That Reliable Chinese Diner

It's always good to have that dependable Chinese restaurant just around the corner. Think Sandra Bullock in Two Weeks Notice, Mickey Blue Eyes and The Firm. To be honest I'm a North Park kid myself. I have it stored in my head that their hotline is now 73737 and always order the Salted Garlic Squid (or alternatively, the Sweet and Sour Fish), Yang Chow Fried Rice and the Three Kinds Mushroom with Brocolli. And despite all the bad press about it, I love MSG. (And hey, to the suckers, read this.) Ajinomoto is the shiznit. That vetsin is cancerous is just another First World marketing ploy to keep Chinese competition at arms length. The Chinese should actually retaliate with bad press on the amount of SUGAR used in Starbucks frapuccinos. But I digress ...

The dependable Chinese restaurant subject of this story is ... (BIG SURPRISE HOLD YOUR BREATH) Su Zhou. Truth be told, I would never have found myself at this place if Franco had not chosen it as the spectacle of the month. My loyalty to North Park, Hap Chan and Hei Chin Rou, albeit developed by geographical convenience (take a wild guess where I live), is stronger than oak. Only Y U N in Escolta can pull me away.

Special Xiao Long Pao

But Su Zhou, I found, has its own charms that may be worth braving Shaw for, beginning with the first item on the menu, the Special Xiao Long Pao (with matching star beside - kasi sobrang special siya.) Don't be misled to thinking it's some kind of siopao. Pareho lang sila ng apelido. But like Indiana Jones and Angelica Jones, no relation sila. Actually it should be the Special Xiao Long Mai or the Special Xiao Long Kaw because it's more like siomai (steamed pork dumpling) or hakaw (steamed shrimp dumpling). But whatever. I don't speak Chinese so I'll just accept the name ... and the star beside it. (By the by they call their siopao the Ah Pao, probably to avoid confusion with the Long Pao. But I digress ... )

Inside the Xioa Long Pao

The star in fact, is credible. The XLP (naks, I just Filipinized the name by putting initials to it!) is in fact Special because it is not your ordinary dumpling. It has SOUP in that soft white enveloping blanket as well! Yup, you read that right. Soup. So it bursts with broth as you plop it in your mouth. So you can imagine the texture action going on: the soft dough, the ground meat, both moistened by the broth ... And dig this: they put a slice of carrot to saucer the dumpling so there's a slight sweet crunch as you bite into it. All this fresh from the kitchen and steamy hot too (you can literally see the soft steam as they serve it to you). I really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, they don't serve hakaw, which is a MUST for me in a Chinese restaurant. It's always the first thing I order and the reason I fell in love with Hei Chin Rou. So minus points for that. In its place they have the Shrimp and Pork Dumpling, which also comes with the carrot on the bottom. This also tasted good but it's still no hakaw. I guess they just don't believe in the benefits of an independent shrimp.

They're also a big fan of Kuchay, with a Kuchay and Pork Dumpling and Pan-fried Kuchay & Pork Dumpling on the dumpling menu as well. I didn't try this though. Hopefully the rest of the Table did.

I like the Su Zhou dumplings because they're similar to real Chinese dumplings. Well, the Chinese dumplings I've tasted anyway, which was just in provincial China. I went to Yangshuo earlier this year and got to try real Chinese dumplings for the first time. I found it to be different from what we have in Chinese restaurants here in the Philippines. The only other Chinese restaurant that I have found with similar dumplings is Dong Bei in Chinatown.

The noodles are also good at this restaurant. I had the Special Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup (also with a star), upon the recommendation of our candid server Luchi. It is slightly spicy and perfect after a long day.

For our main course (is it obvious I eat a lot - intro lang yung noodles), we had the Drunken Chicken in Hot Pot and the Fish in Tausi Sauce. The drunken chicken is a curious dish. The chicken didn't taste like your ordinary white meat chicken but tasted ... darker. Maybe it had a buzz, maybe it was the hot pot (because the meat parts didn't look dark). I don't know, but it tasted too different for me to appreciate it. The fish was pleasant, though. Actually, I enjoyed the tofu that came with the dish. They come in generous blocks and the overall mix of the dish peppers it with flavor. I'd order it again.

