Kao-Chi, Manila

My family usually goes to church on Sundays, then has lunch after. I don't know if this means that I'm becoming an OLD PERSON (A.K.A. an adult) but I have grown to really love Sundays. As a child, I'd dread them and found them horribly boring, because my mom would usually insist on going straight home after lunch to nap! But now I see the luxury in naps (what with my high-paced, high-earning life... HAHAHA. Riiiight) and look forward to Sundays immensely! My sister and I usually watch movies or just sit around aimlessly... Oh, the joys of boredom!

Anyway, on one particular Sunday we headed to Kao-Chi after Sunday service.* My dad was almost raving about the restaurant so I was quite excited.**

I liked the interiors (I call the motif super exaggerated Chinese luxe). We ate in one of the small private rooms, and one of the walls really struck my fancy. I just like how unabashedly Chinese it is. :D

On to the more important stuff!!!
Here's what we had:

 

Stinky tofu. Which I absolutely, absolutely, ABSOLUUUUUUUUUTELY adore. I love stinky tofu, and I adamantly believe that there is no way anyone could mess up the cooking/preparation of stinky tofu (unless, of course, you are an exceptionally stupid person). I think it is EASY to prepare and REALLY WONDERFUL to eat! If ever I move to Australia, I'm going to be eating stinky tofu all the time.*** Anyway, this particular order of stinky tofu was up to my expectations! We actually gobbled up two orders of these! It was REALLY good.

Shao long pao! We tried both the crab and the pork. Both were deeeee-liiiish! Juicy, meaty, TAAAAAAAAASTYYYYY!!!!

Thing is, after eating the tofu and the shao long pao, you can leave the restaurant! Hehe! Not that everything else sucked.. Everything else was just ho-hummmm....

Eggplant hotpot. I was sorely, bitterly, and painfully disappointed because I was REALLY looking forward to this (I love eggplant!!!!!) But this one tasted strongly of LAMB (which I do not eat because of the smell). It must have had some lamb fat in it. :( So I was immensely turned off and stayed away from this.

Sharksfin soup. This was another letdown. My dad called it a chicken's bathtub. They had cooked the sharksfin with a whole chicken to make the broth, but it really was mostly chicken broth. There were bits of sharksfin in it (and fairly generous ones, too) but the soup just lacked body and feeling.

Black pepper beef. Soft and chewy and tasty, I loved this while I was eating it. Afterwards, I got quite dizzy and had an INTENSE craving for sweets.**** There must have been quite a lot of  MSG in it! :(

White chicken. I don't dig chicken (except for buffalo wings and Jollibee Chickenjoy thighs), especially not white chicken, so I didn't really try this out.

Sweet and sour pork. Good, but not exceptional. I was hoping that the pork would be crunchy but it certainly wasn't..

Lastly, we had a giant bicho-bicho. This order was a mistake. We had ordered something else (I can't remember what) but they gave us this instead. My parents didn't return it anymore as it was already the end of the meal and the waitstaff had been really nice. I just ate a bite of it and decided that it wasn't worth the calories. 

Cheers,

D :)

*I would like to mention that I go to the best church in the world.
** I say almost because my dad REALLY is NOT the raving type. And when he does "almost rave," it means that the restaurant's pretty great!
***Since I'll be household help-less in Australia, I have already thought of convenient food! Yogurt, fried eggs, stinky tofu, bread and jam! LOL! I laugh at my own wit.
****I'm allergic to MSG. It makes me feel really ILL. The sweets cure it because... I love sweets. Heehee.

P.S.:
Kao-Chi Restaurant
G/F City Square Building
#109 N.S. Amoranto Avenue
Brgy Maharlika, QC
Tel 02-410-7788