The spirit of the season comes alive especially after a day of shopping with friends for Christmas ornaments. After our fill of red berries, shimmering balls and colorful glitter, we headed to lunch at Mandarin Sky—the latest addition to my favorite restaurants list.

The place serves Chinese food by Hong Kong chef Ah On. His cuisine is mindfully prepared with a special home-cooked delectable quality.

While sampling the dishes for the first time, I was already making plans to go back halfway through my meal. Mandarin Sky won me over from the start with the black sea moss soup with seafood, a tasty concoction of asparagus, mixed seafood, chopped century egg in a delectably light broth.

I am not fond of soups, especially at lunchtime, as it fills me up quickly. This one, however, was too delicious to pass up on. Few soups are as memorable.

Laway Chicken—yes, you read that right—is a cold white cut chicken served with fresh sliced cucumbers and a ginger sauce. The sprinkling on top of  what seems like crushed peanut brittle, or a slight slathering of crunchy peanut butter that melts away with the chicken drippings, gives the dish a unique spin—sort of a nutty, refreshing, delicate Hainanese.

The dish lives up to its moniker—“mouthwatering” chicken.

The Deep Fried Oysters with XO Sauce are crisp, slightly sweet with a bit of spice.

The Malaysian Squid is a favorite of Kenneth Ong, son of my dear friend Ana Lee. He has been a loyal patron of Mandarin Sky since 2012, feasting on a medium-size order of the quid all by himself, four to six times a month.

Lightly tossed in sweet sauce, crunchy outside, moist and soft inside, it has become my favorite, too.

Chinese-style tenderloin

On the palate, the beef with garlic is reminiscent of Chinese-style tenderloin. The beef on this dish, however, is cut into cubes, has slivers of garlic instead of onions, and is gently coated with a subtle-tasting glaze.

Another Mandarin Sky specialty is the Eel Rice. Cooked on a bamboo steamer lined with lotus leaves, it is aromatic and outright delish. Topping the mound of rice is exquisitely cooked eel, which I believe was first fried, coated in a flavorful soy-based sauce, then steamed with the rice.

The Po Lo Bao is worth snacking on. The super soft, sugar-crusted bun is filled with pork asado. Expect the shiny yellow crown to crumble like a cookie as you sink your teeth into the oozing meat, ending with soft, sweet, chewy and moist bread underneath.

Neighborhood resto

Mandarin Sky is your friendly neighborhood restaurant that offers unpretentious, easy to eat and reasonably priced food.

Expect good service from a staff led by its gracious restaurant manager Joey Horato—who knows the dishes like the back of his hand. He makes ordering easy. If left to do his spiel, you will catch yourself wanting to order everything on the menu!

Returning the second time, I was fortunate to meet one of the owners, Jaykie Peñaflor, who set up Mandarin Sky with his partners Samson Ching and Michael Kiong. His wife Ma. Charisse is operations manager.

Jaykie, who happens to own six restaurants, a bakeshop and a catering company, explained that Mandarin Sky’s menu is inspired by his travels. He works with chef Ah On to recreate the dishes with his own stamp.

Their philosophy is that food should taste good to everyone. My taste  buds agree.

Mandarin Sky is at 69 Simoun St.  cor. Banawe, Quezon City. Call 7406134.