Spring

Tucked away in Benavidez Street, Legaspi Village, is a little Hokkien eatery called Spring. This restaurant is owned by the more famous Chinese restaurant in Quezon City called Ha Yuan, known among locals for its delicious Xiamen-style vegetable spring rolls - those hearty rolls of goodness filled with vegetables, tofu, and the occasional strips of meat, often with crushed peanuts and crunchy noodles.

Well, we tried just that in Spring, a variant called the Formosa Lumpia (80Php). The same taste and ingredients as that of Ha Yuan's can be enjoyed. A slightly sweet sauce, in bottles, accompanies the dish, and one can generously douse each bite with the sauce. Most people would prefer eating it with a spoon and fork, but we think it's best done using one's hand, like eating a shawarma.

Amongst other dishes, Maki Mi (140Php) was ordered. Fried fish fillet and a bowl-ful of slightly thick soy-sauce based soup and noodles comprised the dish. On the side, Classic Kapao (70PHp) was ordered - steamed buns with vegetables and pulled pork in between.

Dumplings steamed in soy ginger broth (80Php) was also ordered. Tofu, mushroom, and chives were the filling, although one can also choose to have the a meat filling.

All dishes were quite homely, invoking the heartiness and also the complexities of a Filipino Chinese home kitchen. All dishes in Spring are cooked without MSG, long been the bane of most Chinese restaurants.

As it was on a weekend and being located in a business area, the restaurant was not expecting too many guests and consequently, a lot of the items in the menu were not available. Nevertheless, Spring will undoubtedly delight the throngs of employees who want a good meal at a good price.

Tokyo for Happy Palates (part 1)

Tokyo and its consolidated metropolitan area is home to almost 30 million people. It is the world's largest city in terms of population, and also is the world's richest. This city is just remarkable, beating with an energy and drive so palpable and restless. And the fennel bulbs definitely love this beautiful and dynamic city. 


With its position as one of the planet's most global of cities, the dining scene in Tokyo is one that a lot of other cities also look up to. The best of Japanese cuisine can be had in Tokyo, and some of Europe's best chefs have opened up restaurants in the city whipping up the best of international cuisine. 

The best of Japanese ramen in Tokyo is served in Ippudo. This restaurant chain has dozens of stores in Tokyo, and has achieved much renown for the savory broth and its noodles which are hand-pulled inside the restaurant's kitchens (separated by glass, one can just watch how the best ramen is spurned). Ippudo already has branches in New York and Singapore. 

The picture above is a bowl of luscious Akamaru Ramen (赤丸ラーメン). It literally means "red bowl ramen" and is tastier and the broth is denser than its white bowl counterpart. A rich mixture of possibly boiled pork and duck bones and miso characterize the soup. Light soy is added as a contrast to the light colour of the miso, and a rich paste of sesame adds a dimension of nuttiness to the dish. 

Accompanying the ramen are 10 pieces of Hakata-style dumplings, also known as gyoza. These gyozas are a bit smaller than the usual ones you'd find in normal Japanese restaurants, but the filling is just bursting with flavour. Together with the ramen, an unforgettable meal at Ippudo that would most likely fill the belly costs around Y1100, and not pricey at all. 

A popular Japanese food that has enamored people around the world and has become almost synonymously associated with Japanese cuisine is tempura. Affordable tempura with high quality ingredients can be had at Tenya (てにゃ). This restaurant chain has a lot of stores within the Tokyo Metropolitan area. 

On the picture above is a tempura rice bowl with the addition of lotus and moriatake mushrooms. One set comprises the bowl with a smaller bowl of miso soup. At Y680, it is reasonable enough. And the freshness of the ingredients just reveals itself within the deep-fried layers of batter which are crisp and delicious. 

(to be continued...)

Hong Kong Sampler (Part 2)

A nice and cozy restaurant that the fennel bulbs would almost always come back to whenever they come to Hong Kong is Delicious Kitchen along Cleveland Street in Causeway Bay. It is located in a rather quiet neighborhood, lined with apartment buildings and some speciality boutiques. Delicious Kitchen serves Chinese food, and the menu is quite an eclectic mix of entrees, soups, and noodles. The cuisine is generally Chinese, but not restricted to Cantonese, as some entrees are Shanghai-style and Sichuan-style dishes. 

Condiments are pickled cabbage which is a bit on the sweet side. They are served right after the orders have been taken. The dressing is most probably a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and sesame seeds. Acidity and sweetness are the dominant themes in this condiment, which can become quite addictive especially when one is already hungry!

A speciality of the restaurant is crispy fried dumplings. A majority of take-away orders for the restaurant are actually these fried dumplings, which are served with a sweet-spicy red dipping sauce. The wrappers are crisp and light and the filling is a very delicious mix of minced pork and some vegetables (scallions definitely included). Locals usually eat these with a big bowl of noodle soup or vegetable rice (tsoi fan) on the side. 

The dish pictured above shows a plate of Nanking-style beef and vegetable rice. The beef has been softened but not to the point of becoming mushy. This preparation is typical of Nanking cuisine, where softening of meats is done quite often in a lot of dishes. The taste is rich and suggestive of a rich beef broth for the sauce. 

The vegetable rice is also very flavorful, as the bok choy imparts a buttery flavor to the rice due to the steaming process. It is a very tasty bowl of rice indeed. 

Another delicious treat is the Sichuan-style Chili Prawns. The prawns have been consistently of the same size, which is quite big and a bit tricky to eat with a pair of chopsticks as they do tend to slide off. The sauce is a delicious mix of chili and scallions, amongst other spices, and some peppers; its texture markedly made silky by the addition of starch. The taste is not overwhelmingly spicy, but just enough to tease the palate. A hint of sweetness further enhances the cravings. 

Treats never seem to end at Delicious Kitchen. Another sumptuous dish is the beef tendons cooked on an earthen dish. The sauce is made from the juices of the tendons and perhaps the addition of stock. It is a bit sticky due to the consistency of the tendons' juices. Ginger is the dominant flavor in the sauce, though it does not overpower the dish. 

Last but not the least is the restaurant's signature dish, pork chop rice. The picture above shows only some of the pork chop. The rice is exactly the same as the bowl of vegetable rice shown earlier. The meat is tender and tasty, and the breading is crunchy. The flavor is a blend of sweet and salty, somewhat like barbecue. This is comfort food at its best, and is by all means, the best-selling dish DelIcious Kitchen has to offer. 

Prices are likewise affordable by Hong Kong standards. A meal for four hungry people sharing some viands would cost anywhere between HK$350 - HK$500. And this ends the fennel bulb's Hong Kong sampler of restaurants, at least for the time being.