Category: Restaurants

It all started with a tweet, “Any suggestions for a restaurant to try out in Tomas Morato, QC area?”.  A tweep suggested that we try out H Cuisine which is just near Tomas Morato circle and is around the corner of the first street.  She added that we should order their famous beef belly.

I followed her advice and texted my girl friends that we’d be having lunch at H Cuisine.  They all agreed and coincidentally, all of us never tried the restaurant.  We were all excited to try H Cuisine out!  I mean, why would they name their Angus Beef Belly with ‘Most Awesome’?  That’s totally a very strong statement and I’m not sure anyone would like to add the ‘Most Awesome’ words to their menu or even as their restaurant tagline if it wasn’t any good.

My first impression when I arrived at the restaurant was the challenge of finding a parking space.  Good thing we ate on a weekend.  The warehouse in front of the restaurant was closed so we were allowed to park in the driveway.

H Cuisine is a small restaurant.  I was actually expecting a fine dining type of place but apparently, H Cuisine is just a simple cozy restaurant with two floors.  The second floor is mostly for big groups and private functions/parties.  We stayed on the first floor.  There was a family who reserved the second floor so I didn’t bother going up to take pictures.

By looking at the articles, photos and chalkboard hanging on the walls of the restaurant, it was pretty obvious that H Cuisine’s Most Awesome Beef Belly is their pride and glory.

The chalkboard got my attention.  Apparently, H Cuisine also sells their Angus Beef Belly frozen for customers to bring home and prepare.  One kilogram pack can serve 6-8 people and cost about Php 1,300.  The Angus beef belly was pre-sliced already and include the demiglace gravy (500mL) and reheating instructions.  I guess with so much fat in that meat, there’ll be no need for oil to cook/heat it.

Chef Hannah Herrera-Bagatsing was the person behind H Cuisine.  I heard that H cuisine is a well-known caterer that became so successful that they ended up opening a restaurant.

Stef and I ordered food already and didn’t wait for everyone to arrive.  Good thing that when our orders came, our other friends arrived so it was good timing for us 😛

• H Cuisine Beverages

I always try to drink fresh juices as much as possible.  I do want to lose weight but I can’t change drastically so I do baby steps starting with healthy drinks!  I ordered H Cuisine’s fresh dalandan juice (Php 88) while my other friends ordered big raspberry iced tea (Php 78).  I love that they served it in big glasses.

• Loaded Taco Salad (Php 188)

When the taco salad was served to us, my immediate reaction was, “wow!”.  Wow in the sense that it was truly loaded!  There were lettuce, nachos, salsa, beef, grated cheese and aioli in it.  It tasted delicious and I really liked it.  I think we were satisfied with H Cuisine’s loaded taco salad considering that we finished it immediately after it was served.  I think it won’t taste as good if we left it for over 30minutes in the table – the sauce could have soaked the tacos completely and without the crunchiness, the salad won’t be that delectable.

• Pumpkin Soup (Php 108)

My friend ordered the soup of the day which was pumpkin soup.  It was served hot with garlic bread.  It seemed that this is one of the bestsellers in H Cuisine as it was homemade (fresh ingredients & no artificial flavors perhaps).

• Tofu Steak with Sweet Shitake Sauce (Php 168)

I ordered tofu just for the sake of it.  I love tofu and whenever I see that item in any restaurant’s menu, I will always order.  H Cuisine’s was cooked Japanese style- soft tofu and katsuoboshi on top served with sweet mushroom sauce.   I felt it was nothing special though.

• Oven Braised Herbed Chicken (Php 188)

I was too anxious on the angus beef belly that I failed to taste our order of oven braised chicken!  When I finally remembered it, the plate was already empty, hahaha!  The order came with a cup of H. Rice (Php 48), which can be ordered separately too.  The meat was poured with roasted garlic sauce.  It definitely looked yummy!  I’ll see if I get to try it the next time I go to H Cuisine.

• Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly (Php 428)

The server put a tea light candle on the table which basically meant that our order of most awesome angus beef belly was coming!  I was too excited, wondering how it might taste like.  The candle was meant to keep the Angus beef belly warm which I totally understand because beef belly are full of fats.  When it gets cold, it won’t be a good sight to see & to eat (i.e., greasy)!

