Binondo Crawl: What to eat, Where to eat

Lorrianne Aryenz Valdecantos

Having recently developed a taste for Chinese food, I began scouring Binondo, Manila for the greatest Chinese eats in the Metro. In the beginning I wasn’t quite sure on what I was looking for especially growing up with only Chow King as my reference to the oriental flavor.

Luckily, everything is one search bar away and I was quick to develop an itinerary for my first Binondo Crawl. There were many to choose from, each restaurant offers a highly promising menu and a tight budget to fit it. So I dive in, head first and just selected three restaurant and a budget of 1,500 pesos for me and my partner.
First stop: Masuki, the home of the original beef mami and their enormous siopao. Their mami is like a warm hug from your mom, flavorful and authentic. The mellow vibe of their mami will contradict the punch their siopao packs. Almost bigger than your head, filled to the brim with their pork stuffing.

For the meryenda, the OG fried siopao of Shanghai’s fried siopao. Different from the mainstream pandesal-like bun with stuffing kind of fried siopao, this one looks a lot like the regular steamed siopao but with a little toasty bum.

Ps: detourista.com

The last stop of the day, Ying Ying tea house. This little gem is one of the original tea houses in Binondo and has been whipping up the most authentic Chinese eats for the cheapest price. You can get all of their signature dishes with rice without breaking your bank. They sell roasted duck cheaper than any other restaurant. Gorge yourself with their pork asado, mami and their green mango shake, perfect to break your’ umay’ so you can go on eating your hearts out.

Sure, they may be better restaurants out there hidden at the nooks and crannies of Binondo, but hey, this I promise you, this list will not let your Chinese food cravings down.