XinWang Hong Kong Cafe

XinWang Hong Kong Cafe in SM Mall of Asia is turning a year old in the Philippines next month. I’ve always seen and passed by this restaurant beside IMAX but it was only last week when I first dined-in.

It was upon the prodding of Marj and her friend from XinWang that I was finally able to try the place. We’ve seen this as well in Singapore last July.

It was a late lunch for us on a week day so we almost had the whole XinWang restaurant to ourselves. The interior was cozy and well-lighted, it was easy to the eyes.

New Menu (same as in SIngapore)

It also came to our knowledge that the restaurant refreshed its menu last October while retaining most of its best sellers. This development was in-sync with it’s international franchise from Singapore. Yes, I thought about that too – a Hong Kong cafe from Singapore which we are trying in the Philippines. To make it more trivially interesting, there’s not one branch in Hong Kong, but they have several in Singapore. 🙂

Iced HongKong Milk Tea (P75)

Back to the menu. For the unfamiliar with Hong Kong cuisine, one would find the new menu a bit overwhelming as it was a combination of Chinese specialties, pasta, western food including burgers, a number of sweet desserts, and a gamut of beverages including milk teas, as expected.

But giving it a second thought, this is how Hong Kong food is – a mixed bowl of different culture dominated by Chinese tastebuds with a huge influence from the West. XinWang Hong Kong Cafe‘s new menu certainly reflects that.

So instead of getting overwhelmed, just enjoy the variety and take it one step at a time. You don’t have to try everything in one sitting.

Mango & Prawns Roll (P100)

And this is what we did. We tried a bit from the different pages of the menu.

Chicken Chop Cream Sauce Spaghetti (P245)

For the appetizers, we dared the oriental combination of prawn and mango in a soft roll. At P100, we got three – not bad considering the prawn content. The taste was ok but it could be enhanced. It has great potential, nonetheless.

This was followed by the Chicken Chop Cream Sauce Spaghetti. Basically, your good Carbonara pasta with a quarter of a chicken on the side. The cream sauce spaghetti was good but the chicken tastes better, I would order it again because of the chicken. At P245, you’re getting a fair deal.

With an effort to go healthy, we ordered the stir fried minced Kai-Lan with Silver Fish. At P220, it was a good try as the dish was not a common fare in regular restaurants and it tasted fine as well.

Stir Fried Minced Kai-Lan with Silver Fish (P220)

XinWang Stir Fried Noodle (P235)

Recommended Dishes

The stars of the day came in at the latter part. The XinWang Stir Fried Noodle is recommended at P235 for its ‘sahog‘ which consisted of seafood and veggies.

HK Braised Beef Brisket with Bamboo Rice (P215)

The HK Braised Beef Brisket with Bamboo Rice comes highly recommended. This was the best fare for the day for it’s authentic-tasting beef brisket. At P215, it was a good deal.

The desserts were also not a disappointment. I think we were lucky enough to get the good ones in such a series. 🙂

The Mango Pudding with ice cream on top is a treat for the sweet lovers. Highly similar to ice kachang, the price of P85 is at par and competitive with Lugang‘s. I’d suggest though that you order this for a group of 3 or 4.

Mango Pudding with ice cream (P85)

The French toast should be relabeled as ‘Big French Toast‘. The huge serving was like a three/four slices loaf packed into one. Covered with beaten egg yolk and fried, the butter melt atop was a sinful delight; best shared in a group.

French Toast (P95)

Coconut Cream with Sago  (P145)

Finally, you should not miss the Coconut Cream with Sago. The price tag of P145 might seem a bit steep but the tastes makes up for it. It is also good for two servings.

It’s a hot serving of rich and thick coconut cream with small tapiocas to merit. It may be too sweet for some but this is just how coconut creams are. Best paired with your favorite buchi covered with toasted sesame seeds. 🙂

It was a good and filling lunch at XinWang Hong Kong Cafe. Check it out beside SM Mall of Asia IMAX. You’ll surely not miss its banner lights and brightly-lit advertisements.

