On one lazy Sunday evening, my family and I agreed to dine out together at Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo. We were in the mood for some Chinese/Taiwanese food. Too bad that the branch of Little Asia in LCM had been closed probably because it went without an apostrophe. So we opted for this restaurant serving authentic Taiwanese epicurean delights: Shi Lin. Judging by the crowd, this one is here to stay.
Review of Shi Lin 士林 (Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo)
Ambiance: ★★★★☆
We’re no stranger to simply designed Chinese restaurants in the hood. And honestly, we liked the ambiance here. It’s clean and nice, with lanterns, red accents and table style arrangements definitely reflecting an Asian vibe. The L-shaped space is fully utilized in the dining room, as sets of tables and chairs were neatly arranged and placed closely with one another. It has a large view to the outside street in between the main building of Lucky Chinatown Mall and the Annex building.
Service: ★★★★★
Food came to our table incredibly fast. Two thumbs up for the cordial and attentive service!
Food: ★★★★☆
I had high hopes on the Noodles with Sesame and Peanut Sauce (PhP 155) as Louie kept mentioning prior that it’s delicious. The hand pulled noodles were cooked al dente and the sauce had just the right balance of creamy and nutty. To me though, it was pretty average. Feel free to order it and taste the peanut sauce (quite odd when combined with soft pasta), but temper expectations.
The saltiness of the Salt and Pepper Squid (PhP 345) was tolerable—not like you just swam a few laps in the ocean with your mouth open. I loved the squid as it was perfectly cooked, with a nice charred outside and buttery smooth inside. Dipping it into a small bowl of vinegar made it more appetizing.
Served in appropriately sized, tasty chops, the Fried Chicken Chop (PhP 205) is famous here. The crispiness of Shi Lin’s fried chicken was nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about either.
The fried chicken chop was quickly followed by a glistening bowl of Fried Rice with Shrimp and Egg (PhP 135) which was satisfying. The fried rice didn’t come as flashy as the other entrees, but it was good.
Until the Xiao Long Bao (PhP 155 for six pieces), there wasn’t a single dish at Shi Lin that I got so much fired up about. Shi Lin’s Xiao Long Bao was juicy, meaty, and not so insanely hot that it will scald the hell out of your mouth. It’s a compelling reason to eat here in your own right.
How to Enjoy Xiao Long Bao
As if my mom wasn’t full enough, she additionally ordered the Seafood Omelette (PhP 88). Overall, it tasted fine but this omelette didn’t get the merit to be one of our favorite versions. It lacked in ingredients and also in portion size. While we happily ate every last bite, this was probably our least favorite thing on the menu.
Price for Value: ★★★☆☆
Shi Lin authentic Taiwanese restaurant is named after the largest and most famous night market in the city of Taiwan, the Shih Lin Night Market. Prices are not so expensive but are not a real bargain, too. For the bill, I thought I could eat in better restaurants in the same area, but this one’s worth a try. 🙂
Other branches:
- Fort Bonifacio – G/F Commercenter Bldg., 4th Ave cor 31st StFort Bonifacio, Taguig | 0917 740-8567
- The Podium – 3/F The Podium, 18 ADB AveWack Wack, Mandaluyong | (02) 477-4108
- Power Plant Mall – 2/F Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive Corner Estrella Street, Rockwell Center, Makati City
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
Oops I love Lucky China Town so much!!! But i’ve never tried Shi lin. Looks good huh! I might try them soon. Thanks for this
This one is a good try if you want Taiwanese food especially the street food kind for snacks or light meals.
What a lazy day for you Roch with so much to eat…I love the Xiao Long Bao, (well 10 pieces for me alone) and Noodles Soup – with more noodles and pechay, little soup only. Seems I’m ordering …ha..ha..
Haha whoa. I think I can also finish an entire order of 8 to 10 pieces of XLB only for myself. I’ll try that next time… *evil smile*
Are those pork buns in the picture? My favorite. There’s nothing like finding perfect blend of good ambience and good food. Thanks for sharing the review.
Yeah I guess you can call them that, but there are different kinds of pork buns. These are xiao long bao. 🙂 You’re welcome!
Noddle’s soup and dumplings are my favorites, and even before I was a kid This place looks good to me like a “to go” kind of restaurant concept. But most of all, more noddle strands than soup.
