Once every two months, my high school classmates and I get together for lunch. I look forward to these meals because two things would be certain—a lot of laughter and a lot of good food.
Among my former schoolmates are three lawyers, two generals, some doctors, a popular composer, a couple of successful businessmen and a cook.
Funny how the quiet, unassuming ones when they were in school have been married thrice. Funny how the notorious ones have ended up successful, too.
However, the moment we sit at the table, all titles are off and we become carefree 14-year-olds again. Time goes back to when your only worries were your half-hearted studies and how you were going to get your teacher to believe that the dog ate your homework. Great therapy!
We have dined in Vietnamese, Japanese, and other restaurants. It is usually a dear friend, Sol, who used to bully me at school (but I have forgiven him since), who chooses the venue. This guy will not stop looking for ways to exercise in order to stay healthy precisely because he is a relentless foodie. (Well, actually, all of us are.)
Sol had told me about this place a couple of months back. But my first experience was not as pleasant as this second one. Previously, the place was packed (I’m told it usually is), and I was with my family. We were given a table next to the kitchen. It was too busy and noisy for us.
That impression changed when my friends and I were given a table at a corner away from the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant. This time around, I was able to appreciate the fine food this place serves.
Good Chinese place
Yang Chow is a dim sum and teahouse that serves good Chinese cuisine. There are a lot of Chinese restaurants with this name but they have a different owner. The one I tried is along Libis in C5 at the Shopwise complex on E. Rodriguez Avenue.
The menu selection is wide and the dishes are the familiar ones you find in most Chinese restaurants, but are done well here. There are two criteria I use in saying I enjoyed a place. One, I want to bring my family there, and two, I start to crave for the food. This place made me want to do both.
We had Yang Chow fried rice; steamed fish fillet topped with garlic; sizzling beef tenderloin with black pepper sauce and beef tenderloin Chinese-style; Lo Han Chai veggies and hot prawn salad. All of these I highly recommend.
The chicken feet dish was good enough. I also enjoyed the Buchi with Black Beans for dessert.
Some of the dishes I haven’t tried yet. Based on the Yang Chow fried rice, I am certain the Salted Fish Fried Rice will also be good.
Others I haven’t tried: the Sweet and Sour Pork or Chicken; Fish Fillet, Lemon Chicken, Fried Scallop with salt and pepper; Fried Prawns with salt and pepper; Bean Curd or Squid in salt and pepper; Oyster Cake Omelet; White Chicken; Fish Fillet with Bean Curd in Clay Pot; Beef Brisket in Clay Pot; Tausi Clams; Minced Roast Duck with fresh lettuce; and Taiwan pechay with garlic.
Some of the dim sum also look interesting. The roast duck was good the first time I had it, but the skin was not crispy enough.
Our Chinese restaurants in Manila have indeed gone a much higher notch. Places like Causeway Seafood restaurant along Banawe and San Francisco del Monte, Next Door restaurant, and this place are samples of these delicious diners. (Yang Chow Dim Sum and Teahouse is at 150 E. Rodriguez Ave. (C5), Quezon City; tel. 3451258.)
Closing our “session” with the usual talks about aches and pains, and the various health issues that come with people our age, we adjourned and looked forward to our next lunch. Loads of laughter, delicious food and great company. What a combination!
Happy eating!
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