Fish in Tausi Sauce

For dessert, I had something Filipino instead because beside our table was a refrigerator that housed some Fruits in Ice Cream and it started its cajoling me from the time I finished my first XLP. Strawberry.

All in all, in my humble opinion, Su Zhou is a great Chinese diner. A dependable neighborhood restaurant, and it showed with the turnover rate I witnessed on the weekday I paid a visit. I counted 6 parties from the time I sat down to the time I left - a pair of Chinese businessmen as I entered, a solo Chinese dude as I chewed on the dumplings, a younger Filipino Chinese looking dude who ordered to go, an old couple, a group of three men, and a group of four yuppies as we left. Not bad for two hours. And it was raining hard.

SuZhou Dimsum
A. Mabini cor. Araullo Street
Mandaluyong City
Tel (02) 721-6105

Ground Floor Food Court
Promenade Greenhills
San Juan
Tel (02) 744-3846

Who Zoo Dumplings?

Xiao Long Pao and Steamed Beef with Garlic

There are dining experiences that one can't forget, and then there are those one can't remember. And sometimes, it isn't because of anything particularly wrong with the experience; it just doesn't stick. That's my impression of Su Zhou Dimsum.


As Franco had so aptly described the place, it's out of the 70's. Way out. Green and white walls, the odd "waterfall" beside the front door and the fish tank below filled with, well, with goldfish. Wasn't swallowing goldfish a 70's thing? Or was it a 50's thing? No matter. On to the place itself.


Actually, I'm not surprised by the appearance of the place and its apparent contempt for interior design. Most small Chinese food places share the same spartan sensibilities. Binondo, where I spent a good part of my working life, is actually an entire town built with the same utilitarian sensibility. So, the place, while potentially bothersome to people used to places like North Park with its stainless steel tables, the whole retro-because-we-don't-care vibe is not a deal breaker for me.

What does bother me are the mismatched chairs. It's one thing to have mismatched chairs because there aren't enough of one set, it's quite another to have them done on purpose. Yes, I get the attempt, the problem is, it looks sloppy instead of shabby. In a place that was otherwise very clean, the mismatched furniture gave it a needlessly messy look.

Ah, but I digress. On to what we (my family and I) ate.

We had the Xiao Long Pao (P75), of course. Surprisingly heavy, it reminded me of my son when his swimming trunks get wet. It was actually quite a delight, with the thing remaining steadfastly solid, despite memories of wet trunks floating in my head; it was very good. The broth was sweet and a bit fruity, which was actually an excellent balance to the other food we had. I was impressed with how well the thing held together, actually, given that it was filled with broth.

Aside from that, we had the Steamed Beef with Garlic, the Fried Chicken, and the Salted Fish Fried Rice (The only fried rice we get, since it has no shrimp. Allergies have forever cramped our eating style. But when there are shrimps, I do try to relay the flavor to my wife.)

The Steamed Beef with Garlic (P200) was also a surprise, being pillowy soft and mildly seasoned by itself. It does come with a rather potent oyster sauce dip, which gives it all the salt it would need. It was topped with garlic and onions and, because we said we wanted it mild, one chili pepper. The flavor was light, a surprise given that it was beef, and very pleasant, with no gaminess or pungency one would associate with typical beef dishes. Very good stuff.

The Fried Chicken (P170/half) was also very good, but not as surprising. It was seasoned the way all Chinese fried chicken gets seasoned, although this one was fried very well, being soft and juicy, while being nicely crispy outside. It came with several dips, notably a black vinegar and ginger dip and what was mapo dipping sauce, I think. In any case, my son liked it enough to take his eyes off the goldfish, who were already too self conscious of being stared at and were huddled in one corner of the tank. Oh, and of course it had kropek.

Of the dishes we tried, it was the Salted Fish Fried Rice (P105) that was a letdown. It was fried rice and done rather competently, but as to what kind it was, well, we wouldn't have been able to guess had we not ordered it. Thinking back, we could have passed on that one.

While we were enjoying what was in general, a nice meal, people from the nearby residences would amble in and order dishes to take home. They also had a freezer where they sold some of their wares in reheatable form. That's when it hit me.

This place is perfect - as a neighborhood dimsum place. As a restaurant to travel to, well, there are more impressive places and better food. Three car parking lots don't exactly encourage people to stay, either. But for a place to pick up some decent Chinese food, it makes better sense.

