Shi Lin Podium

A restaurant named Shi Lin serving Fried Chicken Chop would definitely land on my restaurants-to-try list. I blogged about my chicken chop quest after having tasted the fried chicken chop being sold at Taiwan's Shilin or night market. I've tried different chicken chops from Ersao, Savory, Serenitea, Big Daddy, but none came close to what I had in Taiwan.

My sister was handed a flyer last month as she was on her way to Borough at Podium. She spotted fried chicken chop in the pricelist. Having been as gaga as I was over the chicken chop at Taiwan, she immediately told me about the place. We just had to try it naturally.

We arrived at Shi Lin before 8pm. The place wasn't full but several tables inside were already reserved. So we settled for one outside. We were both famished, having had nothing save for Happy Lemon milk tea 3 hours ago. We ordered conservatively despite our hunger. From the uncomplicated menu we chose Xiao Long Bao (P128), Fried Pork Chop with egg and rice (P185), and Fried Chicken Chop (P168). My sister resumed her picture-taking of the open kitchen. Before she even finished, the pork chop rice already arrived. Our xiao long pao soon followed, then the chicken chop not long after. We were pleasantly surprised with the speedy service.

The pork chop, we were a bit disappointed to find, was a bit bland. The crust was tasty though. The rice was good. Actually, I'd have to say that the rice was better than the pork chop.

The xiao long bao were nestled on top of a cloth. I'm used to seeing them placed on top of thin slices of carrots. I lift a piece up with my chopsticks and see the broth weighing the bottom. I put a drop or two of black vinegar. It is only with xiao long bao that I use the stuff, the smell and taste are otherwise abhorrent to me. I pop the xiao long bao into my mouth. The wrapper was thicker than I preferred, the meat a tad chewy (my sister felt it was slightly overcooked), but the broth was full of flavor. Hands down, my favorite would be Din Tai Fung's xiao long bao but one has to travel all the way to Hong Kong for that. Locally, Suzhou, Crystal Jade, and HK Choi are pretty even. For me at least.

On to the fried chicken chop, the reason why we were even there. The golden brown crust was sprinkled with slightly reddish powder, but it's not chili powder, as one would initially think. Unlike the pork chop, the chicken chop was not the least bit bland. It was quite good, in fact, the best among those I've tasted locally, but also the most expensive. However, while it is the best, it's just the best so far. It's still not as good as the original.

Halfway through our meal, we decided we had room for one more dimsum. So we ordered Shrimp and Pork Shaomai (P145). By this time, there were more people in the restaurant. And our additional order took a while to arrive, and a bit of following up too. This one, like the xiao long bao, had a broth, which seemed odd for siomai. It's as if we ordered xiao long bao again, but with shrimp on top and a more artistic appearance.

We were curious about the noodles as well but we were already full. We'll save it for our next visit. While Shi Lin did not quite meet our expectations, we would probably be back, if we get a hankering for chicken chop.

Happy Lemon – my new happy place

I’m an addict. A pearl milk tea addict, that is. It started way back in the late 90s, when Easy Way first arrived on our shores from Taiwan. I had all Easy Way branches memorized and my favorite was the one along Granada, San Juan. But much like the Zagu clones, Easy Way branches closed one by one until none was left. I desperately searched for a replacement. Quickly wasn’t an option. I never did like their milk tea. Didn't like the Taro Taro either that was, and still is, so popular.

Ersao was the other option. The first time I tasted their milk tea, I found it an unsuitable replacement. But years later, probably from not being able to taste Easy Way for so long, I started to like it. I would have it two times a week, sometimes even three. It served as my pick-me-up drink. The fact that it was so near was an advantage, or was it a disadvantage? I suddenly grew tired of it and found it too “milky” for my taste. In hindsight, their milk tea seemed diluted compared to others. I couldn't have enough of it for several years and then just like that, I didn't want it anymore.

Then Happy Lemon opened. My sister heard of Happy Lemon through friends who were patrons when they were in Shanghai. I remember how we used to drop by the Promenade last October to check if the place had opened. When it finally did, we wasted no time going there.

I can still recall that day. My sister went ahead while I bought some stuff from Unimart. She immediately sent me a text message, saying something like “this is it! parang Easy Way”. I hastened there. I saw the lighted sign of Happy Lemon, literally a lemon drawn with a face, and I felt myself smiling already. I looked at the numerous drinks on the menu while waiting for my turn but I already knew what I wanted. I placed my order – a large Milk Tea with Black Pearl Sago (P85). I was handed a lemon-shaped acrylic piece, with Happy Lemon’s face on one side, a number on the other. (During succeeding visits, I noticed that they no longer hand out numbers. Perhaps some customers just "forgot" to surrender them.) After what seemed like ages, but actually just a short wait, I exchanged the number for my drink. I took one sip. I almost let out an audible “Aaahhh…” The search is over.

I thought of doing a roundup of the milk teas I've tried locally. The places offering milk tea are sprouting like mushrooms all over the metro. In the Banawe area alone, there's Ersao, Serenitea, Tea Cup and Fun Tea. I've already mentioned Quickly, which is probably the oldest. One place also worth mentioning is Bubble Tea, which is different from Bubble Tea Boy inside the Promenade food court, being sold by Coco Asian Bistro. I think Bubble Tea has quite a following. I used to like this as well, though not as much as Ersao. However, I was turned off by the outrageous price increase last year, when their large Royal Milk Tea went from P85 to P125! For milk tea, P125 seems a bit much.

For all these places, consistency is oftentimes an issue, esp. with the sago or pearl and sweetness of the milk tea. I've had quite a number of experiences with getting undercooked sago in the past. At Happy Lemon, I haven't had undercooked sago so far, but there were instances when the sago had an aftertaste. And two occasions when they seemed to have forgotten the sugar, despite the 100% sugar instruction. But since it's still on soft opening, maybe consistency will improve.

I will happily monitor consistency, by performing regular taste tests, provided the sun is still out. My sister and I observed that drinking Happy Lemon's milk tea during late hours led to trouble sleeping at night. The tea seemed to be pretty strong stuff or was it just a coincidence? But it happened without fail over several more tries. Definitely not a coincidence. We warned friends who were first-timers at Happy Lemon after we had dinner recently. They went ahead and had milk tea, while I chose Lemon Yakult, a refreshing drink that reminded me of lemon slush, but with a hint of Yakult. Two out of the four milk tea drinkers (my sister included) had a sleepless night. As for the other two, the first never had trouble sleeping even when she drinks coffee. The other was so exhausted that day she couldn't stay up even if she tried.

I therefore conclude that I should limit my milk tea consumption to daytime. Haha. Perhaps Happy Lemon can come up with a decaf version. Then it can be my happy place even at night.