Chinese Royalty: LiLi Yum Cha Buffet, Hyatt Manila

A panel decorating the wall at Li Li

A few months ago, maybe in August, R and I went to the Hyatt Hotel Manila for the Yum Cha Sunday brunch buffet at Li Li, the hotel's Chinese restaurant. We were supposed to have gone in July, for my birthday, but we couldn't find the time to go until weeks later.

I like dim sum, though I wouldn't say I'm crazy about it. I eat it when it's there, and I do like it. I'd experienced an enjoyable and filling all-you-can eat dim sum lunch a couple of times, and if someone were to take me to another, I'd very much look forward to it. But if I were hungry, or if someone were to ask me what I wanted to eat, dim sum would not be the first (or second, or third) thing to cross my mind.

R is even less into dim sum than I am. He doesn't dislike it, but like me, he wouldn't even think of it when trying to decide on what to eat. He's also had far less exposure to dim sum than me: probably just the usual siomai (meat and/or shrimp dumpling, steamed or fried), siopao (steamed BBQ pork or meatball bun), and hakaw (steamed prawn dumpling).

I figured it was time to change that. He is dating a (1/4) Chinese girl after all, and I thought it was about time he was introduced to the world of dim sum. As luck would have it, a few weeks before my birthday, DealGrocer offered a voucher for 26% off on the Sunday Yum Cha buffet (PhP 1,150 [~USD 27] instead of the usual PhP 1,550 [~USD 37]). I know the discount isn't tremendous (DealGrocer seems to more carefully pick their merchants but offer smaller discounts than other group buying sites), and more than PhP 1,000 per head is still a rather expensive meal. But based on the quantity and quality of food that we anticipated, the numerous positive reviews, and the restaurant's award-winning status, we decided it was worth a shot. It was, after all, for a special occasion, so we could afford to splurge a little.

And boy, was it worth it. R and I were among the first to arrive, since we wanted to get a good table and eat at a relaxed, comfortable pace. The place was gorgeous: what I imagine Chinese opulence looks like. It looked oriental, expensive, but still cultured/sophisticated. The staff were welcoming, warm, and polite. They were pleasant throughout the entire brunch: from the moment they welcomed us and led us to our table, while they took our orders and served our food and refilled our drinks, and all the way until we left the restaurant. They were quick, careful, and attentive.

The food, of course, was the star of the show. While waiting for our dim sum to arrive (they cook it to order, so it's fresh), we got some food from the starter/live cooking station. I got a bowl of hot and sour soup (my favorite), some jellyfish (also my favorite), barbecued pork belly with mustard sauce on the side (flavorful and perfectly balanced!), and the most divine tea egg! I don't even like boiled egg all that much, but this was sublime, the best egg I've had, ever. R had congee and some of the other starters. We agreed: not a single dud in that spread.

Hot and sour soup

Before we even finished with our starters, our dim sum started to arrive. I won't go through this in detail because with all the food we ordered, it would take too long, and honestly, it was all kind of a blur as one dim sum dish after another arrived--a completely happy, hedonistic blur. Glutinous (gluttonous!) roll, steamed squid, puff pastry with barbecued pork, chicken feet, ham shui kok (deep-fried sticky dumpling with minced meat filling), egg custard balls, and more... there wasn't a single bite that didn't delight the palate. The house guava iced tea (bottomless, included in buffet price) was as good as advertised. I'm not big on beverages--I usually just stick to water or tea and have trouble finishing one glass of juice or iced tea--but I had a few glasses of their iced tea.

Chicken feet

Ham shui kok

Egg custard balls

Some of our starters and dim sum

The one thing we did wrong was that we ordered main courses (included in the buffet). We had shrimp and chicken salad, Fookien fried rice, fried pork ribs, braised chicken with basil, and beef tenderloin in Mandarin sauce. Although they were pretty good, they weren't amazing. We could've done without them and instead focused more on the starters and the dim sum, which were absolutely magical.

The Yum Cha buffet also includes a dessert spread. We were already seriously stuffed from all the food we'd had, so we went easy on the dessert. I had a fluffy marshmallow-like thing, creme brulee, some sort of coconut milk and bean custard, and two servings of mango pudding topped with tiny cubes of fresh mango and a bit of cream/milk, which to me was the best of the lot. (I know I said we went easy... this is going easy, for me and my massive sweet tooth.) I like that their desserts come in small portions, allowing one to get a taste of everything without burdening the stomach. We had some hot tea to go along with dessert (also included in the buffet price) to help us digest everything we ate.

Some of the dessert offerings

Tea cup and utensil cradles

And thus ended what has to be one of my very best culinary experiences, ever. The service was impeccable, the food was spectacular, the place was beautiful and set the right ambiance. They got everything right, down to the details: the table setting, the plates and glasses, and especially those little cradles where you can lay down your utensils and chopsticks when they're not in use or on a plate--every restaurant should have those!  Even the the restrooms were nice, which always gets bonus points from me.

For giving me a few hours of feeling like Chinese royalty, Li Li's Yum Cha brunch gets an unequivocal 5 stars from me. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday lunch date, and there couldn't have been a better introduction to dim sum for R.