Beef Belly on the table and my eyes just went big!  H Cuisine’s beef belly was definitely mouth-watering!  I immediately took one piece and ate it.  The meat was soft, tender and super flavorful.  I didn’t bother eating the side dishes (string beans, corn and carrots).  The Angus beef belly was more than enough for me to enjoy and finish.  The gravy was a perfect match and I asked for additional sauce!  Boy, we even ordered the same dish again as it wasn’t enough for the 5 of us.  Actually, I think our friend Janella wasn’t able to try it as we finished both orders before she arrived.

After having tried H Cuisine’s most awesome angus beef belly, I now believe that the dish does indeed deserve that title.  I, however, think that it won’t taste as good if we didn’t eat it with the gravy.  It was a perfect combination.

The secret they say was how chef Hannah cooked the dish.  She marinated the beef belly and slow-roasted it for 12 hours!  Wow!  Those long hours must be worth it as we customers, are completely satisfied with the food.  The dish can be ordered single with rice (Php 288) or sharing for 2-3pax without rice (Php 428).

• Decadent Chocolate Cake (Php 88)

I’m not a fan of chocolates so I won’t say anything to describe it.  You be the judge.  Look at the photo! 🙂

We all had a good first impression of H Cuisine.  For me, it was really all about their Angus Beef Belly.  I now understand what the letter ‘H’ in ‘H Cuisine’ is… H = Home of the Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly.

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H Cuisine
64 Scout Rallos St. Near Tomas Morato Quezon City, Quezon City, Philippines
+63-2-4130347

My mom loves to dine at Cafe Monaco.  I remember when she was still here in the Philippines, she would go there every single week just to have her share of Kimchichige, pita pockets or daing na bangus.  Since she was so addicted to the food, I was influenced and ended up loving Cafe Monaco too!

It wasn’t too long till I became friends with the owner of the restaurant.  She’s Sofia, a Korean who moved here in Manila and she’s definitely a charmer.  In fact, I see her mingling with her customers every single time.  It felt like all her customers are already her friends.  I guess that’s one of the secrets why Cafe Monaco is very successful in Banawe avenue.  Topnotch customer service plus the warmness and the hospitality of the owner herself!  Of course, the food was delicious too!  (more on that later).

I wasn’t surprised when Cafe Monaco opened its second branch at Ortigas Avenue in San Juan.  The Banawe branch is nearer to my house, but I wanted to check out the Ortigas branch anyway, at least to support the owner.

The Ortigas branch is definitely bigger than the Banawe branch (approximately twice as much space!).  Business is doing good as I saw several people dining at the restaurant when we visited.  However, I think a lot of people still don’t know about the new branch so here I am, sharing the good news!  If you live in San Juan area, you don’t have to drive to Banawe avenue anymore when you’re craving for Cafe Monaco’s specialties 🙂

I noticed something on the wall when we were dining at Cafe Monaco in Ortigas.  I didn’t see it in their other branch but I was curious what it was so I asked Sofia.  She told me that it’s a verse in the Bible..  Psalm 23:1 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

I really feel happy whenever I see establishments showing signs that God is in their lives.  Coincidentally, I was with my friends from the church then 😛

While we waited for our orders to arrive, we were given Kimchi and radish as appetizer.  Kimchi, a favorite Korean food, is a vegetable made with napa cabbage fermented in ginger, garlic, scallions and chili pepper.  I’m not really fond of Kimchi but I loved the radish!

We were eight in our group.  We had been planning to dine at Cafe Monaco.  I really wanted to blog about it so we tried to order differently.  Every single item we ordered tasted so good, just as expected!  There’s really no difference on the menu between the two branches of Cafe Monaco.  It’s just the location so take your pick.

• Mushroom Soup (Php 170)

My church friends were raving about the mushroom soup since we’re on the rightmost side of our long table, I decided to share it with them.  I must agree that it was flavorful yet a bit spicy.  The good thing was this.  The spiciness was just right (at least for me).  I have in mind that when rainy days come, I would drop by Cafe Monaco to order the mushroom soup.

• Kimchichige (Php 170)

Kimchichigue is my mom’s favorite!  This is always part of her order whenever she would visit Cafe Monaco.  I can’t eat it though as it’s just too spicy for my taste.  I remember when I tried it out before, I was sweating like crazy! hahaha!  I guess that was the point 😛

• Bibimpop (Php 140)

Bibimpop is another Cafe Monaco bestseller!  Everyone just loved to order this!  Well, why not?  The price is only Php140 for a huge serving of this beautiful Korean signature dish.  In order to enjoy Bibimpop, you have to mix the ingredients altogether.  If you’re afraid of spicy food, then you have to request in advance for the chili paste to be served separately.

