(SPOT.ph) Come Chinese New Year, Filipino and Chinese families all over the country come together to celebrate the occasion with a good, hearty meal. Here’s an idea: head over to Empress Dining Palace in BGC and feast on their Lunar New Year Set Menus. Choose between Set A (P16,800/good for six) and Set B (P22,800/good for 10), which have similar menus and will be available at the restaurant from January 13 to February 13.
Here are a few of the dishes you can expect:
The meal begins with the Empress Prosperity Toss Salad, also known as Yu Sheng. A smattering of different ingredients, including salmon, carrots, cucumber, turnips, sesame seeds, peanuts, golden pillow fried chips, plum sauce, lime juice, and spices for prosperity. The dish is then placed at the center of the table for the diners at the table to toss on the spot—and you get a salad with a myriad of textures and flavors, ranging from sweet to sour to gingery to crispy to crunchy, in each bite.
Some much-needed warmth comes via the Double Boiled Cabbage Soup with Bamboo Pith and Fresh Mushrooms, whose soothing broth runs deep with the rich earthiness of mushrooms. From there, the Empress Treasure Pot (a.k.a. Poon Choi) is placed on the table, brimming with a variety of ingredients that includes prawns, duck, abalone, fish, quail eggs, mushrooms, radish, and more, all tossed in a sweet-savory sauce that ties all their different profiles together.
Those in for a lighter bite will enjoy the Crispy Pork Skin with Foie Gras and Mango—one-bite treats of lettuce leaves topped with paper-thin pork skin, buttery foie, and sweet mango to round it off. Likewise, the Steamed Live Garoupa is a clean-tasting treat with ultra-succulent meat for those looking for less aggressive flavors. And for veggies—you’ll need ’em—tuck into the Assorted Seasonal Vegetables with crispy green beans, meltingly tender eggplant, mushrooms, and bell peppers.
Of course, no Asian meal is complete without rice, and The Empress Dining Palace delivers with the Fried Rice with Dried Scallops and Crab Meat, which is flavorful without being oily. The meal is capped off on a sweet note with the Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Black Sesame in Fresh Coconut, a guinataan-like treat with chewy, black sesame-stuffed dumplings in a warm, milky sauce.
Maybe you subscribe faithfully to Chinese traditions; maybe you’re just in for good eats, no matter the occasion. There’s something for you in this menu, and you’ll definitely leave full—of prosperity, maybe. Of food, definitely.
The Empress Dining Palace is at 7th Ave. Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City. For more information, check out the Empress Dining Palace Facebook page.
