Food Craving at Binondo

(I am taking a break from my humor piece on the Internet. That will take a sabbatical for now because I’ve compiled a list of bloggable items and I’m more interested to write about them right now.)

I was given a golden opportunity to try out a quaint restaurant in downtown Binondo. I write for a local newspaper, and I was the appointed writer to come up with a feature on a dining place that’s atypical of what Binondo has come to be known for. So Chinese food this ain’t.

Binondo has certainly come a long way.

A few days from now, the streets of Chinatown will be brimming with people buying supposedly lucky charms, tikoy, and various round shaped fruits to usher in another new Lunar year. Things Oriental have certainly hit the mainstream, what with the Feng Shui and Chinese New Year coverage that most major TV stations feature annually.

Chinatown is going to have a major facelift under the incumbent Mayor’s administration. Already, there have been two branches of Starbucks operating for more than 3 years now. There’s a Teriyaki Boy franchise nearby, and another sister company owned franchise, Pancake House, recently opened to the public.

But if commercialized outfits are not to your taste buds’ liking, then try out a restaurant that’s sort of the odd man out in Binondo. So for those who like to go to Chinatown, regardless of the occasion, instead of trying out Chinese food, maybe you should try this idyllic restaurant instead – Crepe de Chine.

If some pictures appear grainy, apologies. I am a techie dinosaur. ^_^

The restaurant is located at the World Trade Exchange Building along Juan Luna Street in Binondo. If you are familiar with the State Building along the same street then you’ll find this building, which is only a few meters away. There are ample parking spaces inside the building.

To get to the parking, turn right on the corner of Juan Luna and Dasmarinas. Then turn right again into Muelle de Binondo to get to the rear entrance of the World Trade Exchange Building. I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way to the parking from there.

A note though, the area around the building is dark after 6PM, whether at Juan Luna or at the back of the building. The city government has yet to install lights there so be sure to go with a company of more than 2 for safety reasons, if you plan to go at night. Store hours are up to 9PM.

There are a slew of delectable dishes. Their best seller is the CDC Crepe Roll. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this dish.

What I can say about it though, aside from it being yummy, is that the serving is good for two people already. It’s priced at an affordable Php 180 per serving. Per serving is a pair of crepe rolls squeezed with veggies, grilled chicken and slices of pineapple. It’s a healthy meal for people who are conscious about their well-being. Guilt-free eating this one definitely is.

Honestly though, I have yet to appreciate salad greens. I’m more of a meat person, and my level of cholesterol and triglycerides is proof enough of that. I’ve started to change my diet though, and even though I dislike the taste (or lack of it) of certain vegetables, I have decided to tolerate it. I know that life is short, and therefore I don’t intend to make it shorter.

Of the dishes we tried during our visit to Crepe de Chine, my favorite is the Pizza Crepe. I actually went there a second time, this time with my friends, just to try it out again. I think I’m still craving for it and will re-visit one of these days. ^)^

Take a look at the picture. I bet you’ll be taking the fast ride to Binondo one of these days.

There’s so much to display, so instead of writing up each food I tasted, which will take me forever to finish, let me just post a mural of their food dishes. I’m doing my blog and it’s midnight already. Last time I checked, sleep is still part of a healthy lifestyle. haha.

I’m posting a mosaic of their food items here. This is from one side of their menu.

A Post Script Love Message, brought to you by moi.

This is not a paid advertisement. I just like their food and it would be a shame not to share this with people looking for new places to dine in.

The nature of my writing work is freelance so I write just about anything there is under the sun. I’ve written about cars, malls, finance, food, and even interviewed a Mayor. The stress doesn’t come from going out in the field. It comes from thinking about how to present a topic and writing it all down in a convenient and readable package called an article.

The main inspiration for this blog entry will be published by next Wednesday in The Philippine Chinese Daily, if I’m not mistaken. Wednesday is February 6, one day prior to the Chinese New Year. I also wrote an article on the celebration of the Lunar New Year.

Someday I will write a book, and I hope I’ll still have enough creative juice in me to make it the first of a series of bestsellers!

Free Floating Mechanism

Even in doing nothing, my mind does something. It hovers. It thinks. It consumes energies without me knowing, I guess that’s why I suddenly feel the urge to grab something to bite.

Today, I was at the Galleria (there’s no direct link so just look for it on the left hand sidebar). Some of the malls have tacky description, like Robinson’s Manila, read:

Robinsons Place Manila in Ermita is strategically located at the heart of romantic and historic City of Manila

Historic, yes. But romantic? Well I guess Ermita IS full of romance.

So as I was saying, I was at the said mall, and glancing on my watch, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. I strayed along the mall, looking for a place to hide out and read a book entitled “The Mystery of Capital“. (I was supposed to meet someone, but we rescheduled it to a new date, and since I didn’t want to go home just yet I decided to stay put for the moment).

I went to Starbucks of course, but it was crowded, plus I wanted to eat something. I went to McDonald’s, and it too was crowded. Finally, my foot brought me to the only smorgasbord of tastes and pungent smells – where else but the Food Court!

I grabbed a meal from Razon’s. I like Razon’s, not just the food, but the entire concept. They went past the stage of just being a native delicacy. On my other blog, I lamented how most of the domestic businesses have never progressed past the stage of selling native delicacies.

And thinking about that, it gives a great parallel to the book I was about to read.

I’ll share my reviews and take aways from the book once I finish reading it. There’s an interesting excerpt about the Philippines, and I’m just on page 20. Just to give you a teaser, the author and his research team undertook a study to determine how long a squatter family can hope to legalize his property in the country (aside from others). Venture a guess? Read the book to find out the answer! Let’s just say we’re comparable to, say, Egypt.

Aside from the book, which surprisingly was a page turner, notwithstanding its non-fiction genre, I was equally perplexed at the volume of people eating there. I know, 3PM is merienda time for not a few office people, but there were also a lot people who were definitely there for a leisurely stroll.

I was bearish on the local economy then, and my faith was shaken a bit today when I saw the people around me. These people weren’t there just to eat. They carried one plastic bag from a retail store. Belt-tightening? I didn’t see it today, that’s for sure. One could argue that payday was just 2 days ago, but these people should be still in office, not in the mall. These people who got their paychecks would probably spend it tomorrow and throughout the weekend. But today?

This still, conjures a very good parallel to the book. There are probably millions of undocumented income earning Filipinos out there. And they are spending these here, apart from the other malls existing in the country.

Then again, if there were nature parks in the metropolis, probably the volume of people strolling in these “parks” called malls would dwindle. This is probably one reason why Serendra is a hit, even though there’s still no direct public transport route.

Well that’s it for today. I think I’ve blogged enough. The grey matter in between my ears is that free floating mechanism. As you can see, I’ve talked about malls, a book, what I ate, all in just one entry. Nifty huh.