Love at First Bite: House of Bawai

A few weeks ago, R and I decided to go to Tagaytay for a short weekend getaway. I was looking forward to do the Chicken All-You-Can of Max’s but on our way to Tagaytay, I felt car sick. So instead of munching on some fried goodies, R and I opted to visit House of Bawai. I have never been to House of Bawai but I heard that it’s better than Banoi’s, a Vietnamese restaurant I like.

Hello, House of Bawai.

The place was packed when we got there so we had to wait for a few minutes. I was actually worried since it was already 9PM then so I thought that they will just shoo us away. But I was signaled that they will just clear and we’ll be set for a warm and filling dinner.

We quickly chose Bahn Xeo (PHP280), Pho Bo (PHP365) and Banh Da Lon (PHP55). And while waiting, we tried to make the set up romantic by asking for more candles and the server obliged to our request for more candle table ornaments.

Soon, our appetizer arrived.

The crispy savory crepe was a great start. Drizzling the mushrooms, sprouts prawns and pork filled crepe with the sweet sauce made it even more delightful!

Singing for Chicken

It seems that Hainanese Chicken is becoming more and more popular in Manila. Almost all malls have at least one restaurant offering this dish and Shangri-la is not an exemption.

Sing Hainanese Chicken restaurant is one of the newest restaurants in Shangri-la and we were excited to dine there.

It was already past 8PM and the place was still packed so we thought that it must be a good place to have dinner.

We ordered Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping (PHP180), Roasted Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping (PHP180), Vegetable with Oyster Sauce (PHP150), and Chicken Lumpia (PHP150). I also had Pandan Gulaman Juice (PHP60) since it sounded interesting.

The first two dishes that arrived were the Hainanese and Roasted Hainanese Chicken Rice Topping. The first thing I noticed was the restaurant removed all the bones. (Yipee!) It was served with lettuce and cabbage.



It looked pretty much like the other Hainanese Chicken I had before. The taste though was different. Cooked with soy and sesame oil, it was a bit bland… actually too bland. I dipped it in a lot of ginger and I still could not taste it. The Roasted Hainanese Chicken tasted a bit better as there was more flavor.

As for the rice, it was quite salty and oily. It complements the chicken’s lack of flavor though. I was just not used to it.

The Vegetable with Oyster Sauce was quite good. Sing used fresh vegetables. It was a sweet yet light side dish. I liked the chopped onions best.

As for the Chicken Lumpia, it reminded me of the Bangus Lumpia of Bangus. (Isn’t it weird that there are just so many dishes that tasted like chicken?) I liked it but it was a bit dry.

Oh, for the Pandan Gulaman Juice, it was your typical gulaman… with green gulaman and a hint of pandan.

Sing Hainanese Chicken is located at 6th Floor Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City