Lunar New Year may have passed but that did not stop me and my mom in gearing up for a gastronomic adventure in none other than Manila Chinatown.
A usual must-stop destination for visiting tourists, this oldest known Chinatown in the world is located in the district of Binondo and has been noted to be having activities as early as the 16th century. Aside from being home to Chinese merchants and population in Manila, the place is also known for its culinary scene that provides delicious but affordable dishes to its customers and that is visited by various food journalists and bloggers from all over the world.
There are multiple ways of going to Manila Chinatown but since we found out that it’s currently operating for free, we opted to take the Pasig River Ferry which is a public transport service that plies along Pasig River from Pinagbuhatan, Pasig to Escolta in Manila. There are several stations dotted along the river that service passengers from all over the metro and have regular trip schedules. You can check out their daily trip schedule in the MMDA Pasig River Ferry Facebook page and find the nearest station to you.
If you’ve been living in Metro Manila for your whole life or for several years, I think you’re missing a lot if you still haven’t tried the Pasig River Ferry. This was my second time of riding it, but it still provided that air of excitement when I first rode it two years ago.
One of the obvious advantages of the ferry is the absence of traffic since there are few vessels plying along the route. Second is the open air ventilation that is really important in today’s pandemic situation and third is the accompanying sight-seeing activity during the trip. I think the latter is what makes the ferry the best option in going to Chinatown for it provides sights you don’t usually see when you’re at the road and you can also get a glimpse of the Malacañang Palace where the President resides. There’s also something really calming in just watching the river water flow in front of you.
After around an hour of travel, we reached the last station of the ferry which is the Escolta station where we got off and did a couple of walking until we reached the Manila Chinatown Arch.
Not to be confused with the other arches found in the district, this new addition to the Chinese neighborhood has just been recently inaugurated last 2015 and is found at the foot of Jones Bridge. However, this construction has been noted to be the largest in the world and the grandest one in the district boasting of sloping multiple eaves and pagoda roofs in red, blue, green and yellow. There is also another arch just behind this grand one which served as the main entryway years before the new Chinatown Arch was built and is known as the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch.
First stop of the day is a very popular but modest dining spot located along Yuchengco Street called Dong Bei Dumpling. Out of all the restaurants in Chinatown, this is the one that I’ve been looking forward to try the most because every article and every video that I’ve read and watched regarding Binondo has a mention of the place, hence making me curious what its dumplings really taste like.
Unlike in the other restaurants in the place, Dong Bei Dumpling doesn’t have any dining area and only caters for to-go orders. So if you don’t mind sitting and eating beside a clean gutter, then you wouldn’t find your experience at the place that bad. They also only observe made-to-orders to ensure the freshness of each dumpling. For our first time, we ordered their Pork Dumplings (₱200/14 piece) which was immediately served after preparation.
My initial impression of these beloved dumplings is that it is hot. You will know that it was just freshly made and just came out of the steamer because while I was chewing it, all I can feel was its temperature inside my mouth. But when I started tasting the pork inside, I was slightly disappointed as I wasn’t able to find any remarkable taste from it and find it bland instead. The only thing that is giving taste to it is the soy sauce mixture that comes with it that I also find a bit watery and bland. However, the dumplings were remarkably chewy and are good to satisfy and best shared by two persons.
Second stop on our list is dubbed as the oldest restaurant in Chinatown tracing its origins back in 1940 and is located at corners of Ongpin and Yuchengco Streets. Unlike Dong Bei, Chuan Kee has other branches outside of Binondo and is linked to the well-known and beloved brand Eng Bee Tin. This dining spot serves a variety of Chinese food ranging from dimsum, congee, soup, noodles to pansit.
We were supposed to dine at the place, however, due to the long queue of line and long waiting time, my mom and I decided to just order a to-go of their famous Kiampong (₱60) and Pork Maki Mi (₱185) and eat it somewhere else. When we were able to taste it, we found the Kiampong as your usual Chinese rice with hints of saltiness in it literally living to its translation of “salted rice” while the Pork Maki Mi is like a darker, thicker and blander version of mami that comes with pieces of pork that I find likeable since I’m not really a fan of salty broth noodles.
Third stop on our list is another beloved restaurant in Chinatown and is located along Quentin Paredes Street known as Sincerity Café and Restaurant. Unlike in the first two restaurants where we don’t find it that comfortable dining, Sincerity has looked like refuge to us as the place is very clean and comfortable for eating and comes with air-conditioning. Don’t be fooled as well with its small dining area at the first floor as there are two more floors above it to accommodate more customers.
The place prides itself with their Sincerity Fried Chicken (₱200/half chicken; ₱400/full chicken) so my mom and I agreed to order it for our first try. To be honest, I was a bit skeptic at first for its claim of being the best fried chicken in Chinatown until I took my first and second bites of its crispy chicken and all of my doubts were instantly gone.
I’ve tasted different kinds of fried chicken in my life but Sincerity’s tastes very unique and perfect that it’s probably the best fried chicken I had so far. Its saltiness is at that perfect level that comes with hints of garlic in between that goes further deep into the chicken meat that still makes it tasty though you’ve been chewing it for a while. The crispiness of its breading is also commendable as it is not that too soggy nor too thick. It is also so good that I did not find myself looking for ketchup or chicken sauce because it’s good enough as is. If I will fall in love with any food, this is it—it’s going to be Sincerity’s Fried Chicken.
Although we wish to have stayed longer to try more restaurants, my mom and I decided to call it a day since we still needed to catch the 5PM ferry trip. But before leaving, we couldn’t skip, of course, to visit an Eng Bee Tin branch and take home some of their signature Hopia Ube (₱45) as pasalubong and as dessert.
Generally, although we weren’t able to dine at two other places in our list, I still feel satisfied with our first ever Binondo food crawl. I was able to prove on how really cheap it was to eat and experience authentic Chinese food at Chinatown compared to other Chinese restaurants found in malls. Although I was a bit disappointed as there were a lot of people during our visit that social distancing is rarely observed and as mentioned, we weren’t able to eat at some restaurants due to the long queue of lines. But we have learned our lessons and will definitely apply it on the next time we find ourselves again in Chinatown.
Any thoughts?