In the end, I remember the place (in all its glory) more than I actually remember the food, which doesn't improve its impression on me, either. But there isn't anything wrong with anything about the place, it was just not enough to make it stand out in my mind. Would I go back? Maybe, if I remember.

Oh, wait, there is one thing wrong. Those (framed!) pictures of old Chinese soap ads in the bathroom. Why?

SuZhou Dimsum
A. Mabini cor. Araullo Street
Mandaluyong City
Tel (02) 721-6105

Ground Floor Food Court
Promenade Greenhills
San Juan
Tel (02) 744-3846

Many thanks to Franco for the use of Su Zhou pictures

A Little House called Su Zhou

From top left, clockwise: Steamed Xiao Long Bao, Banana Nuggets,
Salt and Pepper Fried Tofu, Tofu with Century Egg and Shredded Pork

Connecting Shaw Boulevard to Wilson Street, A. Mabini could be mistaken as as just another road of old homes and shop houses; nothing more than a street that gets you from Mandaluyong to San Juan.

To avoid the daily grid of Manila traffic, I occasionally go down this one way road, with nothing really catching my eye except this little green bungalow with a small wooden sign. It looks like a Chinese restaurant but the owners don't seem too concerned about letting the public know that they exist. I'm intrigued, but not enough to try it.

During a random text conversation with Sharky about restaurants to visit, I ask her about this mystery restaurant along Mabini pretending to be a house. She informs me that this restaurant is very popular with local residents, a community secret that is not openly discussed in mixed company. The place is called Su Zhou Dimsum.

She immediately texts me a list of the dishes I must try. Like a child listening to an all knowing parent, I gratefully take it all in.

I must eat there soon. And I did. The very next day...

Su Zhou Dimsum is a small, green colored bungalow on the corner of A. Mabini and Araullo Streets. This 70s styled building probably has not seen much exterior renovation in a while, except for the open, three-car parking lot, the glass doors and the wooden signage with the restaurant's Chinese and English name written on it.

The interiors are pretty much the same as the exteriors. The walls are painted with a similar shade of mint green. The table tops are covered with easy-to-clean, white Formica and the wooden, dark brown chairs don't quite match. Beside the door is a slim fish tank filled with small gold fish (for decoration, not eating) and a clump of misplaced, Japanese paper lamps hangs from the ceiling. It reminds me of a 'hole in the wall' Bionondo restaurant, but a lot more sanitary looking.

Obviously, this place is not about design. But I'm not here for interiors. I'm here for the food.

Spying on our neighbour's tables, the popular dish is obviously the Xiao Long Bao (P75). It is after all the house specialty. Xiao Long Bao (translated literally as little basket buns) are soup dumplings. What makes these dumplings unusual is the soup surprise within. During preparation, these dumplings are not only stuffed with meat fillings but also a gelatinous cube of broth. Thus, as the Xiao Long Bao cooks, the gelatin cube melts, creating the soup within the bun. By the way, Su Zhou serves them either steamed or fried. We preferred the fried version because of its crispy bottom.

After two orders of the Xiao Long Bao, we decide to have two Tofu dishes.

The first was the Tofu with Century Egg and Shredded Pork (P125). Honestly, this dish was so pretty on the menu, I could not resist ordering it. In the taste department, it did not disappoint. The silken tofu is dressed in oyster sauce then garnished with sliced century egg, shredded pork flakes and spring onions. The mix of the salty egg and the sweet pork, the peppery spring onions and the milky tofu make this a must order; a visual and culinary treat.

Next, we had the Salt and Pepper Fried Tofu (P80). A pretty straight forward dish. Cubes of silken tofu are covered in seasoned bread crumbs, deep fried and garnished with spring onions. Dipping the tofu in a sweet and sour sauce, A. fell in love with this dish. As for myself? It was good but not unique enough to order again on the next visit.

To round up our lunch, we ordered the Banana Nuggets (P70) for dessert. I first heard about this dish, reading a review of Su Zhou in Yummy Magazine. This dessert is made up of golden brown pillows; light and crispy on the outside and a warm, oozing banana puree on the inside. In a word, lovely. Simply lovely.