Yup, at first we thought that the Noodles with Sesame and Peanut Sauce was a soup dish. Then we realized that it’s not. That’s why there are more noodle strands. The peanut there was sauce and it was better that way. (must be weird to drink peanut soup – it’s like drinking the juice out of a peanut butter jar)
Everything looks yummy! You’re right, prices are not so expensive but are not a real bargain, too:)Xiao Long Bao I need to try that!
Yup, especially if you haven’t tried XLB before, give this joint a visit soon! Follow the instructions as posted on the laminated paper. Enjoy the dish. 🙂
Judging by the looks of it, the food’s authentic. Out of curiosity, what type of lens do you use?
You should try them all to know the taste. 🙂 I’m usually using my Nikon prime lens 50 mm f/1.8 for food photos and the kit lens 18-55 mm to shoot the restaurant environment. However, for this day, since I was too lazy to bring two lenses, I just brought the kit lens haha. Told ya it was a lazy Sunday for us! 😆 If I was super lazy then I would have to use only my iPhone 4 cam.
Awesome. Some Authentic Chinese or Taiwanese food is nod bad at all.I’m guessing that Xiao Long Bao is either a chinese version of Korea’s Mandu. Or maybe a more glorified Siopao I guess. I think I wanna try that one. Omelette is also a must try in that restaurant
Xiao long bao is soup solidified into jelly form mixed with meat. It’s a different gastronomic path when compared with siopao. I mean the fillings are both made of pork, but then their overall taste and texture and the way they’re prepared are not the same. Mandu is Korea’s take on dumplings and I haven’t had enough of it to have descriptive words to say hehe. I’ll pass this time. 😛
The dishes seem to look good based on the pictures but on the other hand, I’ll consider your reviews so that we’ll be guided on what to order.. Thanks! 😀
Thanks for the trust, Jonas! 🙂 If there’s only one I could suggest, it’s the xiao long bao that you must really try here.
I haven’t tried that for a long time! Thanks for the suggestion.. *Writes down notes*.. hehe! 😀
I’m surprised that you didn’t have any pic..
But anyway, I imagine a store of oriental interiors.
WOuld love to see the hand-pulled noodles at least in a photo.
oops! sorry Roch.. my net is slowly loading..
I’ve read the text before the pictures came out.. LOL!
They’re close to what I thought they would be.
Haha that’s okay. It happens to me sometimes when visiting other blogs, too. 😀 Thanks for going through the descriptions and my rants/raves anyway. Hope you enjoyed reading!
Chinese food is one of my favorites. With your 3 star price for value rating, would you give this restaurant another try?
Yes and that’s if there’s no other decent Chinese restaurant to try around the area. 🙂 I don’t prefer going to the same restaurant twice even if it’s good. Exceptions happen though but rarely.
The Noodles with sesame and PEanut Sauce looks delectable! I have to try first the other Taiwanese resto… because it’s nearer to my area. hihi.
When weather is cold, soup is usually what you’d like to order for the day. Yet sometimes a gigantic steaming bowl is simply too much. The noodles with sesame and peanut sauce in that case may just be perfect for your taste. 🙂
I’ve been to Shih Lin Night Market and the street foods are tasty. This would be a good try though for those craving Taiwanese food.
We’ve also been to Shih Lin Market and terribly miss the food there. 🙁 Oh well, at least we have Taiwanese restaurants and stall here in Manila.
The place looks so clean too. They create a nice ambiance for their customers.
Yeah, that’s much appreciated of course.
Everything looks yummy. Always good when food is brought out in a timely manner.nothing is worse than waiting on food , especially when hungry. Like the design on the shrimp omelet . Thanks for-sharing
You’re welcome. 🙂 I’m not amazed by the omeleete as it was rather thin and small with not so many typical ingredients for a seafood omelette. It wasn’t also bad–just trying to escape the cold hug of this flimsy sheet of eggs.
The food looks so delicious! I wish we had some great places like this here in Montreal that I could visit!
Oh I’m sure you also have a lot of restaurants in your area that I’d love to visit as well. It’s my dream to trade places with someone living on the other side of the planet for a day. 🙂
The food looks like art! I’ve never been to China town, one day hopefully!
There are many bloggers organizing their trips and some are inviting people to join them. You may want to find a group like that and visit Chinatown for a different foodie experience. 😀
Fried Chicken Chop is something I would love to try. Looks like a great place to visit.
