There was rarely any other Saturday that I woke up so excitedly even when I lacked sleep. I didn’t mind being up by 1030 am despite coming home from a High School reunion at 230am. I was eagerly anticipating brunch slash long lunch at Makati Shangrila’s The Shang Palace.
Shang Palace has always been a favorite and I’ve never been back since my grandpa passed on. As I entered the top-rated Chinese restaurant in Manila, I was gulping down tears of memories, remembering my grandpa.
After turning one corner, the hostess directed us to where our favorite foodie friends were occupying a large round table. It was a beautiful Saturday lunch as we all partook in Shang Palace’s Dimsum Buffet, which we first found out from Richard (and Irene) of TalesfromtheTummy.blogspot.com. They have ordered ahead for everyone to share, initially 20 pieces of Hakao (steamed shrimp dumplings) and Pork Siomai.
The Foodie Club that day consisted of Richard, Irene, ZP (Carlos), Carlos’ friend Faith (who joined us for the first time), Grace (who we shared the inaugural lunch of STV’s Hainanese Chicken set at Richard’s place and who’s great in appreciating good food), Peter, Bubba and me.
Irene and Richard
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ZP and Faith
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Shang Palace Dimsum Buffet
11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
PHP 995 net (PHP 810 + 10% service charge and applicable government taxes)
Unlimited Dimsum +
Endless servings of soup, appetizer, rice,
noodles, congee, vegetarian dishes, dessert +
a choice of one main course per person (personal size)
Strictly no leftovers! 😉
On the Table
Dimsum
Steamed Giant Shrimp Crystal Skin Dumplings
Steamed Shanghai “Xiao Lung Pao”
Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce
Steamed Pork Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce
Spinach Dumplings Stuffed with Shrimp
Baked Barbecue Pork Pie with Apple
Deep Fried Ham Shui Kok Stuffed with Minced Pork and Chicken
Hong Kong style deep fried shrimp spring rolls
Deep Fried Taro Puffs with Diced Scallop
Appetizer
Honey Glazed Barbecue Pork
Chilled Marinated Beef Kenchi
Jelly Fish with Century Egg
Marinated Soyed Bean Curd
Soup
Shredded Fish Lip Soup
Sichuan Style Hot and Sour Soup
Noodles
Stir fried noodles “Fujian” style
Efu noodles with three kinds of mushrooms
Main Course
(1 main course per person)
Hot Prawn Salad (3)
Deep fried pork spareribs in fragrant garlic and chili spice (1)
Stir Fried beef tenderloin cubes in black pepper sauce (1)
Steamed Lapu Lapu fillet with garlic sauce
Dessert
Chilled Mango Puree with Sago and Diced Mango
Chilled Almond Jelly with Mixed Fruits
Sweetened Almond Cream with Glutinous Pudding
Chilled Grass Jelly with Sago
This is a list of what we all ordered… or at least from what I can remember from the delicious feast that was in front of me. For Dimsum, we tried as many as our famed dimsum favorites. What I love about Shang Palace’s Dimsum Plus is the fact that they cook as you order. The dimsum items come out fresh from the kitchen and not sitting in a waiting area for quite some time then served to you.
Of note also is their steamed giant shrimp dumpling in thin translucent flour skin which gives a perceptively melting effect in the mouth. The shrimp inside is very plump and fresh. The hakao bite just slides down cleanly in your tummy and there’s absolutely no trace of MSG or heaviness –very clean-tasting. I dare say, best Hakao in town.
Their pork siomai comes with a morsel of shrimp surprise and generous amount of roe on top. All the ingredients of this little circular dice of siomai come together beautifully and it’s a wonderful taste in the mouth. No taste of extenders here, just quality ingredients that you know is a cut above the rest.
The Xiao Lung Pao is definitely not their strongest suit because there’s no warm soup broth that bursts as you pop it in your mouth and the wrapper was a bit thicker than expected. If they can make it any closer to Din Tai Fung’s version, I’ll be there every other weekend!!! They serve it with soy-ed vinegar with sliced ginger stalks. At any rate, I think I was still able to finish 6-7 pieces of their Xiao Lung Pao.
The Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce was not that greasy and was full of flavor you’d really leached in. I’m not a big fan of chicken feet (I only eat it once in a long while) and I could only usually finish one. I had two this time and if I weren’t stuffing my mouth with the other dimsums, I would have digested more chicken feet. ZP (he loves chicken feet) would have found a big competition in me.
The Deep Fried Taro Puffs with Diced Scallop and Deep Fried Ham Shui Kok were quite a big hit on the table crowd. Irene, Peter, Bubba and Grace all raved about the Ham Shui Kok which is basically minced pork and chicken wrapped in some crisp glutinous wrapper. When you bite into the Deep Fried Taro Puff, it crumbles beautifully albeit messily and reveals the semi-sticky scallop-taro ensemble inside.
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To deviate from the clean-tasting dimsum treats, order the Hong Kong style deep fried shrimp spring rolls and crunch into a crisp goodness. Get a bit of sweetness and savory from the baked barbecue pork pie with apple. Grace almost didn’t share her piece.
The Spinach dumplings with shrimp are also another must-try.
The appetizers we ordered were completely wiped out with no complaints and if we had room for it, we could certainly order another round of honey glazed barbecue pork, chilled marinated beef kenchi, and jellyfish with century egg (a favorite appetizer of mine).
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We each had our own serving of soup. Majority ordered the fish lip soup (another favorite of mine when it comes to Chinese soups –second to Sibot or Duck Soup) while Bubba got his favorite of Sichuan hot and sour soup.
For main course, make sure you order Hot Prawn Salad or Stir Fried Beef Tenderloin in Black Pepper Sauce because it surely satisfied almost everyone in the group.
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I think you can already figure out dessert for yourself. I have to stop here before I pass out. I’m getting so famished after reliving that Saturday lunch I had with the Foodie Club.
Service is top notch as I’m accustomed to from The Shang Palace excellent wait staff –very knowledgeable of the menu items, friendly and so easy to call with a quick eye contact or wave of hand. Entertainment was as usual provided by Peter (who was in attendance without Rowena of animetric.com) who made us laugh and smile our way through lunch. Stories of food, current events and personal anecdotes were all over the lunch table and it made the experience all the more fun and enjoyable. Fantastic time like this over good food is best shared with foodie friends!
Peter, Grace, Irene, Richard, ZP, Everybody’s Janey, Faith and Bubba 😉
A REPEAT of the Shang Palace Dimsum Buffet, is without a doubt, a must on my Things to Do list. It was one of the most worthwhile things I’ve done on a Saturday.
The Shang Palace
2nd Floor, Makati Shangrila Hotel
Ayala Avenue, Makati City, Philippines.
(632) 813 8888
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