Wee Nam Kee (Ayala Triangle)

Is this chemo brain I'm experiencing, or was it really my first to try Wee Nam Kee in Manila? I remember one Sunday in December 2 years ago when the whole family decided to take the kids to see the Ayala Triangle Christmas Light Show and planned on dining there after. Didn't happen. The place had just been opened and it was packed with people, the wait list was long and Daddy didn't want to wait. I don't remember ever attempting to eat there after that night. So yeah, I'm thinking last night was my very first time. 

It was unusually relaxed for a Friday Saturday (now THIS is chemo brain working!) night. Have people gotten tired of it? My Tita (Mama's older sis) was craving for Hainanese Chicken and even though I seriously wanted to Poco Deli next door, I had to give in to the senior citizen's craving heehee!

This jumped out of the menu when I read the drink list. Some people have told me that Barley is good for cancer patients (let me research more on the benefits and blog about it later on in Grace Anatomy). 

Iced Fresh Barley Juice. My taste buds approved.  

I can't go to an Asian restaurant and NOT have Hot and Sour Soup. My entire family knows that more than any other kind, this is what I always always prefer to have. It's nice when restaurants offer it on their menu in single servings, because not everyone likes this. 

And then ... this is what we really went to Wee Nam Kee for 

Hainanese Chicken

When I mentioned that I wanted Roast Chicken too, the order taker suggested that we order these two variants, combo style. Smart move on his part, props to him.

Roast Chicken

Sabine wanted noodles but while reading the menu, she suddenly exclaimed, "What??? No Wanton??!" Hahaha! I swear this not-so-little-girl of mine has her own mind and always knows what she wants. Out of frustration, she refocused her eyes on other items in the menu and (I don't know why but) she zeroed in on this

Roast Pork

I took one look at the Roast Pork and got dizzy, I had to skip it. 

This entry is not a review of the restaurant nor the food, but I have to say, I expected a lot more. I kept thinking of Boon Tong Kee and how much we all enjoyed the food there the last time. Sadly, the food in Wee Nam Kee transported me directly into a food court. It surely felt that way. Please, please improve on this. Wee Nam Kee in Singapore really blew me away and I went back many times because it was so good, I didn't care if I was eating on a bangketa. 

I skipped ordering the usual Cereal Prawns. Do you think I should have? 

Sunday Family Style : Boon Tong Kee

I've been hiding under a rock! I had no idea that Boon Tong Kee opened last October 28th. It was a rare thing for us to go to Makati on a Sunday, since most of our get-togethers happen in the north where my parents are from. The decision to go to Power Plant yesterday was perfect. It was also good that we all decided to meet up for a late lunch. Yes, around 3 pm which is officially merienda time. We didn't have to wait extremely long to be seated. Still, at that odd hour the place was full.

There were 9 of us all in all. Feast your eyes on how much food we ate LOL!

Fried Spareribs with Zhen Jiang Sauce
This was really tender. The meat easily came off the bone and it was sweet. Yummy!
Sabine immediately gave it two thumbs up, we ended up ordering a 2nd serving.

Poached Chinese Spinach with Assorted Eggs - another winner

Signature Boiled Chicken (whole) - THE BEST!
I really enjoyed the ginger sauce too. Better than others I've tried.

Fried French Bean and Scallops with Spicy XO Sauce - We had two of these two.   One taste and we knew we had to order another one. 

Braised Tofu with Prawns in Claypot - On hindsight, this was the only dish I didn't get to dive into. But N says it was just as good as the others.

Can you guess who ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork? 

Lapu Lapu Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onion - Daddy would've loved this!

Sago Gula Melaka with Vanilla Ice cream. As if I hadn't had too much to eat already. 

I would give the food 9 out of 10 (since nothing's perfect), but seriously, nothing tasted even just a bit off. Everything was perfectly-cooked. My only issue? Their rice bowls aren't that big so most of us ended up ordering extra bowls but the said ... they ran out and it would take 15 minutes for the new batch to get cooked. Okay fine, birth pains. But still ... you don't really run out of rice, diba??? Not in the Philippines! :))

I hope the next time we drop by, the rice issue would've been addressed. How can you eat Hainanese Chicken alone? Anyway, I can forgive them for this hiccup because everything else didn't disappoint. I really didn't take note of individual dish prices but our bill was over P5,000. That's roughly P500 something/head.

Eating here made me really really miss my Dad. He would've loved everything. 

Sunday Family Style:Stevie's Hainanese Chicken

Sundays are sacred. We get together as a family no matter what happens. And when my family decides to eat, we EAT. Thanks to my Dad who had such high standards when it came to food, it all rubbed off on the rest of us somehow. My brother decided to order Stevie's Hainanese Chicken this time. I had tried it once before at a friend's party, but I arrived late, so I didn't really get to enjoy it much. This time, I made sure I had enough to make me and my tummy happy.

Here was the spread at the dinner table. The noodle dish (Sotanghon Satay) on the left side of the photo is from a small, neighborhood Chinese restaurant that's close to our house called PVL. If you're from my area, you would know which place I'm talking about. They have really good food and so cheap too.

Now back to Stevie's...

I had all the time to savor the food this time around and I really did. I zoomed in on the chicken and the rice right away, having had the Sotanghon Satay from PVL like a million times before. I'm a chicken person. I can eat chicken in different versions every single day and not complain a bit. In fact, I've always been partial to chicken cooked the Asian way. Hence, Hainanese Chicken has always been on top of my list of choices. On previous trips to Singapore, I would order the same thing regardless of where we ate, just to see which place served the best kind. 

Let me be extremely specific about my experience

The chicken - Fat but not in a sinful kind of way, which is just the way I like it. They use a whole chicken per order (as stated in their Facebook page) so expect a very generous portion that's really good for sharing with the family or a group of friends. The sauce that comes with the chicken in the container is so good, most of you will probably opt not to use the sauces that come with your order. 

The rice - Fluffy and fragrant! On the way home after we picked up our orders, the smell of the rice enveloped the entire van and I was dying inside, starving and desperate for a spoon LOL! 

The sauces - there were four kinds: sweet soy sauce, ginger, chili and topping sauce. I tried all and my favorite was the sweet soy sauce (I wonder if any supermarket carries this type) followed by the toppings sauce, which I think is the same sauce that the chicken floated in. 

I haven't had Hainanese Chicken this good since my last Singapore vacation ... really! 

For just P980 an order, this is definitely worth it. It lasted us until lunchtime the next day and we were sad when we finally finished everything. 

It's the perfect thing to bring to a potluck gathering because it won't disappoint. 

Stevie's operates out of a house in Bel-Air Makati, so this is strictly for pick-up basis only. 

Call them at 0906 508-4155 to order. Give it a day just to be safe because from what I hear, they've become so popular. 

You can check out their Facebook page here

I want more!!!