Hearty eats at Binondo

Ni Hao! Hello!

I've been to China for so many times and if I want to reminisce again and try their specialties, it would be Binondo. This is a little China town for Filipinos, also a gateway of trading and a home to many of our Chinese friends.

Robbie (The Creative Dork) organized a food trip for food and diet lovers because Binondo is also well-known for exotic food and cheap thrills. I was quite hesitant because I monitor my food intake nowadays and consuming more than the calories I've estimated would mean disaster and eventually go  back to my old habits of bingeing. The "tour guide" assured me that we will visit restaurants that serves healthy food and definitely on our budget.





I've always asked myself why Chinese are slim. When I was in China, I've learned that their waters are served hot everywhere which is good for the digestive system and they take time to eat their food with hot pots, organic and seafood choices. Here in the tropics, we like it fresh, cold and fast food. Not that I don't like what they serve here in the Philippines, but it's also a nice to practice eating ala Chinese style. Healthy to the body. And I'm more amazed that there is a vegetable restaurant that serves - uhm veggie - that looks and tastes like meat. Pics below.



While we were walking along the fruit stands, I've spotted my favorite fruit I would always eat in China. You don't see this fruit anywhere. It's color is orange and looks like a tomato and tastes a little bit of chico. Robbie bought a kilo. But along the way, it got a little rotten, so I ended up eating all of them. Hehe. I've concluded that it's best to eat right away and freeze it a little.

The delicious foods that tops my taste buds are shrimp chong fan, roasted duck congee, steamed dumplings, custard hopia, fried pancakes. It is more delicious if you will be the one to try them on your own. :D













The last stop definitely lingered to our memory. The food burst to our mouths and I had fun watching them glorifying the food. Hehehe. The restaurant is Dong Bei and these are the food I'd always eat with my Chinese friends in China.







Surprisingly, I feel safe roaming around Binondo. It's clean and it's fun discovering shops and restaurants and more than happy that I saved up a lot of money. In the veggie restaurant, the group of six, had to pay only 57 pesos each with 3 dishes and 3 big cup of rice as our meal. If that's enticing enough, Robbie is willing to tour you around with a little package tour he can allot on his spare time (or usually weekends).



zài jiàn - Goodbye! :D