the mother ship

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

To celebrate with our buddies in the Fil-Chi community, I want to write about one of their best contributions to our country. And I don’t mean tikoy, I mean Le Ching.

Le Ching has been talked about here in Bogchi before, but this time we’re talking about the Banawe branch. Over a week ago, I had a job to do in the area and decided to go early to finally check out where it all began. (Actually, I really don’t know what came first, the Le Chings in Greenhills, or this one on Banawe. But like the chicken or the egg argument, it’s moot and academic. Basta! Masarap!)

The Banawe branch will give you exactly what you crave for, and more. The usual combo of spareribs rice and chili garlic is incapable of failing. But in this particular branch, they have an extended menu featuring more short order choices in addition to the usual rice toppings or dimsum. I was feeling adventurous so I ordered the fried chicken. Haha. Also, the savory radish cake deserves a mention because it’s deep fried in a portable station right in the middle of the resto as opposed to being done inside the kitchen.

I probably won’t travel all the way to this part of town for my spareribs rice fix because the Greenhills branches are way closer. Unless I’m in it for the nostalgia. This particular Le Ching is actually on the corner of Banawe and Del Monte and a few blocks away from the house I grew up in. Had I known that Banawe would evolve into this Chinese food haven (aside from being an auto surplus supply haven), I would have never moved away.

Out of this world

We’ve been remiss.

For an almost strictly MidMetMan * dweller like me, going to Ambos Mundos is like going to another world because it’s located in, well a side street off Recto. So it was really cool that fellow food blogger, Tish, got Issa and me to accompany her to this part of the Metro.

Yep, that is a pig at the entrance of the canteen.

Ambos Mundos, according to the photocopied news clippings slipped into the menu holder, has been around for a while. It’s primarily a Filipino comfort food eatery with a heavy Spanish influence (ambos does mean both). The ground floor is an open air cantina, where you order from their long list of rice toppings, among others. Upstairs is the airconditioned dining area.

Anyway, to the meal at hand, first to arrive was my drink, Cold Milo. This is probably my next favorite drink after cold milk tea. Which makes me wonder why I just don’t buy Milo and make it myself. Still, it was great, and complete with unmelted Milo bits.

Next up were the house specialties, Paella Ambos and the morcon. Paella Ambos is Paella With Everything On It. It had crab, shrimp, oysters, clams, chicken and pork. The small order (P390) was good enough for us hungry three. While they surely didn’t scrimp on the ingredients, I think I like mine to be of the more traditional Valencia type, including the toasted underside.

Not a cause for worry, because the rest of the viand were pretty good. Can’t remember having morcon (P227) before, but this roll of beef was tasty. And while I mistook those red tubes to be hotdogs, thankfully, it was real, good sausage.

We then had inihaw na liempo and torta crabmeat sa talukap. The liempo, normal and all, was my pick. It doesn’t quite go with the whole Spanish theme, but grilled pork (and toasted fat) was pretty good with their sweet and spicy sauce. I forget the price but one order should be good enough for two or three.

I sort of arm-twisted Issa into order the torta crabmeat because my lola used to make this exact dish and I wanted to compare. I’m happy to say that the Ambos Mundos version was up for the comparison. The crabmeat was tasty, and even if it was priced at P200 per, it was one fat, stuffed crabshell.

At the end of the meal, we got the ginataan and bibingka. The ginataan wasn’t exceptional and won’t even make this story. But the bibingka was pretty good. Interesting that they mix sesame seeds with the niyog and sugar. I like my kakanins and rice cakes, and this was awesome.

Incidentally, right across Ambos Mundos is what seems to be a famous Chinese resto / panciteria – Wah Sun (formerly known as Sun Wah, seriously). Carlos Celdran’s blog says that, way back, the families of each restaurant intermarried. Interesting twist to the whole “both worlds” idea. Anyway, the product of that marriage is the fact that you can now cross order dishes from either restos.

Sounds like this makes for another great reason to head out of MidMetMan (okay, annoying).

Notes:
1. Ambos Mundos is on F. Torres St, Sta Cruz, Manila. Tel no is 733-1160.

2. We were given the heads up that parking might be difficult. We took the LRT2 line (from Gateway) and got off at the end, Recto. Get on the side of Isetan, head towards Rizal, cross it, and you’ll see F. Torres St on your left. For LRT1 line users, I think Doroteo Jose might be your stop. I think.

*Middle Metro Manila. My pauso term for the area within the triangle of the QC-San Juan border, Pasig and Makati. Also Taguig… so I guess we have to make that a rhombus

Dong Bei

Turns out I had to be in Escolta for work today. I decided to make a food trip out of it and searched online for recommendations. Dong Bei was mentioned in several blogs as one of the stops in Ivan Man Dy's Binondo walking tour (which I would love to take one of these days).

From my meeting in Plaza Cervantes, I walked in the direction of the Binondo Church and beyond. I took my cue from Gene Gonzalez and ordered fried dumplings and dry soybean noodles. A tour group (I presume Ivan's) entered the place as I was having my meal, allowing me to shamelessly eavesdrop for a few minutes. I would have wanted to try other dishes but the servings were too large. Next time, I'll make sure to bring reinforcements. 

I spent around P250 for 10 fried dumplings, a bowl of noodles, and a can of beer.

not another Greenhills Chinese resto review

First off, shout out to YUMMY for being crazy enough to feature a delinquent blog like ours. Now we feel the pressure to keep this place up.

