A couple of days ago our family on my father’s side celebrated Chinese New Year. My cousin Bobby chose to have our dinner at Choi Palace in Eastwood Mall.
It was my first time to eat at the sister restaurant of my favorite Chinese restaurant in Manila, Choi Garden. I wondered if the food would be as good.
Instead of passing through Eastwood Mall our driver dropped as off at the lobby of the Richmonde Hotel and we took the elevator up to the 3rd floor to Choi Palace. This was the easiest and most convenient way to reach the restaurant if you have a driver.
Richmonde Hotel
As expected the restaurant was fully booked. They even had a second seating.
We entered through the back of the restaurant.
This was at the front of the restaurant if you passed through Eastwood Mall.
The last time I came to Eastwood was to watch Chris Daughtry’s concert in 2008. There wasn’t an Eastwood Mall then. I was amazed at how nice the landscape was.
The lights changed colors every few seconds.
Their table setting was very un-Chinese looking. Nice!
The lechon macau was lean, crisp and yummy. The jelly fish tasted even better than at Choi Garden. I wouldn’t say the same for the char siu or roast pork asado.
lechon cold cuts
birthday misua
For me this is the best tofu dish. The tofu tasted more like flavored egg custard than plain, bland tofu. Even at Choi Garden this was my favorite dish. Well one of my many favorites.
polon tofu w/ sea cucumber & black mushroom
steamed lapu lapu w/ soy sauce
The nice thing about Bobby ordering was all the new dishes I got to try. Whenever we eat at Choi Garden we tend to order the same food.
Their take on cereal prawns was quite satisfactory. The cereal topping wasn’t greasy. It was crisp and tasty.
baked cereal prawns
baked crab w/ salted egg yolk
On the other hand the skin of the Peking duck was very greasy. They didn’t scrape the fat out unlike at Peking Garden.
Peking duck
When we order Peking duck 2 ways we usually order fried duck bones for the second way so we can maximize the meat for wrapping. When I tasted the dish below I thought it was beef in black pepper sauce. I love, love, love it! I later learnt that it was duck meat. The meat was lean, tender and spicy from lots of pepper. This was my most favorite dish that night. I will be sure to order it at Choi Garden next time.
I took home the left overs and ate it for lunch and dinner for 3 consecutive days. It was fantastic with plain rice. Thanks Bobby for ordering this!
shredded duck meat w/ black pepper sauce
The black chicken soup was another first for me. The broth was rich and very flavorful. I had two bowls of soup.
shell meat black chicken soup
They put the black chicken from the soup on the table should anyone want to eat it.
black chicken
masachi
hot taro soup
Mango pudding in big chunks. Where have you been all my life? Delish!!!
mango pudding jelly
It was a very nice dinner. The food was definitely at par with Choi Garden. The service was good considering how full the place was. We never had to wait long for any dish. They also gave us a bottle of wine for free.
Another plus was a roving photographer who took our picture and gave us a copy as a souvenir. Since he gave us only one copy I did took a picture of the picture so I will have my own copy. Smart huh? I should have taken pictures of everyone’s pictures. Duh.
cousins Kevin, moi, Deborah, Bobby and wife Carol and daughter Caitlin
Choi Palace
Shoot First Eat Later 