Yup, you should try it when you have a chance. Fried chicken chop is one of the most welcomed Taiwan delicacies.
that food looks awesome. what a fun place to visit
Shi Lin is quite known here as a restaurant serving good Taiwanese snacks. Visit them soon without any further thinking. 😀
The fried chicken chop looks really good. Looks like a great place to eat.
It’s like pork chop except chicken. The fried chicken chop tasted much different than American version of the fried chicken since the batter is different. I believe corn starch and sweet potato starch are used.
The Shao Long Bao looks a really tasty dumpling. Their fried race also looks delicious.
Some people are already addicted with their xiao long bao. Shi Lin has ongoing deals right now online (e.g. upgrade of xiao long bao in terms of flavor and count). You may want to check them out. 🙂
The fried chicken chop looked delicious. The establishment looked very classy.
The fried chicken chop was tasty and juicy. I’d recommend sharing it as it’s a lot of fried chicken for one person.
Wow the food looks absolutely amazing there! I would love to try it.
They’re good but not as good as the heights of food in Taiwan, but for those times when you can’t take the extra time (and budget) to fly overseas, there’s Shi Lin and eating here can make your day, too. 🙂
Oh their menu sounds amazing! I have never had Taiwanese food before, everything sounds and looks great!
There’s a lot more of Taiwanese food than street food. Taiwanese food is definitely one of my favorite Chinese cuisines.
me and my friends dine in once there – it was very yummy and the place has a great ambiance too.
I used to think once that this is a franchise from the Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks food chain from Taiwan. Apparently, the name is different and I can’t find any article online saying that. Anyway, yeah this place is nice. 🙂
Whenever I visit Divisoria, I dropped by Lucky Chinatown mall. Is Xiao Long Bao good for kids too?
Yes, I think kids will love eating xiao long bao. It’s a different experience for them to taste this kind of food. 🙂 Of course there are exceptions–the picky eaters (just like me, before).
Wow! Their dishes look so light and scrumptious, I would love to do lunch here <3
Try the appetizers, too. 🙂
I’ve never been to Lucky China Town Mall even though it’s near our house. Your post about Shi Lin makes me wanna go there.
Come by soon and for sure you’ll also love the food here. 🙂 It’s just walking distance from our house, too!
My attention was right caught by this familiar Taiwanese food, Xiao Long Bao. I don’t know if it is the same with Siomai which my better is addicted to eat it every time we visit a mall.
They’re not the same. XLB is way better, for me. 😀 You have to try it and you may be addicted as well.
When we went to Taiwan last year i realized that i really love their food (weird since i actually hate Chinese food and Taiwanese food’s essentially pretty similar!), unfortunately local Taiwanese restaurants never seems to be able to copy the original’s taste-farrr from it! We also have Taiwanese eatery called Shi Lin here in Indonesia but they sells only street foods like fried chicken chop, fried taro, fried sweet potatoes etc, they’re really good though!
I see. For some reason, you’re right. There are more Taiwanese/Chinese joints that can’t copy the authenticity of taste from the original country where the cuisines originated. Even so, these food we have locally are good enough for our taste buds. 🙂
I definitely think that the place looks beautiful. Those noodles look delicious too!
Yup, it’s great that the noodle dish didn’t contain or wasn’t made up of any meat. It’s one of the few vegetarian dishes available in Shi Lin.
Wow all this food looks so beautiful and delicious. I would love to eat there for some of these gorgeous dishes. Thanks for sharing.
Oh you can try them anytime. 🙂 You’re welcome!
Now I know where to eat when I visit the area!
If you’re in the area, stop by and enjoy the food here. 🙂
OMG! I would love to try that Xiao Lang Bao. When I’m somewhere near, I’d definitely visit it <3
XLB tastes very good. You might be surprised that you can finish the 8 pieces alone. 🙂
Everything look so delish! I love how you take your food pictures
Thanks, Aiza. 🙂
Wow, those dishes sure looks so delicious and well done. I would love tasting and savoring them. The place looks really nice as well.
Delicious and quickly served food are pluses here. 🙂
Until now I haven’t tried the Xiao long bao. I think they have affordable items in their menu.
Yes, prices are okay. You have to try them. 🙂