The Longest Mid-Autumn Lunch: SM Megamall's "Mega Food Wok"

- September 10, 2014, Wednesday.

- My food blogger friend (aka The Tummy Train) invited me to accompany her to attend a mid-autumn-festival-themed bloggers'/media event organized and sponsored by SM Megamall, entitled "Mega Food Wok." Since my schedule is a bit flexible lately, I immediately agreed. This is the third time in a year (and the third time ever) that I accompanied Clarisse to her blogger-in-the-field adventures; the first time I accompanied her was in Makati Shangri-La's Circles, and the second time was in Sofitel's Spiral.

- Unlike the other sit-down events that I was able to attend, this one was organized as a small food walk around SM Megamall's Fashion Hall. Apart from being surprised to see a whole new wing in Megamall, the mall's older parts have also changed a great deal since the last time I was able to leisurely roam around the mall.

- The first stop of the tour was in Tim Ho Wan, a Hong-Kong based dimsum restaurant that opened its doors to the people in the Philippines early this year. From Tim Ho Wan, my tummy started its digestive workout.


Tim Ho Wan

Dishes served: (their very famous) pork buns, steamed spinach and shrimp dumplings, steamed vermicelli rolls with spinach and pork/pork liver, steamed egg cakes (ma lay ko,) fried salad prawn dumpling with wasabi dressing, and beancurd roll.

- Finally, I was able to try Tim Ho Wan's famous pork buns (for free yay!!) For me, I did not really see anything special with it, despite acknowledging the tender bun with the tender pork filling. This is probably because I am not really a fan of buns (the kind of bun with the filling inside, like siopao) although I do not mind eating buns in general and I may like them from time to time, depending on my mood and degree of hunger. This is because I easily get tired of eating them (in Filipino "nakasusuya,") most likely from the texture and taste of the bun. (Sorry Tim Ho Wan, it's not you, it's me, seriously.) Despite this, Tim Ho Wan sells a whopping 4000 to 5000 buns DAILY, according to Mr. Ricky Dee, owner of Tim Ho Wan Manila. He also informed us that the buns are best eaten when newly cooked, and the bun's quality decreases by 50% just after 30 minutes after cooking.

- Honestly, what I fancied more were the salad prawn dumplings with the wasabi dressing, and the steamed vermicelli rolls with spinach and pork (I did not quite like the variation with the pork liver though.) I felt they were more special and not easily found in other dimsum places. I would probably go back to Tim Ho Wan not for the buns, but for these instead.

Their famous pork buns; I'm sorry I cannot love you as much as everyone else does.

Mr. Dee and a TV5 cameraman.

Top L to R: malayko, beancurd rolls, Bottom L to R: spinash and shrimp dumplings, vermicelli rolls.

Interrupting a blogger doing her blogger duties.

Mirror selfie.

With food blogger Ms. Jin (http://www.jinlovestoeat.com.)

Yay!!

Chez Karine 

Dessert served: Black sesame macaron ice cream.

- Located right across Tim Ho Wan, this quiet and subtly colorful dessert place serves macaron. As for today, we were offered to taste a special creation that had a Chinese hint. The black sesame macaron ice cream was a macaron ice cream sandwich that tasted salty-sweet, and a good balance to Tim Ho Wan's savory dishes.

They're really small.

Nom.

Lugang Cafe

Dishes served: kimchi xiaolongbao, kungpao tofu, 3-cup chicken, chopped shrimp in lettuce cups, and Arabian coffee.

- I have tried Lugang's kungpao tofu and 3-cup chicken before, and while both of them tasted good, they almost tasted alike. Most of us commended the shrimp cups, because the dish was bursting with subtle and fragile flavors, and it was light in the tummy. As for the kimchi xiaolongbao, I found it an unusual fusion between Korean and Chinese/Taiwanese cuisine, and while I applaud the good balance of the kimchi taste and the traditional xiaolongbao taste, I still prefer the original xiaolongbao any day.