XinWang Hong Kong Restaurant

I’m not a vegetarian but I do chow on vegetables for health reasons. I include it in my meal whenever possible. Last night, it was a pleasure to discover that one of the new seven Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches – the Roasted Vegetables on Flat Bread -  is positioned as a healthy vegetarian sandwich for the ‘veggy‘ lovers.

Roasted Vegetables in Flat Bread

I wasn’t really expecting much from the vegetable sandwich but it was surprisingly good! The Roasted Vegetables Sandwich will replace the vegetable artisan roll you might have been used to. It consists of Mediterranean vegetables marinated in Italian spices with mild chili dressing on grilled flat bread.  The chili is interestingly mild just enough to put a twist to the fare.

To complete your healthy meal, pair it with the Green Tea Latte (no whip, of course) and go for soy.

6 Other New Lunch Sandwiches

Starting August 9, Starbucks will introduce these new hot lunch sandwiches catering to those looking for filling meals during lunch time. Prepared in less than 5 minutes, it is best suitable for  people on-the-go.

Aside from the Roasted Vegetables sandwich above, the first three which will be available in all Starbucks Philippines branches are the following:

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

It’s a grilled cheese sandwich made with six types of cheeses such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, Feta, Provolone, Mozarella, and cheddar.

Although half of those cheeses sounds alien to me, it ended up good to the taste. On the other hand, the premium cheeses might cater only to the more mature taste buds who can appreciate high quality cheeses. It also comes with slices of Hungarian sausages in between and seasoned with roasted garlic and Italian herb-ed butter on bread.

Roasted Chicken Pesto

The roasted chicken breast fillet comes with Shitake mushrooms and pesto mayo sauce topped with Emmenthal and cheddar cheese in between grilled flat breads. The breast fillet are juicy and the pesto mayo is really aromatic.

This is actually the only one retained from the previous lunch sandwiches menu. And there’s a great reason why this is so. 🙂

Roasted Chicken Pesto Sandwich (left) Beef Brisket Sandwich (right)

Beef Brisket

Emmenthal cheese covering slices of beef brisket with caramelized onions and Dijon mustard constitute this sandwich. The beef brisket itself was fairly ‘ok’ last night but I think I need to try this again before I give it a final verdict.

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The last three new sandwiches are available in select Starbucks branches in the Philippines:

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse Sandwich

It’s the usual chicken clubhouse you know…with ham, cheese, pickle relish, mayo mustard dressing, tomato and greens, among others, on flat cranberry bread.

It’s available in all Starbucks branches except Baguio, Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo and Naga.

Tuna Waldorf

Tuan Waldorf

Tuna Waldorf is a classic tuna salad with red and green apples, walnuts, and celery in yogurt mayo dressing topped with hard-boiled eggs served in raisin walnut bread.

This one’s a filler and will surely be loved by those with good appetite and good taste.

It’s available in all Starbucks branches except Baguio, Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo and Naga.

Tuna Melt

Tuna Melt

It’s a tuna salad with melted cheese on roasted Rye bread topped with mozzarella and seasoned wtih Spanish paprika.

This is the rarest among them all available only in selected provincial branches and the only one reachable by land from Metro Manila – is Starbucks Baguio. The other branches that carry this is Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo, and Naga only.

Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches

NomNom Recommends

After perseveringly trying all of the seven sandwiches last night for the benefit of my readers 🙂 , I recommend these top three in no particular order (parang beauty pageant lng) :

• Roasted Vegetables on Flat Bread
• Roasted Chicken Pesto on Flat Bread (there’s a strong reason why this one was retained)
• Tuna Waldorf in Raisin Walnut Bread

 So, a day after my birthday on August 8, you can immediately try these new Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches. But if you are the scrimpy-type like me, you can wait for August 15 and 16 where all Starbucks branches will have a P50 off promo on all these lunch sandwiches I have mentioned upon purchase of any Starbucks beverage except service water. 😛