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Li Li at the Hyatt Hotel Manila
1588 Pedro Gil corner MH Del Pilar
Malate, Manila
+63 02 245 1234
http://manila.casino.hyatt.com

Daily all-you-can-eat dim sum (PhP 788 nett [~USD 19]): 12 nn - 3 pm
Sunday Yum Cha buffet (PhP 1,550 nett [~USD 37]: 11:30 am - 3 pm
   --dim sum plus starters, main courses, dessert, and free-flowing drinks (iced tea, soda, beer)

I Used to Love Him: Breakfast at Antonio's, Tagaytay

I'm not too happy about my first post being a negative review, but what can I do? I've been meaning to start a food blog for years, and it just so happens that when I finally decide to start it, my most recent culinary experience is a dud.

I wasn't expecting this. I used to love Antonio's--especially Breakfast at Antonio's. The first time I ate at Breakfast was maybe 10 years ago, when it was still at its old location, along the main road of Tagaytay, and I've loved it since. The food was wonderful, well plated, with hearty servings. The service was pleasant and professional. The ambiance was casual but classy. The overall experience was very "country club." I always left Breakfast with a satisfied palate, a full (but not too full) stomach, and an overall feeling of contentment, relaxation, and happiness.

But not last Saturday. Last Saturday, the wait staff barely paid attention to us as we entered, and we had to walk around and stand around and basically make ourselves look conspicuous before anyone approached us and gave us a table. Note that this was not a busy hour, and there were at least 3 employees standing around doing nothing, not paying any attention at all. However, we saw this as a minor, passing thing and forgot all about it as we ordered and awaited what we expected, based on previous experience, would be a lovely meal. Our waiter seemed a bit disinterested, like he didn't really care to be there, but he did take our orders and answer our questions--not the level of service we've come to expect from Antonio's, but it was good enough.

R ordered corned beef and eggs, sunny side up. I ordered a feta and spinach omelette. We also ordered cheddar pancakes to share. I was afraid we'd over-ordered, which we're prone to doing, but I figured that after a tiring work week, we deserved to indulge a little.

Our orders came quickly, in a matter of minutes, which was wonderful. But that's pretty much where wonderful ended. R's corned beef (which was pretty good) was served with scrambled eggs instead of sunny side up. They did replace the eggs (actually, they let us keep the scrambled eggs too, which I guess was nice of them), but the sunnies seemed haphazardly cooked: the yolks were nearly solid, and the whites were dripping oil and brown around the edges, like they'd been cooked in a used pan.

My feta and spinach omelette was a massive disappointment. The omelette and the hash brown and piece of bread that came with it lay atop a somewhat oily plate. There were maybe 5 pieces of feta and 3 tiny clumps of spinach in there. Most bites I took had neither feta nor spinach. For the most part, it was just egg and tomato. It wasn't inedible, but it wasn't good, not even average really. I honestly could've made a better one at home, and I'm not much of a cook. I asked the waiter about it, but he saw a piece of feta and a spinach leaf on my plate and assured me that this was, indeed, their feta and spinach omelette done right. How could I argue? All I could do was quietly, and a little sadly, finish the lump of egg and tomato on my plate.

My feta and spinach omelette and a bite of R's corned beef. To be fair,
the corned beef and hash brown were pretty good, but not enough to
salvage the meal.

The pancakes, too, were a disappointment. They were smaller and flatter than they used to be and tasted completely average. Still, it's a good thing we ordered them because otherwise, we wouldn't have had enough food to fill us up.

As if disappointing us with the food wasn't enough, they frustrated us with their service too. The staff were inattentive and disinterested throughout our meal. It took us about 10 minutes just to ask for the bill, and again, this was during a quiet hour. The servers were there, in the dining room, doing nothing, but for some reason they just never looked at or checked on the customers. When we asked for our water glasses to be refilled, the waiter spilled some water on my cellphone and didn't apologize or even bat an eye.

To be fair, we did come in at 3 pm, and the kitchen closes at 4. Perhaps by that time, the chefs and wait staff were tired and just wanted to go home. Still, they were open, and customers who come in during the last hour of service should not receive any less than those who come in earlier. Another disclosure: we used a Groupon for PhP 800 (~USD 20) worth of food (for which we paid PhP 400 [~USD 10]). (We did go over PhP 800, so we paid the remainder in cash.) But restaurants and merchants who offer deals on group buying sites should deliver the same quality of food and give the same level of service to voucher holders and full-paying customers alike.

I know everyone has off days, and maybe we just so happened to chance upon one. Antonio's has been one of my favorites for about a decade now, and I'm not ready to write it off based on one bad experience, no matter how far below expectations it was. So I'll give it another chance, maybe next month, and I'm hoping and wishing really hard that they'll take that second chance and remind me of why I fell in love in the first place and prove to me that they deserve that love.

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Antonio's and Breakfast at Antonio's
Purok 138, Barangay Neogan, Luksuhin-Mangas Road
Alfonso, Tagaytay
+63 917 899 2866
http://www.antoniosrestaurant.ph

Open Tuesday to Sunday
Breakfast: 7 am - 4 pm
Lunch: 11 am - 2 pm
Dinner: 5:30 - 8:30 pm