Modern Shanghai - Glorietta 2, p3

Last part of my post about Modern Shanghai.


Steamed Shrimp Dumplings
If my mom loves siomai, the Hakaw has got to be my favorite dimsum. This one looks like tortellini, no? Anyway, I loved that the wrapper was strong enough to hold the filling, and I appreciated that the base wasn't soggy - something I usually encounter whenever I order this dimsum. It tasted like how Hakaw taste like. It was good, but just fine.


Fried Shanghai Noodles with Seafood
I am not sure if this was served like this or one of my companions mixed it already before I had a chance to photograph it, but I just want to say that this tasted way much better than it looked.


Wok Fried Sliced Beef with Broccoli
Beef and broccoli is a common food combination in almost all Chinese restaurants... but the difference is that this wasn't saucy. The beef slices were seasoned well and very tender, and obviously, the broccoli were cooked just right - giving the right crunch.


Eight Treasures in Hot Bean Sauce
This tasted a little like Mapo Doufu / Mapo Tofu, without the very fiery spice. I loved the combinations of all the ingredients... but my favorite was whenever I added the cashew nut.


Deep Fried Squid with Spicy Salt and Pepper
Oh I love fried squid! It would have to be my favorite way of cooking squid... and I also love salt and pepper spareribs. Combining both, I was very excited to try this one, but I was a little sad that the squid pieces were tough. Although it was difficult to bite, it was packed with flavor, and chewing more and more of it allowed me to savor more of its taste. This was served as is, but if ever you order this, do ask for a saucer of vinegar. It would an oomph into the dish. The taste made up for the texture, that my brother considered this his favorite dish among the eleven dishes.

If you wanna know my favorites that day... it would have to be the very first one - the Shandong Style Shredded Chicken and the Crispy Noodles.

Modern Shanghai is located at the third floor of Glorietta 2.

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Modern Shanghai - Glorietta 2, p2

I wasn't able to blog yesterday because I was out, but as promised, here's the second of the three-part post about my dining experience at Modern Shanghai located at Glorietta 2. For this post, I will share five of the new dishes you can try at Modern Shanghai.


Steamed Shrimp and Pork Siumai
My mom's favorite food is the Siomai, and because she always choose this whenever we eat at any Chinese Restaurant, she somehow influenced me to love the dish, too. I won't say this is the best I have tasted, but it was really good... and tasted delicious even without the dipping sauce, but of course, dipping siumai in chili toyomansi made it more delicious.


Deep Fried Fish with Spicy Fish Sauce
I love breaded cream dory fish, and this was no exception. The breading is unlike the typical "fish" in Fish and Chips - it was light and airy-fluffy, which reminded me of my favorite fish dish in King Bee. The sauce is indeed spicy, but just right. Personally though, I prefer to have the sauce on the side and not poured over the fish because I just loved the crispiness of the fish and the sauce softened the breading. It's just my personal preference, though.


Crispy Yellow Noodle with Seafood
On my last post about Modern Shanghai, I showed a picture of the staff making hand pulled noodles. I learned that this is one of the dishes that uses freshly made noodles. At first I was a little apprehensive with this one because the first time I ate crispy noodles (at a Chinese Fast Food), it was so difficult to eat. This one had smaller noodles, and even without the sauce, the noodles were a joy to eat. The sauce was great. It was thick, flavorful... and the seafood were cooked just right.


Sliced Marinated Pork Knuckle
I love pork pata! When I saw this on the menu, it was the dish I most looked forward to tasting, and when I did, I was a little disappointed. The pork was cooked good - it was firm but tender, and it was a good thing that the fat wasn't that much (at least one could still eat a good serving of meat if one isn't into fatty part of the pork), but it just lacked taste. I actually dipped my pork into the dipping sauce provided when the Shandong Style Shredded Chicken was served.


Native Hong Kong Crispy Chicken
The word "native" is the same when we used it for native Pinoy chicken, so I expected this to be a bit on the tough side. People from Modern Shanghai told us these free-range chickens were imported from Hong Kong, and can be a little tougher from the local kind, but to my surprise it was cooked really good! True to what we all know about native chickens, the flavors just seeped through and through, and the toasted garlic bits provided more goodness to the dish. It was different from the usual Chinese fried chicken I've tasted, and this was one of my top 3 dishes from that food trip.

Next five dishes will be shared tomorrow.

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Razon's of Guagua (SM City Fairview)

When Razon's of Guagua opened at SM Fairview, mom and sister have wanted to dine there. There was the curiosity to taste their ever famous Halo-Halo, but brother was teasing us because he was able to dine at Razon's in Pampanga... therefore he felt what he tasted was more authentic. Actually, if I was given the choice, I sure want to dine at any of their branches in Pampanga (like the way I went to Deco's in La Paz, Iloilo just to eat their La Paz Batchoy), but because a trip to Pampanga was very hazy, this will do for now.


