Tao Yuan, Resorts World Manila

The girls met up for lunch at Tao Yuan to welcome the new school year. Even though some of us no longer have sons in XS, we come up with every reason just to stay in touch. Cheryl joined us for the first time and she fitted right in with our other XSH1 moms, Lucy, Jane and Jenny.

We came here for the Hainanese Chicken and so we ordered a whole chicken which was good enough for 8 girls. This is definitely the best Hainanese Chicken in town. The chicken was moist and the condiments were perfect. The soy was not too salty, the ginger was not drenched in oil and the chili was not too spicy. Actually, I found the chili quite mild since I acquired the taste of Szechuan cuisine while living in NYC. Next time around, we should tell them to serve the chicken in two platters so that we can easily pick on it from the lazy susan. Also, the order does not include the rice and so we had to order the Hainanese rice separately.

 Myrna suggested that we order the Singapore Mango Lapu-lapu. The fish was crispy and moist. Excellent choice if you like your fish deep fried instead of steamed. This dish will set you back 1,100 pesos.

My son will like the Lechon Macao. It was as though they wrapped it in tons of paper towel to soak up the oil before serving.This dish was crispy and devoid of an oily after taste.

 For our veggie fix, we had the sauteed stringbeans with pork belly and tofu. I usually like my stringbeans crunchy but I'm glad that this was served on the soft side since we already had our crispy fish and crunchy lechon macao. This is another excellent dish.

To end the meal, we were given free mango sago. Did I say that we also got free boiled peanuts at the beginning of our meal? The dishes were good for 8 girls and it cost us 2,995 pesos after Lucy presented her card to avail of a 10% discount. Yup, we never pay full price when we do lunch. Overall, this is one restaurant I would go back to again and again if not for it's distance from my residence. Oops, I really have to return so that I can try their asado tart. It's talked about as much as the Hainanese Chicken and I forgot to order it. Ayayay, senior moments...

Tao Yuan
Resorts World Manila, Newport City