UPDATE: July 13, 2014
Yesterday we ate at Century Seafood again just a little over a month from the last time. We had the same Buddha Jumped Over the Wall plus a few new dishes which I really liked. I decided to just add the pictures to this post.
Sea mantis or mantis shrimp in Chinese restaurants is usually served fried or steamed with garlic. This was my first time to try simply steamed sea mantis on ice with a sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar and a little sugar. It was fantastic! The texture was somewhere in between lobster and shrimp and it was sweet and succulent. The head contained a lot of meat and the waiter patiently extracted it all and served it to us.
In Chinese it’s called “so kak” because there’s a soft shell just inside the hard shell. This is my favorite crab and it’s really hard to find in the market. Just look at all the glorious crab fat! The meat is extra plump & sweet too.
You can see the thin red skin holding all the fat in this picture. We ate this with black vinegar to cut the richness of the crab fat.
We ordered the abalone again because it was soooo soft. They take a can of abalone and cook it unopened in a pressure cooker that’s why it’s extra soft.
This fried rice made with abalone sauce was wetter than the usual fried rice. It reminded me of Hokkien fried rice. The flavor was subtle but quite good too but my favorite remains to be the crab fried rice pictured below.
Dessert is my favorite Ube Mochi Balls which have a subtle ube (purple yam) flavor, chewy texture, peanut filling and rolled in desiccated coconut. It’s not so sweet that’s why I can eat 4-5 at one time.
June 8, 2014 Lunch
I don’t get to eat at The Century Seafood Restaurant as much as I want to because it’s just so far. It’s located in the Century Park Hotel in Manila right across Harrison Plaza.
I thought it was going to be the usual Sunday lunch so I didn’t even bring my camera. My eyes almost popped out when the huge platter of giant razor clams was put on the table. These clams were about two fingers width and a few inches longer than my index finger.
Despite the large size the clam meat was quite tender and sweet and the simple soy based sauce with lots of garlic was just perfect. Adding the vermicelli or sotanghon was a nice touch. I confess to eating 4 pieces.
Canned abalone stewed til super tender and served with large shiitake mushrooms was a treat I don’t mind having often.
My favorite dish was the fried rice with lots and lots of Chinese sausage (lap chong) and topped with freshly picked crab meat. It was a meal in a bowl.
Another dish unique to The Century was this slow cooked tender beef brisket that was dipped in flour or cornstarch and flash fried. Imagine biting into a crisp exterior followed by succulent beef. Choi Garden made a similar dish but it was inferior to this.
I didn’t eat the fried shrimp since I was full already. You can eat the shell and head of this shrimp. No need to peel!
I hope you can try all these dishes yourself specially the clams, rice and beef. It was really worth the trip. I suggest going on a Sunday when there’s less traffic. The down side is there’s usually a wedding reception on Sundays and it’s hard to get a table.
The Century Seafood Restaurant
Ground Floor Century Park Hotel
Pablo Ocampo St. corner M. Adriatico St.
Malate, Manila
telephone: 524-1821 to 27
Shoot First Eat Later 