• Daing na Bangus (Php 210)

The first time I tried the bangus in Cafe Monaco, I was shocked as to how big the fish was!  You cannot eat this by yourself!  I think the fish was from Dagupan (I’m not sure).  This was sooooo good!  If I’m hungry, I would definitely order this alone without rice.  I dip the fish in vinegar but Cafe Monaco also serves mayonnaise with it.

• Curry Beef Rice (Php 150)

• Gyu Nikuyakidon (Php 150)

Bibimpop is Cafe Monaco’s bestseller.  For me though, when it comes to rice toppings, my fave has got to be Gyu Nikuyakidon.  It’s basically beef with egg and rice.  I love the sweet flavor of the beef, so tasty!

• Fruit Shakes (Php 65)

I never fail to order fruit shakes in Cafe Monaco because I saw how they prepared it.  They were generous with the servings and I don’t feel like drinking water with their fruit shakes.  You have to be a bit patient though if you’re in a big group or if there are a lot of people ordering shakes.  They only have one blending machine but not to worry, it’ll worth the wait 🙂

• Halo Halo (Php 150)

The most unique Halo Halo has got to be the one by Cafe Monaco.  Theirs is a combination of different fruits with red bean, chocolate powder and ice cream.  If I have to choose between the numerous types of Halo Halo available here in Metro Manila, my choice would be Cafe Monaco’s version.  Delicious, refreshing and uber fresh!

Cafe Monaco for me, is like a hidden gem in the Metro.  Not a lot of people know about it but once they discover the restaurant, they would definitely go back often.

I’ve been a loyal customer of Cafe Monaco since year 2002.  I never blogged about it until now.  I have to stop keeping secrets and inform people about this restaurant that serves good food and a place I always frequent to.

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Cafe Monaco
368 Sekai Center, Ortigas Center, San Juan City, Philippines

I once tried out Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can at Guangzhou China when I was on business trip last year.  I couldn’t get over how delicious it was.  So when I found out that there is indeed that kind of restaurant in Manila, I couldn’t contain my excitement!  The place is called Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant and it’s located at the ground floor of Diamond Hotel Manila.

Be ready to splurge about Php 1,970++ per person when you avail of Yurakuen’s Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can.  If my memory serves me right, it’s Php 2,500 net per person.  Price is already inclusive of free flowing standard drinks (iced tea/softdrinks), local beers and kirin beer.  You can order anything from the menu.  However, if you want premium food items like spine lobsters, black cod,  chilean sea bass, black sea bass, US black angus beef tenderloin, US wagyu beef sirloin center cut, US wagyu beef striploin & US wagyu short ribs then you need to shell out Php500 for each on top of the standard price.  The price is a bit steep I know but this will be all worth it.  This has got to be one of my most memorable dining experience in Manila.  I’m already planning my next visit within the year with my friends.

I find it sad that I only found out about Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant now in spite of it being around for several years.  It’s actually one of the award-winning restaurants in Manila having been awarded by Asian Tatler Dining.  But it’s better now than never, right? 🙂

Yurakuen is indeed a Japanese culinary paradise having three different kinds of dining experience to choose from:

• Main Dining Room
• Yakiniku Room
• Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can

While I was curious to find out the other offerings of Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant, I still prefer the Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can for my next visit.  I guess after having sampled most of the Teppanyaki menu, I wanted to go back for more!

I was greeted by Yurakuen’s kimono-clad food attendants as I entered the restaurant.  I was escorted to one of the four Teppanyaki tables available.  The first thing I noticed was the beautiful view that I could see from the room.  There was a rock garden full of plants and cherry-blossom tree.  Having seen the costumes of the server plus the wonderful view reminded me that I was in for a Japanese treat!

Each Teppanyaki table can accommodate up to a maximum of 8 people.  This is especially perfect for small groups since they can enjoy their meal in privacy.  This is not the same as what I have experienced in Guangzhou.  I actually prefer Yurakuen, it has a personal touch in it.

One of the reasons why I loved my first visit at Yurakuen was the nice, cheerful and talented chefs in the restaurant.  We enjoyed how the chefs in our respective tables cooked the food in front of us complete with flare-filled presentation.

