2/F Tower Wing - The Bellevue Manila
North Bridgeway, Filinvest Corporate City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City
+63 (02)771-8181 local 2211
For dinner during our visit at the Bellevue Manila, sister and I headed to the Phoenix Court for some Chinese dining. Opened last May 26, 2012, the Phoenix Court is the newest dining hotspot that boasts a spacious and cozy area. Aside from the big dining area, they also have four private rooms that can seat up to 25 persons.
The Phoenix Court do have an extensive menu that offers a lot of variation including Cantonese and Szechuan dishes. Malaysian born chef Cheong Kwan Loong is the restaurant's executive chef, who has had a lot of experiences in Chinese cuisine.
The table set up was very simple, and I personally liked that there's no lazy susan (I am just not a big fan of it). Anyway, there was this plate of peanuts on the table for guests to munch on while waiting for the food to arrive. Sister didn't like it, but I did - it's not the typical boiled peanuts, there was something used to season it and it was interestingly good.
Poached Hainanese Hong Kong Chicken. Thinking what to eat was difficult because there was just a lot to choose from. Our family's a big fan of the Hainanese Chicken, so when the waiter asked us to choose something from the appetizers, we quickly agreed to get this. This was the half serving (whole serving is available, too), and we loved it so much, my sister and ate it all! Of the three dips, I love the herbed ginger the most.
Yang Chow Fried Rice. Sister wanted to eat rice for dinner, so we went for this. The rice was actually a meal in itself, but despite the many flavors in the rice, it was still nice to eat together with any of the dishes we ordered.
Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style. Believe it or not, I still haven't really tasted duck (apart from this spoonful of minced duck rice bro had years ago), so when the waiter asked me what else would we like to eat, I told him I might go for duck as well. Duck meat sure tasted different than chicken, and while I still love chicken more, sister and I did love this choice. The meat was tender, the skin still had a little crisp, and the sauce was just fine.
Sauteed Fresh Scallops with Asparagus. I may be a little off track from my weight loss program, but even if I wanted to taste a lot of dishes, ordering two was already enough for me as I knew my sister and I couldn't eat that much. However, with two meat dishes, I wanted to taste a little different, so I went for this as I miss eating scallops and I want to have a bit of vegetables. I was surprised at the size of the scallops - the other Chinese restaurants we went to didn't serve scallops this big. It was a very simple dish, but it was good as well. The scallops can be overwhelming, so my sister only were able to eat 2 each... but I did eat a lot of the asparagus because it was so crunchy!
Green Mango Shake | Grape Yogurt Smoothie. My favorite watermelon shake is available, but for this dinner I went for my next favorite - green mango shake. I knew the meat dishes would be rich, having something tangy might help clean the palate. Grapes aren't our first choice for fruit drinks, but the yogurt was the thing that caught my sister's attention.
Mango Sago. Tummies full, we were asked if we wanted to have desserts. I was a bit apprehensive if I'd go for it or not as I am not really into Chinese style desserts, but the server suggested we try this. Sister had the first slurp (we had separate bowls, by the way) and her eyes went big. I asked her if it was good and she told me it was delicious, but I might not like it because she knows I am not into ripe mangoes. It made me a bit interested hearing her comment and seeing her reaction to it, and when I tasted it, it was indeed awesome! It was creamy, it was full of mango goodness as if it was melted ice cream with sago! It was a wee bit sweet, but overall it was something I hope I can re-create at home.
Butchi. Our very friendly server really wanted us to taste their butchi and gave us a piece each. It sure was different from the other kinds I tasted - this one had a black colored filling compared to the light brown fillings.
This dinner was truly something I'd cherish. It was a little bittersweet as I wasn't able to share it with mom and brother... but sharing this with my sister made me happy. Our tummies were really full after eating, and the leftovers they offered to wrap, which I gladly accepted so I can take it to mom and brother.
This month - June 2012 - the Phoenix Court is having their Prawn and Crab Special. Among the choices are King Tiger Prawns baked with Chinese mayonnaise or garlic butter, Live male crabs cooked with Singaporean Chili Sauce, as well as Crab Shell stuffed with crab meat and butter mushroom and cream.
Now that is something I hope to taste - I just love prawns!
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my