If you are looking for stylish and elegant Chinese dining, move on. But if you seek honest-to-goodness Chinese dishes that you won't soon forget, navigate your way to Su Zhou. Drive slow. You just might miss it.

SuZhou Dimsum
A. Mabini cor. Araullo Street
Mandaluyong City
Tel (02) 721-6105

Ground Floor Food Court
Promenade Greenhills
San Juan
Tel (02) 744-3846

On the Table: Ian Carandang of Sebastian's Ice Cream Studio

Ian Carandang started with a craving to make his own Chucky Monkey. His craving became a hobby and with the help of a couple of college buddies, his hobby has become a business. Now, he creates his own brand of ice cream that people cannot seem to get enough of.

As Lori of Dessert Comes First wrote, "Move over, Ben and Jerry’s. Your successor is here." After a taste of Sebastian's Ice Cream, we guarantee, you'll agree.






Who in your life has influenced your ice cream making the most?

Without a doubt, Ben & Jerry’s Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. These guys are my McCartney and Lennon. The sense of playfulness and creativity they have with their flavor combinations and flavor names, some of which can be really bizarre (check out their flavor graveyard) but never boring. They resonated with me in a way Haagen-Dazs never did.

There’s one little anecdote in their book about how the were supposedly at an impasse; One of them wanted big chunks in their ice cream while the other wanted lots of little chunks to ensure that every mouthful would have a chunk. So their “compromise” was to have lots and lots of big chunks. Regardless of how true that story actually is, I love that, and I love the type of thinking that would come up with that. It’s ice cream; it’s supposed to be rich and full of good stuff.

Which book has had the biggest impact?

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. I consider this my bible. It taught me a lot of the basic fundamentals about ice cream which I still use today. Apart from the delicious recipes, it also had a lot of material about how they started out and is a joy to read. You can really get the personalities of the two of them which comes through in their product; something that we also have in common.

How was your first attempt at making ice cream?

About 10 years ago my balikbayan aunt was making one of her trips home, and asked me what I wanted as pasalubong. I had just got my Ben & Jerry’s recipe book from Amazon.com (wala pang Fully Booked back then) so I asked her to bring me an ice cream maker. She got me one of those old school ones; where you put the mix in a freezing cylinder and fill the outer container with ice and rock salt.

In retrospect, I think it’s a good thing she did get me that first and not one of the newer models, because it really did start me off on the basics of ice cream and how it’s made. Its as much a science as it is a culinary thing, as you have to know how freezing will affect ingredients’ taste and texture. My first-ever flavor was my own version of Chunky Monkey; a banana ice cream with walnuts and Dark Chocolate chunks, which I couldn’t get enough of at the time. I didn’t know what I was doing back then; it was a little bit icy and too dense, but I didn’t care, it was delicious.

What made you decide to open Sebastian's Ice Cream Studio?

I had been making the ice cream as a hobby and as a dessert item at our little family resto Hotstix Barbecue for a few years; when Vito Lazatin, my classmate from UP College of Business approached me about possibly turning it into something more. I had always had dreams of opening my own ice cream parlor with my stuff, but I was more of a creative type and really lacked the organizational skills and discipline to handle the ‘everything else’ part necessary for this type of venture. I jumped right in, and Tony Bondoc, another classmate from UP came on board as well (he was the one who actually coined with the Sebastian’s name) and we’ve been the Sebastian’s trio ever since.

What is your favorite item on the your menu?

The answer to that changes by the week, but currently it’s my latest baby Birthday Cake ice cream, which is Cake Batter ice cream swirled with gooey marshmallow frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Cake Batter ice cream is my new favorite gastronomic toy, just so unapologetically sweet and rich. Its an American tradition (which may or may not resonate with Pinoy audiences) that calls to mind childhood memories of your mom in the kitchen baking a cake from scratch, and you got to lick the bowl where she mixed the batter when she was done.

Cake Batter is a relatively new flavor, just invented a few years ago in the US by Cold Stone Creamery (I gotta give credit where credit is due). But beyond the unique taste which I love, what I like about Cake Batter it is that it disproves the notion that nothing is original anymore (my least favorite statement of all time, incidentally). It shows that not everything has been invented yet, and that the next blockbuster ice cream flavor is just a flash of inspiration away.

