I went on a guided walk around Manila's Chinatown, apparently the oldest one in the world, and we…read moreended with lunch at President Grand Palace Restaurant. This was my first time in Manila, but the restaurant felt familiar, with a classic universal Chinatown vibe. A spacious dining room with huge tables and a worn-in banquet hall vibe. Lazy susans, dragons and red lanterns, laminated menus a thousand items long. Service was fast and polite, and we were in and out in about an hour.
Our guide took care of the ordering, curating a nice spread from that giant menu, which had whole half-page sections for shark's fin and pigeon and frog. We didn't get any of those, but we did have some bird's nest soup, which I think was a first for me. It was interesting, if not especially delicious, kind of a goopier version of an egg drop soup. I didn't bother looking up the dish until now, and have just learned that I ate soup made with hardened bird saliva. Yum.
Everything else was less exotic, and it was all pretty tasty, if not especially memorable. I liked the salt and pepper fried squid and the sautéed scallops with broccoli. There was a pot of breaded fish and tofu in a nice, soupy, flavorful sauce. The sweet and sour pork with pineapple appealed to my American Chinese-loving palate, as did the shrimp and pork fried rice.
We didn't have dessert, but many of us did indulge in some cold sweet beverages, great for a hot Manila day. I liked both the calamansi juice and the green mango shake, a pleasantly sour, frosty drink made with unripe mango.
I wouldn't go out of my way for this restaurant, but it's a solid spot for an indulgent Chinese meal if you're visiting Manila's Chinatown. I had a good time at President Grand Palace, and do not regret the bird saliva soup.