- The Arabic coffee was made with a peculiar pressure boiler (?) coffee maker. The coffee was quite strong, so I added cream without sugar, and the combination of drinking it with the Chinese/fusion-Chinese dishes made me feel that I was having a meal in one of the central hubs of the Silk Road, possibly somewhere in Central Asia where literally the east meets the west.

Demonstrating the Arabian coffee coffee thingamajig.

Ms. Katrina Chua, Lugang Cafe Megamalls' dining operations manager.

Yay for coffee.

Bottom L to R: kung pao tofu, kimchi xiaolongbao and the chopped shrimp in lettuce cup, and 3-cup chicken.

Linguini Fini

Dishes served: Longganisa pizza, and pappardelle pasta.

- Upon arriving at Linguini Fini, my first comment/remark to Clarisse was why the restaurant was included in the list even though it was not a Chinese restaurant, or in any way mid-autumn themed. Although my question has not been answered until now, I shrugged off the question and just enjoyed their Filipino-Italian fusion cuisine.

- Linguini Fini is owned by Chef Vinny Lauria, and Italian-American who first opened the first Linguini Fini in Hong Kong. Linguini Fini's theme has always been a fusion of Italian cuisine and the local cuisine - in this case, Filipino cuisine. To demonstrate their passion to marry Italian and local cuisines, they gave us a perfectly baked longganisa pizza with longgnisa made in-house. The longganisa bits somewhat had the taste of Ilocos longganisa, without too much saltiness. I felt the pizza was perfect, and because I am a sucker for both pizza AND longganisa, I thought that it was the best dish of the day (with my overt biases that is.) The tomato-based pasta, on the other hand, was delicious too, but was not too unique.

- The interior of the restaurant also deserves a special mention. The restaurant has a habit of hiring local street artists to give a hip, casual, and local feel to the restaurant. Here in the Philippines, the local street artists they hired painted images of Pacquiao, the carabao, and other artistically-expressed versions of various Philippine symbols.

Chef Vinny.

I can eat this all day.

Mochicream Cafe

Desserts served:  matcha dacquoise, and matcha latte espresso

- Hailing from Japan, Mochicream Cafe serves a wide variety of mochi-based products. Although we were served both matcha-based products, both items complemented each other well. The matcha drink had the taste of real matcha (slight bitterness but not overwhelming,) but the matcha mochi was a little too sweet for my taste, but satisfying nonetheless (and it would have tasted better, perhaps, had I not been morbidly full that time.)

Matcha mochi covered with cereal bits.

Again, interrupting a blogger doing her blogger duties.

Kampai!!

Kool Kids

Dessert served: liquid nitrogen mooncake-inspired ice cream (among other flavors)

- As the name of the dessert shows, this has got to be the coolest cherry on top of the food tour. The owner Mr. Miguel Aranaz personally demonstrated how packs of cream can instantly turn into ice cream after blending well and pouring some liquid nitrogen to the mixture. While I know this is basic chemistry, instant ice cream being made right in front of my eyes will never cease to amaze the little (big) child in me.

- Mr. Miguel Aranaz made various oriental-themed ice cream, but I liked the mooncake flavor the most not only because it was a relevant to the theme of the food tour, but it was a new flavor to me. The mooncake ice cream (which had actual mooncake bits inside,) somehow removed the throat-sticking sweetness and texture to the normal mooncake, making it easier to eat and appreciate for people on the go like me. Aside from the mooncake-flavored nitrogen ice cream, I also liked the yuzu ice cream. It's a kind of Japanese-lime-flavored ice cream that was effective in cleaning the palate because of the ice cream's acidity.

Mr. Miguel demonstrating the wonders of simple and edible chemistry.

Tada.

MOAAAARRRR LIQUID NITROGEN!!!!

Mooncake ice cream!!

- The tour ended after our late afternoon final dessert. I asked Clarisse to roll me around as we tried to brave the early Metro Manila rush hour. I was so happy with today's rather different food tour, but I was so full that I had to skip dinner or else I would've exploded. I don't think I can eat again until a week after, but I definitely had a great day. (Thanks for inviting me to tag along again Clarisse!!)