Where to eat in Santo Domingo, Quezon City? There are a lot of restaurants in QC but not in this specific area. The only Chinese restaurant that’s big enough to cover your craving for noodles, dimsum and lauriat must be Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant, which looks like a great lunch and dinner spot, especially for foodies and Chinese food fans. My uncle took us here on a Sunday before visiting their new condo unit nearby.
Review of Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant (Santo Domingo, Quezon City)
Ambiance: ★★★☆☆
The space Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant occupies is brightly lit, economically packed with group-sized tables and seats. The ambiance generally feels like a typical Chinese restaurant that is sparse in decor but relatively clean. In short, it’s not exactly the kind of place you want to linger around, even if they do offer a big screen LCD TV. Yet “legit” may be the best word to describe it, if you’re looking for a restaurant with the standard Chinese flair in QC.
Service: ★★★★☆
Staffs were fast and attentive, not overly friendly, but not necessarily rude. Expect to receive the no-smile, get-in/get-our service. Our orders came almost simultaneously and we were not left unnoticed. Certain requests needed to be flagged down but it was fine.
Food: ★★★★☆
We deserved something hot for starters: a medium-sized bowl of Nido with Quail Egg Soup (PHp 420) made the cut. Known to promote youthfulness and long life, this soup is typically eaten during Chinese New Year. With crab meat and corn, the bird’s nest soup was not at all disgusting. Judging by the price, I think it’s not the real bird’s nest that was used as ingredient here. Nonetheless, the slightly sweet taste and the gelatinous texture were okay.
I liked that the vegetables in Lohan Vegetables (PHp 198) were crisp and colorful. This is a great dish to order this Lenten season as well as when you feel the need to detox. 😛 Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant’s version is a showstopper, packed with earthy mushrooms, bamboo shoots and hearty peas and carrots. The layers of flavor are well-developed, starting from the sticky and yummy sauce that’s good to be paired with rice.
The Sweet and Sour Pork (PHp 210) is a simple dish with a lot of tangy flavor thanks to the pineapples and caramelized onions. Entrees with this kind of zesty sauce are good to be eaten as leftover the next day when the fish has sopped the juices more intensively; that is, if you have any.
The Beef Tenderloin Chinese Style (PHp 250) was lean and supple. It’s not too chewy, so it’s not hard to swallow but a mouthful to get through. The moisture and juiciness of the meat as well as the well-spiced sauce definitely played the wow factor. This beef dish bucks the crowd-pleasing trend of sweet and sticky in favor of distinct and creative flavors.
Next, we had the Seafood Misua (PHp 208) composed of finely textured salted Chinese noodles made of wheat flour stirred with an ample portion of mixed seafood. Some people say that you can tell a lot about the quality of food a Chinese restaurant serves just by judging their fried rice and noodles as these two are most basic. If I were to judge Luck Garden based on this, then I give them a thumbs up.
The Fish Fillet with Beancurd Hotpot (PHp 260) was simple enough but the quality of both the fish fillet and beancurd was top-notch. With all other dishes served at the same time, we took our time and let the fish fillet slowly soak more in the broth. The fish became more tender and luscious while the beancurd joining the party only made the entire dish more acceptable to my palate. (Beancurd is one of my favorite food!) 🙂
The skin and batter of the Buttered Chicken (PHp 210) was crunchy with a light exterior. The crust did not overwhelm everything else. The white meat was tender and had the discernible chicken flavor despite that the chicken pieces were overdressed in butter which dominated its delicacy. Ah, sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference.
Price for Value: ★★★★☆
We’ve eaten our fair share and thought that Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant is a Chinese eater’s paradise, with a good array of affordable dishes to choose from. If you know which food to order, it’s possible to taste your way across most of Chinese cuisine.
[schema type=”review” name=”Luck Garden Seafood Restaurant” description=”3 Kanlaon St Sta. Teresita, Santo Domingo, Quezon City” rev_name=”For inquiries, contact (02) 415-5825, (02) 416-5825″ author=”Rochkirstin Santos” pubdate=”2014-04-15″ user_review=”15″ min_review=”0″ max_review=”20″ ]
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