What was your most memorable ice cream experience?

Hands down, a double scoop of New York, New York from Coney Island Ice Cream from either the Shoppesville Arcade or the Fast-food Court next to Unimart in the Greenhills Shopping Center when I was a kid. That was simply the best ice cream I had ever had, as it was heads and shoulders above anything that Magnolia and Selecta were doing at the time. Even now, I dream about trying to recreate New York New York for today’s audiences, but I can’t remember what was in it, except that it was deliciously rich, creamy, and had a type of nut. Coney Island was simply ahead of their time.

Besides your own, whose ice cream do you love, local or foreign?

Besides the aforementioned Coney Island New York, New York, I loved Kopen-Hagen. Both of these places offered quality ice cream with flavors beyond the norm at affordable prices, and both of them were sadly ahead of their time. Selecta’s (the REAL Selecta, not the impostor we have now) Choco Almond Brownie. That was the richest chocolate ice cream I had ever had as a kid; it showed me the sublime pleasures of Dark Chocolate before I even knew what Dark Chocolate was. Note that none of the ones I mentioned exist anymore.*sob*

What junk food do you love?

American Comfort food: a good bacon cheeseburger burger with fries, Southern fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Anything fried well I’m sure to like, and Americans have elevated deep-frying into an art form. I don’t actually eat that much snacks and save it all for the big meals, primarily breakfast. I’m also a huge breakfast fiend and I love all breakfast foods: Sinangag, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese, ham, hash browns, spicy tuyo, fried eggs, longganisa, etc. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the culinary pioneer who first thought to combine garlicky fried rice with eggs and an ulam. I’d eat breakfast three times a day if my body could handle it.

Is there an ice cream flavour you just can't seem to enjoy?

I thought there was no such thing as an irredeemably bad batch of ice cream (and this is coming from someone who’s made flavors out of kamote, wasabi and haw flakes) but Arce Dairy’s “Caramel” ice cream is a crime against humanity. Instead of it being caramelly sweet, they go beyond caramelization when they cook their sugar and turn it into charcoal, and it shows in the taste. I had to try it from two different places just to make sure that I didn’t get a bad batch, because I couldn't believe that someone would make bitter ice cream on purpose. I wont dispute that some people like it otherwise they wouldn’t make it, but that is NOT caramel ice cream.

That, and Durian ice cream, for obvious reasons.

Just between us, what are your future plans?

Getting Sebastian’s ice cream into the right places where the people who appreciate our stuff can get them, whether by scooping stations in malls or pints in specialty stores. Opening up our first true blue ice cream sit-down parlor. Coming up with some new products that utilize ice cream in ways people haven’t seen before. Inventing that one ice cream flavor that will join the roster of ‘hallmark’ flavors like Double Dutch, Rocky Road, and Cookies & Crème that will be copied by the big guys and immortalized.

Beyond that though, and most importantly, Getting BALANCE in my life by learning how to delegate, and finding enough time for myself to exercise and get back in shape, and for making music, my other passion in life.

Sebastian's Ice Cream Studio
Alabang Town Center
Cinema Level

San Antonio Building
1595, Quezon Avenue Quezon City
Telphone: (2) 413-8359, (2) 924-0815
Email: sebastians.icecream@gmail.com

Table Suggestions: The Ratty Gourmet

This July will mostly be about Harry Potter mania. But less we forget, there is another film that you should not miss. But, don't just take our word for it...

"Ratatouille the movie is a dish fit for a king."

-Peter Travis, Rolling Stone full review

"Ratatouille is a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film."

-A.O. Scott, The New York Times full review

"That's the effect a soupçon of Ratatouille...can have on viewers. It returns us to animation's childlike wonders, and makes believers, gourmets, of us all."

-Richard Corliss, Time Magazine full review

"Ratatouille is...a lovely and heartfelt parable about real-world tolerance and acceptance. Anyone can cook, indeed."

-Glenn Kenny, Premiere Magazine full review

"Brad Bird's Ratatouille is so audacious you have to fall in love with its unlikely hero."

-Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times full review

"Will Pixar ever make a bad movie? Ever?"

-Dezhda Mountz, E! Online full review

If billboards around town are to be believed, Ratatouille will have its Philippine run starting July 25. Don't miss it.