When it comes to birthday parties, there are often just two types of get-together: the casual bash complete with an expansive guest list, and the intimate, elegant event with just one special person or perhaps a small group of friends and relatives.
My godmother celebrated her 50th birthday following the latter, today at The Legend Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant, located at Boom na Boom Compound, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay, Philippines.
The event per se was not anything fancy, but the dining table was enchanted with delicious Chinese dishes that didn’t necessitate us to be rugged, handcuffed and dragged just to eat while sabotaging our diet. As it’s just the second week of the 2013, we can still blame our indulgence still on the holidays!
If you’re thinking of celebrating your birthday or spending another special occasion at The Legend, this writeup might be of help.
What we had: Assorted Appetizers, Birthday Noodles, Fish Lip Soup (that would taste better with a dash of black vinegar or “o tso” we call in Chinese), Roast Peking Duck 北京烤鸭 Skin in Wraps, Sua He (Steamed Live Shrimps), Minced Meat with Cabbage Wraps, Steamed Lapu-lapu, Tenderloin Beef Steak, Breaded Crabs, and the refreshing Mango-Almond with Frozen Watermelon smoothie.
Pictures:
The Chinese almost always offer lauriats to their guests. Whether it be a wedding, an engagement party, or a birthday feast, we tend to eat several dishes in small proportions. The idea is to get food about a mouthful equivalent to about three spoonfuls, and then spin the table gently onto the next diner until everyone at the table gets his/her own share. (FYI: Originating in China, lauriat is a type of food service which uses a Lazy Susan to move the food counter-clockwise or clockwise.)
Usually, there has to be eight to ten dishes served—from appetizers, the main course recipes and the desserts. Eight, when translated in Chinese (“Ba”–>”Fa” in Mandarin and “Faat” in Cantonese; written as 發), means “lucky.”
Do we become lucky after bolting into these variants? We just can’t tell. 😀 While that’s only a tradition powered by old superstitions, it’s still worthwhile to be able to gorge these food once in a blue moon. 😛
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
Just an inquiry: do most foods on the menu have MSG or monosodium glutamate? I am allergic to MSG and I am invited to eat at your restaurant for a friend’s birthday later tonight. Can a guest request for nonMSG dishes? Or do I have to eat in another place prior to sitting at your restaurant? Enlighten my appetite in this matter.
nothing to worry. you can ask the order taker not to put MSG!
Magkanu po rate sa function for 50 pax po ?