Anyway, back to my Greenhills-based Chinese restos. While Greenhills on weekends is such a chore, Greenhills on weekday mornings isn’t so bad. When I have the time, I make sure to work out at the gym early so that I can get a big lunch at Le Ching Too (the second one, orange interiors, not the first one, green interiors, food is the same though).


Le Ching Too is my mother’s worst resto nightmare. She questions the restaurant’s hygiene and food preparation techniques. Personally, I turn a blind eye. You do that for love.

Le Ching is best at what it does. It doesn’t have an extensive menu. And from that short menu, stick to what you know. You either get a rice topping, or noodles. A lot of people like the Beef Brisket Rice, I’m not a big fan though. I like the Chicken and Black Mushroom Rice a lot. But what I really love is their Spareribs Rice. It’s a load of tender, tasty pork ribs on top of steamed rice. Served in a steel bowl. I wonder if the steel bowl is for making me feel that eating at Le Ching is an authentic Chinese peasant/proletariat dining experience. I’m not quite sure.

When I was there last, I sort of veered off the tried and tested path. I tried their Shrimp Cheongfan. Not so good. The flour-y(?) wrap was too thick, and sort of overwhelmed the pitiful shrimp stuffings.

Next time, I’m sticking to the rice toppings. Or I’ll finally try their noodles. Like I said, I’m not a big noodle fan, but I’ve been… growing up. I saw someone order the Stewed Beef Brisket Noodles. The noodles get served with a hearty amount of brisket on top, and the soup is served separately. I’m looking forward to that.

It has to be said that a large part of Le Ching’s success are the little things that come with the food. Like their famous chili garlic. I want to know how they make it. Or at least where they make it. I want to raid the place, and steal a whole vat. That ought to give me half a lifetime’s worth of chili garlic. While I was there, there was a guy at the next table who raved that he takes his sinigang with Le Ching’s chili garlic. Weirdo. But hey, I want to know where he gets his stash. No local Chinese resto has duplicated the truly garlic-flavored Le Ching mix.

And so as not to be overpowered by the wonderfully spicy chili garlic, order their cold soya milk too. It’s not too sweet, and it retains the subtle flavor of soy, unlike the over-flavored, commercial variants.

Le Ching’s been around for years. I started eating there in high school. It’s not really a secret, given by the large lunch and dinner crowds at both Greenhills branches. But I haven’t seen anyone write about the place. Lately, at least. So I’m giving it my stamp of approval: It’s the only place where I’m happy to pay to eat out of a steel bowl.

Le Ching and Le Ching Too are both located in the basement level of Shoppesville, Greenhillls Shopping Center. Le Ching (green interiors) is across McDonalds, Le Ching Too (orange interiors) is closer to the tiangge, the row of Ricky Reyes. I hear there’s a branch at Trinoma, but I haven’t been. Dishes are large single servings, and are mostly in the P70-100 range.

pancit nanaman!

On most Sundays, I avoid Greenhills like the plague. The whole shopping center may be undergoing a facelift, but the place is still an urban planning nightmare. Traffic and parking sucks on weekends, and especially now that we’re heading into the freakin’ holidays.

So I was sort of pissed that our mother wanted to eat lunch at Casa Reyes, another offshoot from the Aristocrat family of restos (by my count, there’s Alex III, Serye, and Reyes BBQ). I was hungry, in no mood to argue, and even more ticked off to find the resto full.

That turned out to be a blessing in the sky(!) because I suddenly remembered that we hadn’t eaten at Sun Moon Garden in the longest time.

Sun Moon Garden has been in Greenhills since… forever. We used to eat there almost every Sunday when our church was actually in the shopping center. And Sun Moon isn’t actually a garden. It’s really in the basement of Shoppesville, right behind the row of ID photo booths, where I used to get my ID photos done back in the pre-digital age. (Nowadays, I just shoot myself.)

Anyway, Sun Moon is known for its pancit canton and that’s because it has the best pancit canton. Ever. And that’s coming from the guy who’s not very fond of noodles and pasta. Hold on, I’m not sure if it’s actually listed as Sun Moon Pancit Canton on the menu. Basta. It’s the one with tender noodles that’s not so thin, yet not so thick (medium?). It’s got this tasty brownish sauce that’s not too gooey. Also it’s got a mound of vegetables and seafood on it. Like a lot of the Chinese dishes that have come our way, it’s a meal in itself. The small-sized order was just right for the three of us.

For nostalgia’s sake, we also ordered my favorite Fried Shrimp Balls. It was deep fried to a golden, crispy outside, nice and soft inside finish. It’s served with a more-sweet-than-sour sauce, and should be eaten with that.

Our only mistake was ordering the Deep Fried Lapu Lapu with Oyster Sauce. The fish wasn’t fresh at all. It was also an expensive mistake, being the priciest dish among our orders. We should have gone with the Oriental Sizzling Beef (something like that) that every table except ours seemed to have.

Since it's located in the basement, and because it's a Chinese resto, don’t expect much ambiance. Here’s a photo of the interiors, in all its fluorescent-lit glory.


Small-sized orders are good for three, or a hungry two, and average around P200. Except for that lame Lapu Lapu dish which set us back around 400 bucks. Sun Moon Garden is located at the basement level of Shoppesville, Greenhills Shopping Center. Tel. no 721-0856.