There are a lot of items in the Teppanyaki menu but considering we only had 2 hours to eat and our stomach can only take so much.  We were able to try out some items..

Appetizers – Sashimi, Sushi, Temaki, Maki, Salad

I skipped the appetizers as I wanted to have more space for seafood, hehehe!  I wish I was able to try the crab stick salad, tuna salmon sashimi, california temaki & tempura temaki served to us though.

Vegetables

I was like a kid excited to watch the chef cook the veggies in front of us.  The chef was all smiles and was even dancing at certain point when he was cooking.  I was so looking forward to eat those food that was fondly prepared by him.

We were able to sample asparagus, spinach, enoki mushroom, shitake mushroom and vegetable jelly.  Surprisingly, I’m starting to love mushrooms more and more.  I guess it really depends on how the food was cooked.  I’m now a convert (I used to hate eating mushrooms)!  The spices put into the veggies plus the right amount of time it was cooked made us like the first batch of items we tried out at Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant.

We could have more servings of the veggies but the portion given to me was more than enough as I knew there were more items to eat later on.

Meats

For some people, I believe meats especially lamb chops would be a favorite food item at Yurakuen.  Considering you can have unlimited servings of those premium quality meats are just divine!  I was drooling just by seeing the raw meat platter at the table, hahaha!  Yeah, I’m a foodie and I’m always so giddy and ecstatic about food! 🙂

I loved it when the chef did the flaming trick!  Such awesomeness!

US Beef Rib Eye, US Beef Tenderloin, Baby Lamb Chops and US Wagyu Beef Striploin (additional Php500) were among the items we tried out.

Food were neatly served to our plates.  We were so spoiled 🙂  Loved the awesome service in Yurakuen!

Of course, I had to give special attention to the lamb chops as it was the item that I loved the most in the meat platter.  The chef was very cautious of what the guests prefer as he asked us first if we wanted to have the mint sauce combined or separate from the meat.

Fried Rice

I felt that I can’t just keep on writing my thoughts about my experience at Yurakuen so I decided to take a video of the chef while he was cooking our seafood fried rice.  I wanted you to see it for yourself how cool the chef was.  The video also gives you an idea what to expect in Diamond Hotel’s Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can.

And this is the finished product!  Nothing beats a newly cooked, fresh from the grill fried rice!

Trivia: Japanese eats their fried towards the end of the meal.

Seafood

The seafood was the main reason why I can’t wait to go back to Yurakuen.  I actually already told my best friend that we would be having dinner at Diamond Hotel for their Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can on Christmas.  I’ll make sure that I would just have those yummy seafood over and over and over and over again till I can’t eat any longer.

We had black cod/gindara(additional Php500) and salmon.  I know my companions that night would have wanted to eat the salmon raw.  For me though, I hate anything raw so the fishes cooked teppanyaki way was preferable for me.

Tiger prawns – just one word DELICIOUS!

the winner of the night for me was scallops!  It was huge!  And boy, when eaten right after it was just cooked?  Oh my gosh, heavenly!!!!  H-e-a-v-e-n-l-y!!!  I must go back to Yurakuen for this!  I don’t care if this is the only item that I’ll eat the whole meal!

Lobsters

Among the premium items that Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant has, I believe the lobsters has got to be the item of choice.  I wouldn’t mind shelling out additional Php500 just to be able to get unlimited servings of spine lobsters,

I think made a lil shriek when the chef started to cook the mouth-watering lobsters!  I couldn’t contain my excitement! Luckily, noone noticed hahaha!

I appreciate that the chef removed the meat from the shells making it easy for us to eat the uberly delicious lobsters!

The group was also able to try out Lobster Miso soup.  It’s miso soup combined with lobster head and shells resulting to a unique soup experience.

Dessert

Last, but definitely not the least, dessert.  Unfortunately for me, I was too full already to eat any of those.  We were served with assorted fruits and pancakes w/ black beans & ice cream.

I think for my next visit, I’ll still skip the dessert.  (Sorry, I have my eyes on the scallops)!

I’m really thankful that I was invited by Diamond Hotel to try out Yurakuen’s Teppanyaki all you can.  Because if that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t even know that there is indeed a Teppanyaki all you can here in Metro Manila.

