Boon Tong Kee

We celebrated Andi's 12th birthday at Boon Tong Kee (Quezon City branch) which is right beside its sister outlet Burgoo along Tomas Morato.  I had wanted to compare the taste of the local branch with the taste of the cooking in Singapore.  It was a good thing we arrived early, as parking in the area gets pretty hard to find by 7pm.  Our big group of 20 was seated at a long table at the rear portion of the restaurant, and this was just fine as it afforded us some semi-private space.  Gwammy was particularly thrilled because the egg-drop soup that was served as a tummy warmer was on the house!

While waiting for the rest of the family members, we started off with some dimsum treats so that the children's boredom would be quelled.  The staff was quick to point out some of their specialties, and the kids didn't have any objections.

The boiled chicken is the specialty of the house, together with the accompanying chicken rice, this is probably Singapore's best known legacy to the foodie community.  The bird was tender, and the skin was gelatinous in form, which is exactly what I look for!

And the parade of viands started--sweet sour pork, birthday noodles, beef fillet with black pepper, Chinese spinach with century eggs and salted eggs, fish sauteed in garlic, French beans, fried chicken, Dory fish in tausi sauce, cereal prawns, mussels and squid rings and coffee pork ribs.  How much more Singaporean can you get?

Staff service was excellent, we felt as if we owned the place.  I learned from the head chef that a whole team of Filipinos trained in Singapore for some 3 to 4 months before the local branch was opened, and I'd say that taste of the cooking here is already quite good, and the cereal prawns and the coffee pork ribs were clearly winners. However, having eaten in their Singaporean outlet, I'd say that the original stores have a slight edge, probably because of the quality of the produce.  For example, the local Chinese spinach is a truly more fibrous as compared to the one I tasted in Singapore.  Also, the sweet & sour pork ribs and the fried chicken were quite ordinary, just like those of nearby Chinese restaurants in the Tomas Morato area.  In fine, the bill of around P750 per head was reasonable for a good tummy-filling treat for all of us.