When you want to treat a big group of friends who have big appetites the best and most economical place is a Chinese restaurant. That’s what Jenny did for her birthday treat last January.
In the USA friends treat the birthday celebrant, in the Philippines the celebrant takes on the expensive burden of treating all her friends and family. Whew!
This was only my 3rd time to eat at Hai Shin Lou so I was quite excited to try new flavors and dishes.
I swear we didn’t talk about what to wear. Wearing black just happens a lot.
Deb chose the menu since she was a regular diner at Hai Shin Lou.
Hai Shin Lou set dinner menu
Instead of the usual peanuts they had addicting fried wonton skins.
fried wonton
Our dinner started with unusual and ultra yummy appetizers.
deep fried squid Peking style
stir fried seafood with egg white
I’ve never had shrimp cake like this in other Chinese restaurants. It was already good on it’s own but when when eaten with sesame caramelized walnuts it was even better. It was a really unusual pairing but it worked.
crispy minced shrimp cake with Taiwan pechay & sweet walnuts
Simple but very rich tasting chicken broth.
double boiled chicken soup with bamboo pith & dried scallops
Here’s the birthday girl smiling at the Peking duck.
To maximize the Peking duck Deb had it cooked 3 ways. The first way was the traditional duck meat in wrapper with leeks and hoisin sauce.
Peking duck
The second way was minced duck meat extended with water chestnuts. Iceberg lettuce cups are used as the wrapper this time.
minced duck with lettuce
After all the meat and skin from the Peking duck was utilized the remaining duck bones were fried and seasoned. There was still some meat left on the bones and the parts near the bones were the tastiest.
fried duck bones
stir fried asparagus & cuttlefish with French beans
steamed lapu lapu
I loved the fried sea mantis which tasted just like lobster.
peppercorn sea mantis
Tao Miao or pea shoots are seasonal veggies that come from Hong Kong. They are usually just sautéed with garlic. Topping it with a sauce made with dried scallops was outrageously good.
Hong Kong tao miao with dried scallops
braised e-fu noodles
The red tikoy from Hong Kong was yummy.
tikoy
mango sago with pomelo
Another terrific dinner with the amigas!!!
Hai Shin Lou Seafood King Restaurant
810 Arnaiz Ave., (Formerly Pasay Rd.) San Lorenzo Village,
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
telephone: 892-5148 / 752-7433 / 813-8491
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