Oh boy, this post literally took me ten hours to compose (no kidding!).  My gosh, reliving the experience is really hard especially remembering how nice the dining experience was.  Uggghhh… Such punishment and I shall avenge by eating more scallops when I go back! 😀

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Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant
Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can
Php 1,970++ per person
11:00 am to 10:00 pm
G/F Diamond Hotel, Roxas Blvd. corner Dr. J. Quintos Street, Manila 1000, Philippines
+63-2-5283000

After sampling yummy dim sum dishes at Li Li Restaurant, we went down to the 3rd floor to have our lunch buffet at the Market Cafe.  It was my first time at Market Cafe in Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila.  I was expecting a huge selection of food but it turned out that Market Cafe opted for quality instead of quantity.  It makes a lot of sense as we can’t really eat so much food in one sitting.

I actually thought it was a bad idea that we had a lot of food already at Li Li.  I wanted to stay at Market Cafe and eat much more food especially the seafood but my stomach couldn’t handle it anymore.  I must have been bad yesterday as gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins.. but good food is something we cannot resist!  Market Cafe definitely has them!

I’ll make sure that if I visit Market Cafe in Hyatt Manila next time, I’ll go there super early like 10 minutes before they start the buffet.  I want to have as much time as possible to enjoy the wonderful dishes that Market Cafe serves.

Enjoy the pictures as I share the different stations included in the buffet of Market Cafe in Hyatt Manila.  I have my personal favorites, get to know them.. read on! 🙂

Bread Station

Homemade breads baked by Market Cafe’s chefs.  There were lots of selections but I ended up skipping the bread station as I had my eyes locked on seafood! haha!

Cheese Station

The cheese station offered a selection of cheeses and condiments.  Perfect with bread.

Salad Station

The Salad bar had fresh market produce with varied homemade salad dressings such as blue cheese, yogurt-citrus, Caesar, thousand island, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing and toppings such as diced fruits, cucumber, bacon bits, Parmesan cheese and potato marbles.

Pizza Station

Market Cafe offered a variety of Pizzas and they were newly cooked!  I feel so bad now that I wasn’t able to even taste it as I was too full to take in more food 🙁  I’ll surely be back and I won’t miss pizza next time!

Chinese Section

As soon as I saw the roasted chicken on display, I already knew I was in the Chinese section.  As expected, there was a lot of food selections like noodles, dim sum, roast duck, soy chicken and more.

Indian Section

Popular dishes from India included curry and that is what you can expect in Market Cafe’s Indian section.  There were roti bread and other Indian dishes too!

Japanese Section

The reason why I find Market Cafe Buffet very unique is because there are some sections where the chef will gladly cook for your food and serve to your table.  One of them is the tempura selection in the Japanese section.  You can have either shrimp tempura, veggie tempura and squid calamari freshly cooked!  You might have to wait for a few minutes but once you’ve eaten them, you’ll surely be satisfied!

Mongolian Section

You love Mongolian food?  Market Cafe has it covered for you 🙂

Carving Section

A buffet favorite: Prime rib will never be absent, and I found it immediately at the carving station of Market Cafe.  I asked that my prime rib be cooked well-done (my preference).  I’m really scared of blood! 😛

Grilling Section

The grilling section offered a wide range of meats for cook to order.  I appreciate that Market Cafe chose to offer this labor-intensive section just to be sure that we get to enjoy the food the way that we want them to.  Offerings include pork and chicken skewers, tanigue fillet, lamb chops, liempo and blue marlin.  Most of the seafood here were raw, so you could pick what you wanted and have them cooked to order.

Seafood Section

The seafood section served fresh prawns, lobsters, mussels, fishes, clams and oysters on ice.  You can ask the chef to cook it the way you want whether fried, steamed, grilled or whatever.  It’s your decision!

I have to talk more about this section because this was my favorite yesterday!  I consciously skipped some of the sections in the Market Cafe buffet in order to get more seafood!  You can just see the twinkle in my eyes (in the photo below) when I saw those baby lobsters that we can eat all we want!

I tried those shrimps & lobsters cooked in three different ways:

cooked in butter garlic

cooked Singaporean way

and cooked in sweet chili sauce

I loved all of them but my choice has got to be the butter garlic!  You can also ask the chefs to peel the shrimps for you just in case you get lazy (like me!) hehe.

Dessert Section

The way to end a beautiful satisfying meal is to have desserts.  Market Cafe surely knows how people LOVE their desserts!  They have this huge section to put all their yummy creations in!

