Crystal Dragon

WHY GO

For an exquisite fine dining Chinese cuisine experience. It never gets busy and crowded. Once inside, one feels you’ve entered a temple, albeit a gastronomic one, away from all the glitz and chatter one has just passed through.

TATLER TIPS

Its whole roasted U.S. Peking duck served two ways is fast becoming a by-word among Manila’s discerning cognoscenti. For a smaller group, a half roast duck is available and a side order of delicate thin pancakes can be had. The braised sea cucumber and baby abalone with bean curd in claypot and the steamed marinated pork ribs with sausage and mushrooms shouldn’t be missed. Also a must-try is the pork siomai, which is atypically, yet luxuriously topped with baby abalone, striped shrimp hakaw, chicken feet, and turnip cake with XO sauce.

Braised whole abalone with supreme oyster sauce MORE THAN PHP 2,000 PER PERSON

Wok-fried Ohmi beef with chef's special sauce

Double-boiled bird's nest with sweetened rock sugar