In the past 365 days that C and I have been together, we’ve come to realize that food has served as a critical foundation of our relationship. From the first few days that we started hanging out with each other, to our weekly “foodtripping dates”, our dating life has revolved around food. And so to celebrate our first anniversary together, we decided to indulge. And there’s no better way to do that than to treat ourselves to a delicious dimsum buffet in Xin Tian Di!
One step into the restaurant and we knew we made the right choice. The ambience was perfect for a date, with seats that have high back support that serve as dividers as well for a more intimate feel. And because we wanted to feel like we were in our own world for that meal, that was where we were seated.
Upon arrival, our very friendly server, Marlon, handed us the menu. It felt like we were on a dimsum shopping spree as we ticked our choices for the first round. C and I promised to reach until around round 4 to maximize the meal. What I appreciated the most about the service here was that Marlon was so attentive and would always check on us to see if we're ready for our next order. And he would advise against ordering too much for one round so we could try more dishes, which I found to be such a kind gesture :)
The menu had a total of 55 items that seriously made us crazy we had to fight the urge to tick everything in one go. Thankfully we mustered the discipline to choose wisely so we could try as many dishes as we could.
I won’t bore you with a long list of descriptions of each of the dishes we tried, but let me take you through the top 3 choices on the list that made this whole experience simply unforgettable.
1. Raddish Cake
This was a very pleasant surprise for me because I haven’t really found a raddish cake that suited my taste. Xin Tian Di’s raddish cake resembled the texture of hashbrown – crispy on the outside but soft and warm on the inside. The spicy sauce that came with it complemented it perfectly.
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| Raddish Cake |
2. Salmon Taro Puff
The Salmon Taro Puff was just an explosion of sweet and slightly salty flavors in my mouth. Combine that with the sweet and spicy sauce and you will spell a-w-e-s-o-m-e. The outside covering was also crispy, but when you bite into it you’ll feel a soft, juicy filling slowly being released in your mouth. The added layers of batter gave this dimsum a more interesting texture. This is possibly one of the best taro puffs that C and I have ever tasted.
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| Salmon Taro Puff |
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| What a beauty! |
3. Steamed Crystal Prawns Hakao
They certainly did not scrimp on the prawns in their hakao. It had a generous serving of fresh prawns inside, and was simply delicious combined with the trademark X.O. sauce. I wanted to order this again in one of the succeeding rounds but I was just too full already. But it’s okay, at least I’ll always have this in my memory. :)
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| Steamed Crystal Prawns Hakao |
All in all, this was all the 19 dishes that we ordered. – 17 kinds of dimsum and 2 desserts.
1) Steamed Seafood Dumplings in Superior Stock
2) Steamed Crystal Prawns Hakao
3) Steamed Siomai Pork Dumplings
4) Steamed Xiao Long Pao Shanghai Style
5) Steamed Glutinous Rice Dumplings Stuffed with Duck Meat, Mushrooms and Egg Yolk in Lotus Leaf
6) Steamed Pork Ribs in XO Sauce
7) Steamed Fresh Squid with Garlic
8) Chili Dumpling
9) Stone Fish Dumpling
10) Raddish Cake
11) Glutinous Pork Puff
12) Crispy Wonton Teochew Style
13) Salmon Taro Puff
14) Deep-fried Buns
15) Pork Dumpling
16) Steamed Michael Roll with Raddish
17) Pan-fried Shrimp Roll wrapped in Soya Wrapper
18) Sweet Egg Custard
19) Sesame Buchi
Check out the photos below for the entire “collection”, hopefully you’ll get inspired to try and experience dimsum heaven for yourselves :)
THE GOURMANDE'S SCORE: 5 out of 5 - You can never go wrong with unlimited dimsum :)
Xin Tian Di is located in Crowne Plaza, Ortigas, Pasig. For reservations, call 633-7222 local 7240.
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