This section is Pastry Chef Johann Dreisger’s baby.  He specializes in creating yummy high quality desserts and bread.  With over 25 years of experience, we were surely in for a treat!

The dessert section featured homemade cakes, pastries, hot crepes and a chocolate fountain.  Not only that, Market Cafe also served our favorite Filipino delicacies which we rarely see in hotel buffets.  I was happy to get hold of sago’t gulaman but I felt it was too sweet for my taste.

Seasoned fruits were on display and for consumption.  You can eat all you want, you don’t even have to worry about eating it before or after the main meal, but if you ask me, eat fruits before the meal for better digestion 🙂

Halo Halo and Market Cafe’s bestselling homemade ice creams were available too!  I enjoyed putting the rainbow sprinkles over dalandan and cream cheese ice cream that I ordered!  My golly, those 2 ice cream flavors should not be missed!  It is important to note that the ice cream were made with high quality of ingredients – no preservatives and no artificial flavorings.

The “Hot Love Sundae” was brought out to our table and I must say it looked lovely!  It’s perfect for lovers dining inside Market Cafe.  The beautiful creation was made of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, hot raspberry sauce and chocolate lip.  Cuteness!

I usually skip all kinds of breads but I was told by a Hyatt manager to try out their dessert bread.  I was just so glad that I had a portion of it because it was really divine!  The flavors were just right on and it has the right sweetness that I rarely see in desserts like that.

Beverage Section

Photo by Hyatt Manila

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this beverage container!  Dining guests of Market Cafe Buffet actually can get any of those soft drinks and local beers as much as we want!  Yes, they are free flowing and boy, do I love to get those Coca Cola cans in my hands 🙂  For guys, I’m sure they have their eyes on San Miguel beers.  How many can you consume?

Today is Mother’s day and as a souvenir, we got ourselves a box of Pastry Chef Johann Dreisger’s homemade Swiss Felchlin chocolate pralines to give to our moms.  My mom isn’t in the Philippines so I just took a picture of the chocolates and shared it to my mom.  I hope she’s having a good day today 🙂

Overall, my first experience in Market Cafe was a good one!  I love the concept of having your food freshly cooked by the chef with the way we want them to.  I also love the free-flowing soft drinks and beers that the buffet offers.  Most of all, I super duper love the service!  I was just in awe on how cheerful, accommodating and friendly the staff are.  I didn’t have to call them for attention as they were proactive enough to know what we would ask for!  It was impressive.

I rarely go to Manila but if I do, Market Cafe will be one of my top choices for dining!

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Market Cafe
3rd floor, Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, 1588 Pedro Gil corner M.H. Del Pilar, Malate Manila, Philippines
+63-2-2451234
Php 1,800 Buffet Lunch 12:00nn to 2:30pm – Mondays to Saturdays; 11:30am to 2:30pm – Sundays
Php 1,900 Buffet Dinner 6:00pm to 10:00pm – Mondays to Fridays
Php 1,950 Buffet Dinner 6:00pm to 10:00pm – Saturdays to Sundays

I had the privilege of trying out Li Li restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel Manila yesterday.  Li Li serves Cantonese cuisine and has been awarded quite a few times as one of the best restaurants in the Philippines by Philippine Tatler and Dineasia.  Currently, Li Li has also been nominated as one of the top 20 best restaurants in Asia by Miele!  Just wow!

I had to wait for the group to be complete so we couldn’t start eating yet.  I then decided to look around Li Li and appreciate its interiors.  The restaurant was named after a real person named Lili Ho.  Lili grew up in a high profile scene.  She loves elegant and sophisticated things.  That was pretty obvious as her love for arts and interior can be seen throughout the restaurant.

Li Li Restaurant is somewhat a resemblance of Lili’s home.  Each room signify a part of Lili’s life.  I’m really impressed as to how a restaurant like Li Li could have so much history and story behind it.  It was just beautiful!

First up is the dining area where most people usually dine at.

The upper dining area has pictures/painting of Lili’s ancestors.  Having those pictures situated on the upper area signifies respect to the elders.

The library, on the other hand, is a place where the men hang out after dinner.  In this room, you’ll see Lili’s travel souvenirs displayed as well as her favorite art & travel books.

The latest room in Li Li restaurant is called the drawing room.  It was named as that because it’s a room that the ladies usually hang out in when their husbands are in the library room (a place where women would withdraw).  The drawing room has its own bathroom.

