Elegant dining at Man Ho
I DON’T KNOW if it was simply one of the perks of reviewing a restaurant, but when this reporter visited Man Ho at the Marriott Manila earlier this week and asked for my mobile phone to be charged, handing my server both phone and charger, instead, he elegantly produced a powerbank emblazoned with the Marriott’s logo so I could have my phone within reach, and not hidden behind some counter.
I guess the gesture speaks about the quiet elegance that Man Ho wishes to express, also reflected in its interiors. We’re used to seeing Chinese restaurants as red and gold behemoths, almost to the point of parody. The newer, fancier Chinese restaurants in town have opted to veer away from this theme, resulting in interiors done quietly in silk, or else in magisterial-looking wood. Over at Man Ho, the main element is cold gray stone, with the color reflected in its carpet. Seats in creamy beige leather offset the harsh effect, while soft flute music flows from the speakers. The cool gray tones appear as well on the silk placemats and the chargers (with a design of black, gray, and white marble, accented with a spray of yellow flowers). The stark interiors perhaps, serve as a black backdrop for the flamboyance of the dishes.
Man Ho is a worldwide brand of the Marriott Group, and as for Man Ho’s meaning ( quit snickering, kids), it’s simply the Chinese name for the Marriott. The restaurant has been open since
November 2016, an offshoot of the grand Chinese banquets which have been an option at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, which has been operating since about 2014.
For our first course, we were served a roast goose, sourced from Hong Kong ( but roasted here). It had a shiny, reddish gold color, and was very tasty, with the flavor seeping into every part of the goose, from skin to bone. It was basted with a plum sauce, and the skin had a crazy noisy crunch. The bright orange Braised Seafood Soup with Caviar had a thick, rich broth (flavored and colored with pumpkin), and in it swam chunks of vegetables and assorted seafood. A small cake of tofu with a sprinkling of caviar provided some clean, goodnatured decadence. Oddly enough, while the broth had the flavor of the vegetables, the vegetables maintained their crunch. The next course was fish, a steamed hot pink wild garoupa, its mouth agape at the surprise of its fate. Its flesh was cottony-soft and sweetish from its freshness, and yielded to a pull from chopsticks. A deep brown beef dish stir-fried in black pepper came next, perfectly tender, with a slight smokiness, and a firm edge that lent itself well to the force of a gentle bite. All of these were accompanied by Fujianstyle rice, slathered in a brown seafood sauce, followed by creamy salted-egg custard buns, the salty-sweet filling bleeding from the bright yellow buns.
Marriott’s Executive Chinese Chef, Wui Wing Law appeared at our table and announced that he had just finished his 10th function, with 85 tables. While we noted that some ingredients are “Western” (such as caviar), Mr. Law does not approve of fusion cuisine: “I don’t like that. Little bit change, okay, but not all change. I must keep the traditional taste first.”
He takes his ingredients seriously, sourcing most from China and Hong Kong. He even rated an ingredient’s quality as ranking higher than technique in the process of making a great dish. For his local ingredients, he sources his pork from, of all places, Chinatown, his fish are kept in an aquarium in his kitchen, and his beef is sourced from the US. He has an intimate knowledge of ingredients from working in kitchens since he was 15. “The goose must be fat. If the goose is not fat; if it’s thin, its skin not crispy.” A good piece of pork for him should come from the pig’s neck, and must have an equal proportion of fat and meat. As for the fish, “Must be alive. I’ll never [cook] a dead fish.”
“For me, the most important is the food’s quality. Must be the best,” he said. —