I was walking around SM Ayala, exhausted and hungry, and I was desperate to find something filling to eat that wasn't not greasy and mindless fastfood. I wasn't even expecting to find anything decent in the food court area in the basement of the mall, because I have been there before and I have already seen the usual food court suspects occupying the stalls. You have outlets like Sbarro, Jamaican Patty and scores of other dimsum, siomai, pizza, burgers, rice bowls stalls and other really common stuff. I didn't notice, though, that there was Chinese Kitchen hidden among the more established fastfood branches in the area.
Chinese Kitchen should be a full-blown restaurant and not just a pitiful little space because the food is amazing. Let me tell you about the Hainanese chicken rice that I ate. I paid about 200 pesos for the bowl and a can of soda, and I had really low expectations because, you know, fast food, right? But my God. The presentation of the dish was really pretty. It was served in an irregularly-shaped bowl, and the plating was so clever, with the fried garlic, steamed bok choi and the boiled chicken arranged artfully over the chicken rice. I didn't have a camera on me (I will definitely be back to take a photo). And the chicken was so subtly flavored that it just sang with the ginger and lemongrass that it was boiled in. The rice was also done nicely. The condiments were served in little saucers. The mashed ginger to accompany the chicken with was so flavorful; I don't know what they did with it, but it was tasty. They should be more generous with the kecap manis, but it was really good, too.
Overall, the service was quick and snappy. Needless to say, I will be back. read more