The tea bar is where all the selections of tea are displayed.  It’s also the place where the Gongfu tea ceremony usually happens.

A Gongfu tea ceremony is a presentation based on the tea preparation approach which originated in Fujian and Guangdong in the 1940s.  Gong fu cha means ‘skill’ or ‘capability’.  The ceremony is being done at Li Li to show guests how welcome they are at the restaurant.

Behind the tea bar are two rooms created in tribute to Lili’s daughters: Fei Fei and Bai Ling.  The rooms have the same design, they just have a bit of difference with chair fabric and art decorations.

Last, but not the least, is the Wine Cellar room which coincidentally was where we had our dim sum.

I was already so starved when we sat at the table.  The excitement was over the top for me as I got a nice tour of Lili restaurant and my expectation just went up a notch!

Boiled peanuts were served as appetizer.  I super duper love boiled peanuts and I don’t even know where I can buy those a la carte outside.  If I want more, I guess I have to come back at Li Li or cook them myself!

For drinks, I highly suggest you order Hyatt Hotel’s guava iced tea!  I love the taste, I wish I can drink more but I knew then that I would be eating so much food that I can’t enjoy this iced tea too much.  Apart from guava, there’s dalandan iced tea and guyabano iced tea 🙂

Before we started with our dim sum, we were presented with a Gongfu tea ceremony.  I was pretty excited about it since Gongfu was mentioned during our tour of the Li Li restaurant.  The ceremony was just about 10 minutes but it was impactful!  I found it super cool!

1. warming the pot and heating the cups
2. appreciate excellent tea
3. the black dragon enters the palace
4. rinsing from an elevated pot
5. the spring wind brushes the surface
6. bathe the immortal twice

You might be wondering what the steps I mentioned are but I highly suggest you go to Li Li at Hyatt Manila to see for yourself. 🙂  Gongfu tea ceremony is a very unique tradition that you rarely see in Chinese restaurants.

If you’re dining at Li Li for their dim sum all you can, you’ll be given a dimsum menu where you can check out the items that you want to order.  The food is cooked right after you order it.  With that in mind, you have to wait a bit for your food to arrive but it’ll be all worth it for sure!

The price is Php 788 net for dim sum all you can from mondays to saturdays, 12noon to 3PM.  On sundays, Li Li serves the Sunday Yum Cha Dim sum Buffet.  It serves the usual dim sum all you can but this time the buffet comes with free-flowing iced tea, soft drinks and local beer as well as desserts.  Of course, no left-overs and no take out.

There were tons of dim sum selections in Li Li!  Considering we’ll be having our lunch buffet at Hyatt’s Market Cafe, we ended up sampling ten of Li Li’s dim sum bestsellers.

Our meal at Li Li was considered our appetizer but boy, it could be a meal in itself!

• Har Gao – steamed shrimp and bamboo pith dumpling

• Sio Mai – steamed pork and dried scallop dumpling

• Shanghai-style steamed pork and crab meat dumpling

Don’t forget to use the spoon when eating this as you don’t wanna miss tasting the wonderful soup inside the dumpling!

• Pan-fried shrimp and spinach dumpling

My fav!

• Deep-fried taro and assorted seafood dumpling

another favorite dim sum for me!  I appreciate the abundance of ingredients in each and every bite.  so tasty and so yummy!

• Beijing-style wok-fried pork dumpling

• Deep-fried bicho-bicho, shrimp, wasabi-mayonnaise sauce

• Lobster and asparagus dumpling

• Glutinous dumpling, white chocolate, peanut

I loved how the white chocolate oozes out of the dumpling when sliced or opened.

What a great way to start a food-filled day at the Hyatt Manila!  Each of us had an awesome time especially with the warm hospitality by Hyatt’s GM Richard Simmons, Director of Food & Beverage Ranjeet Rajebhosale, Marketing Communications Manager Loni Balagtas and Public Relations Coordinator Laurie Reyes!

It was my first time at Li Li and I must say the experience was truly memorable!  I didn’t even realize how meaningful each part of the restaurant is.  I felt like I met Lili Ho herself by just dining at Li Li restaurant!

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Li Li Restaurant
Php788 net dim sum all you can from 12nn to 3pm
Php1550 net Sunday Yum Cha Dim sum Buffet (with desserts & free-flowing drinks)
5/F Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, 1588 Pedro Gil corner M.H. Del Pilar Manila 1004, Philippines
+63-2-2451234