Asunta Rufino's Travels Thru Life...: TAO YUAN- Looking for the best Hainanese Chicken in Manila

Friday, June 17, 2011

TAO YUAN- Looking for the best Hainanese Chicken in Manila

I heard about Tao Yuan and its reputation from my cousin, Corito, who is another food lover, like me a few months ago but I only had the chance to visit this restaurant only a few nights ago with my son, Iggy and his wife, Cris. There were many people recommending this place, telling me that this place was serving " the best Hainanese Chicken "-- in Manila. The only set back at that time was.... Tao Yuan was located in Malate, which was quite far from where I live. Finally--- Tao Yuan opened its doors on another location which is on the second floor of the Resorts World. That gave me an opportunity to go and try out their famous dish and be the judge!

I have been to a lot of restaurants in Metro Manila serving Hainanese Chicken rice, but sad to say --- all of them failed to impress me. The chicken they served was too dry for my taste, the onion/ginger sauce was bland, their soy sauce was sweet instead of a bit salty... I was looking for the same taste of the Hainanese Chicken Rice I had with my friend, Edith, at the Marina Mandarin in Singapore... The chicken just melts in your mouth... What really got me hooked to this dish was---- I could eat the white meat!! Yes, there are some people who prefer " dark meat " than " white meat " in chicken and I am one of them. But with the dish that was served to me at Marina Mandarin, I was able to eat the white meat which is the breast of the chicken.. It made me think aloud --- will TAO YUAN be the place where I could taste once again authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice??

Cris called for reservations just to make sure we got a table---- apparently the waitress who took our call told us -- it was fully booked but they will try and see what they can do... With that answer -- it didn't dampen our spirits and off we went to Resorts World.

When we got to the restaurant..... Lo and Behold!! There was a table ready for us. Even before we sat down--- I quickly glanced at the other tables near us -- they all had a plate of Hainanese Chicken on their tables.... I immediately decided to have Hainanese Chicken Rice in our list.

Here was what we ordered:

Hainanese Chicken with Rice.....

As soon as our dish we served--- One thing I noticed which was really unusual or for lack of better description.... it was quite odd that Tao Yuan did not serve the customary bowl of broth that comes with this dish. I never bothered asking the waiter why we do not have soup ---- I picked up my chopsticks and tasted the sauces...The ginger/onion sauce was perfect!! Their Kitchap ( soy sauce ) was the same one I tasted in Singapore --- salty not sweet.. and the chili paste was very good! Then I picked up a piece of the chicken , dipped it into the pounded ginger sauce, chili paste, soy-sauce trio and thrust everything into my waiting mouth....... IT WAS SIMPLY DELICIOUS!!!! The chicken was very soft, moist and juicy... it just melted in my mouth. I finally found what I was looking for!!! It was the same Hainanese Chicken I had tasted in Singapore! Simply delicious!!! Tao Yuan certainly knew their business!! You should definitely try it out!!! This dish alone made me give Tao Yuan a 5-star rating on their Hainese Chicken Rice.... I mean it ! its' the BEST I have ever tried.... Tao Yuan will definitely be one of my favorite restaurants in Manila!! Their Hainanese Chicken Rice is to die for!!

Another dish that you should order if you love mushrooms is their SAUTEED MIXED MUSHROOMS with X.O. SAUCE. It is also very good!!

and their BRAISED PORK BELLY WITH TAO POK.

After dinner, we moved over to CAFE REPUBLIQ to have dessert. Cafe Republiq is also located on the same floor as Tao Yuan.