Wednesday, September 22, 2010

World’s Best: Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

I’ve never been to any foreign land, but when I visited the newly opened and the first ever branch of Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao at Virra Mall in Greenhills Shoping Center, San Juan, it feels like I’ve been to China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and South Korea and had a wonderful taste of their world renowned Chinese cuisine – simply the best!


With 132 seats ready to serve 132 hungry customers everyday, you’ll be shock to see that there are still lines of people outside this restaurant waiting to get a taste of Crystal Jade’s wonderful offerings. 


So, without further ado about their mouth-watering and tummy-filling dishes, here are some of the dishes that we tried when we visited Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao.

For their world famous dumpling, we had the Steamed Soupy Pork Dumpling or popularly known as Xiao Long Bao and Pork Dumpling with Hot Chili Sauce.

 Steamed Soupy Pork Dumpling or Xiao Long Bao – Php158.00 / 5pcs

Pork Dumpling with Hot Chili Sauce – Php115.00 / 8pcs

Oh, you must try their world-famous Xiao Long Bao, I’m sure you’ll be surprise as I was when this dumpling’s wrapper starts to tear inside your mouth, it was really, really good! One piece is not enough for you to enjoy this dish, and just like me, you’ll surely get addicted to it. So, yeah, it was that good. Two-thumbs up for this one!

As for the Pork Dumpling with Hot Chili Sauce, I didn’t find it that hot “hot”, but it taste good. Comparing this to the Xiao Long Bao, obviously I would go for another plate of Xiao Long Bao.

The next dishes that we tried were pastries, and we had the Steamed Vegetable Bun and the Radish Pastry.

 Steamed Vegetable Bun – Php98.00 / 3pcs
and the Radish Pastry – Php98.00 / 3pcs

Steamed Vegetable Bun is a good alternative to siopao, especially if you are a vegetarian. The soft and cute dough that encapsulates the veggies inside was perfectly made giving a soft tasty balance to the mixed leafy veggies inside.

While the Radish Pasty, I would say, is my second favourite dish that day. The sweet savoury flavour of turnip inside was brilliant and well-loved by my taste buds.

These appetizers were then placed on our table next. They all look healthy and very Chinese, which I really like. 

 Cold Cucumber with Minced Garlic in Sesame Oil – Php180.00

Cold Sliced Pork Roll with Cucumber & Garlic 

Please note that there are just small servings, but taste-wise, the quality of each dish was really great. I enjoyed the taste of the Cold Cucumber dish because of its tangy impact to my tongue. I’m a veggie lover, so I’d say that for me, this was a great appetizer to boost my appetite. As for the Cold Sliced Pork Roll with Cucumber and Garlic, I find too common.

But if you want something challenging to eat and something sweet, I’d suggest that you’ll also have their Crispy Eel in Wu Xi Style.

 Crispy Eel in Wu Xi Style – Php288.00

The taste was really sweet, and the texture was really crispy. It was my first time to eat such creature and I’m glad that it didn’t taste bad. Though, I wouldn’t attempt having another plate of it because I’m allergic to seafood.

Now, to step up this gastronomic adventure here at Crystal Jade, our next dishes were the ones that kicked me into the curve and satisfied my hungry stomach.

First, the Spicy & Sour Soup in Sichuan Style.

Spicy & Sour Soup in Sichuan Style – Php150.00

I tried something like this before in a Chinese place in Binondo, and I must say that this one doesn’t taste any different from that. Both tasted really good but Crystal Jade’s version has more ingredients in it. The soup was also a little creamy giving my stomach an almost-full feel.

Next, I had the Adobong Sitaw look-alike and taste-alike, Sautéed String Bean & Minced Pork with Olive.

 Sautéed String Bean & Minced Pork with Olive – Php248.00

To be honest, this dish was the most common and plainest dish I had in this journey. I think it wouldn’t matter that much if I didn’t have this one.

But this next dish was something I didn’t expect Crystal Jade would have – the Sautéed Chicken with Cashew Nuts in Spicy Sauce.

 Sautéed Chicken with Cashew Nuts in Spicy Sauce – Php288.00

This serves as my third favourite dish that day. This shawarma looking dish is so good. The spicy flavour was just perfect to give a twist to all of the dishes I had earlier. I really liked it.

And before we headed to our last two dishes for our main entrée, Crystal Jade proudly presented to us their Master Chefs who flew in from Hong Kong to give us Filipino a taste of this world-renowned food chain.


And we’re even luckier when they show to us their amazing wonderful talent in culinary arts as they personally did the hand-pulled noodles!
 



 


THAT WAS AMAZING!!!

And so, as they continue showcasing their talents, our next dish is none other that the Noodle with Dried Shrimp & Peanut in Spicy Sauce.

 Noodle with Dried Shrimp & Peanut in Spicy Sauce – Php288.00

If you like Kare-Kare and a dish that’s really spicy and with noodle in it, you gotta try this one. The taste will linger to your tongue longer than you have ever expected. The aroma was also great and you can tell that this dish is spicy because of the strong scent of the spicy sauce.

And lastly, any Chinese food adventure wouldn’t be complete without the Fired Rice with Diced Sausage, Shrimp & Egg in Yang Zhou Style or as what I like to call it Yangchow Rice! Wee!

 Diced Sausage, Shrimp & Egg in Yang Zhou Style – Php248.00

The smoky flavour was really the one that drove me nuts. I love it!

And if you think that’s all of it, you are W-R-O-N-G! Haha!

Of course, I wouldn’t say pass to any dessert, and we had two that day, the Mango Pudding and the Deep-fried Soufflé ball with red Bean Paste or something like Buchi. Hehe.

 Mango Pudding – Php98.00

 Deep-fried Soufflé ball with red Bean Past – Php138.00/3pcs.

I didn’t like the Mango Pudding that much, I think it lacks a little bit of milk or sugar, but their “buchi” was good. It tasted really yummy.

And to help to munch in all these dishes, their lemonade is a perfect choice.


Lemonade

So, okay, that’s it! I was really, really, really full after this adventure. Almost everything was great – I enjoyed the modern ambiance of the place, the accommodation was nice and the dishes were fantastic! I can’t wait to go back here!

Welcome to the Philippines, Crystal Jade!
And thank you for sharing to us all your wonderful dishes!
Till next time!

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Unit117-121, Virra Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center
Greenhills, San Juan City
(632) 570-6910 / (632) 570-6912


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