Our Lifestyle team recently had lunch at Lung Hin, the award-winning Cantonese restaurant of Marco Polo Ortigas.
And like most journalists who still have to return to barracks to put the newspaper to bed, it was not uncommon that our initial thought was that this ought to be a quick lunch. There are deadlines, after all, and deadlines are nothing but sacred.
But on level 44 of the hotel, with the Ortigas skyline as the backdrop, we were greeted by a formidable menu headlined by the famous Hong Kong golden goose.
For starters, we were served steamed seafood dumplings with caviar and deep-fried shrimp dumplings with mayonnaise on the side.
A half serving of the roasted goose followed—the skin crisp and the flesh tender, with all the exquisite fat and juices demanding time and attention—deadline be damned because the goose was not prepped and air-dried for almost an entire day just to be eaten hurriedly.
According to Ken Leung, the hotel’s Chinese executive chef, the goose—imported all the way from Hong Kong—must weigh somewhere between 3.5 to 3.9 kilos. Any lighter and the proportion of meat and fat will not do; any heavier and the flesh would no longer be as tender.
The Hong Kong classic, coming from the renowned and century-old recipe of guest chef Billy Cheong, used to be served for only a month annually at Lung Hin. But because of the overwhelming demand, the offering that began on Nov. 1 will be extended until Feb. 3, 2020, well past the Chinese New Year.
The dishes that followed each held its own—braised fish lips and dried scallops soup, poached garoupa with wild mushroom in fish stock, sautéed whole Japanese scallops, steamed stuffed vegetarian treasure in inari bag, and of course, the signature fried rice with seafood. Chilled mango sago with coconut milk capped the almost three-hour lunch.
Praise the Jasmine tea for helping us crawl our way back to the office without feeling too bloated.
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And with Christmas and New Year just around the corner, Marco Polo Ortigas is rolling out its Sparkling Holidays package.
A grand feast awaits at Cucina with time-treasured culinary delights from different parts of the world forming part of the spread. Christmas Eve dinner is priced at P3,850.
Cucina offers Christmas classics on Christmas Day at P2,988 per guest (lunch or dinner) while New Year’s Day, lunch or dinner, is priced at P2,988 per person.
For Lung Hin, Chef Leung prepared curated set menus for Christmas and New Year for tables of 10 guests.
Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge invites night owls and revelers from all over the metro to take part in the “20|20: The New Year’s Eve Countdown Party.” Doors open at 8:00 p.m., with tickets available at P1,850 per guest, inclusive of one Bottega Gold Prosecco (200 ml) as a welcome drink.
I’m at joyce.panares@gmail.com.