The size of this branch may just be okay... but every time we pass by during lunch and dinner, the restaurant is always jam packed. We were quite lucky to have entered at the right time, because in just 30 minutes, the place was filled with hungry diners.

What we had:


Pancit Luglug
My choice. This is my type of pancit luglug (or palabok) - with slightly fatter noodles. This may look simple, but it was really good. There's something in the sauce was quite different from the other of its kind I have tasted, and I wouldn't mind eating this again and again.


Sisig
Pampanga is a province known for its delectable dishes, and one of the dishes that originated in Pampanga is Sisig, and that's what my sister chose. I think this is one of her favorite dishes because in the many food trips we've had, she would always choose this (if available).

This has been the simplest Sisig we've tasted. As you can see, it's all chopped pork (and calamansi) - no chicharon, no egg, no other extenders... but it was very tasty and satisfying!


Chicken - Pork Asado
Brother's choice, and he was very happy when this was served to him because it was a very hearty serving! A big chunk of pork and one big chicken leg, cooked to asado perfection. The pork, even if it was thick was tender and juicy, and very tasty, too. However, between the pork and the chicken, I preferred the chicken more.


Sizzling Bulalo
Mom's choice. Another hearty serving of a dish, which we all shared. Actually, because it was our first time to dine here, we shared all our choices. At first we were a bit apprehensive if this one would taste good, but it did! The beef was very tender and the sauce was great as well.


Halo-Halo
Us three girls had a glass of Halo-Halo for dessert. True to what people say, the ice was the one that sets this apart from other Halo-Halo. It was delicious alright, and I loved it, but I personally prefer my Halo-Halo to be packed with different ingredients. My sister loved it very much because there are a lot of the usual Halo-Halo ingredients she doesn't like, but even if I loved this Halo-Halo tasted, I would still choose the one with tapioca pearls, sweet potatoes, ube, and even pinipig.


Silvanas
Since brother didn't go for the Halo-Halo, he went for a piece of Silvanas for his dessert. Nothing exceptional as this tasted like any other Silvanas we've tasted.


San Nicolas
This we bought to take home because this is uniquely a Pampangueno cookie. It is called San Nicolas to pay homage to St. Nicolas Tolentino, the patron saint of bakers. I truly love this one. Tasted a little bit like uraro and puto seko, but quite different as well.

Razon's of Guagua still has so many dishes to offer, something we will come back for next time.

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Hap Chan Tea House (SM City Fairview)

It was daddy's birth anniversary, and although he was already long gone, we still do celebrate it. Mom suggested we eat at Hap Chan Tea House because she and her friends just recently went there and she liked their dimsum (she loves Siomai, by the way).


It did have the Chinese-inspired decorations, minus the lazy susan tables - something I appreciated (I personally don't like lazy susan tables that much). It was spacious, but people in super big groups might have a difficult time finding an area to fit all of them. We were just four for this food trip, so we can certainly sit anywhere.


Hakaw
Mom may love Siomai so much, but she loves shrimps more. This one was good, it had about three whole shrimps inside, and if we didn't come here to eat lunch, I would definitely go for one serving of this, all for myself. But of course, we just had one Hakaw each for this food trip.


Mixed Meat Canton
No need to wish daddy "long life," but I guess any celebrations would always call for a good serving of noodles, and that was just we had. Vegetables were cooked just right - not really half cooked, but still not soggy (it still had its crunch), and it had enough meat in it (some meat cuts were under the noodles). What I loved the most was the noodles - it was a little chewy and not the types that just melts in the mouth.


Steamed Fish Fillet
This was my suggested dish, and I was a teeny bit disappointed because of the toppings. It was actually okay, but I guess the ginger flavor was a little too strong for me.


Fried Fish in Salt and Pepper
My sister and I loved ordering Spareribs in Salt and Pepper in Chinese Restaurants, but because I was convincing them to go for fish instead of pork, we went for this. This was a very good alternative.


Sauteed Beef with Broccoli Flowers
Nothing really exceptional... I think we all know how this dish would taste like, this was no different.


Strawberry Sundae
Sister's dessert. I loved it because it's Magnolia Strawberry Ice Cream - my favorite. Although, I only had a taste of this, as I didn't want to deprive my sister of her ice cream... besides, my tummy can't tolerate that much dairy products.



Drinks.
Brother had lemonade, I had Watermelon Shake, sister decided to go for water (as she already had her dessert), and mom just content herself with the complimentary tea.

The celebration was great... and I would definitely go back here to eat more of their Hakaw.

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Hap Chan Tea House
2/F SM City Fairview,
Quirino Highway cor Regalado Highway Greater Lagro, Quezon City
+63 (02) 352-7903

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