quoted are nett prices.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
Comments