Highlands China Palace (2/F Mall of Asia)
I was glad to have held my birthday dinner at Highlands China Palace last Sunday night. We had a very pleasant dining experience of a reasonably-priced lauriat set meal that scored big in taste, authenticity, and service satisfaction.
Unfortunately, I did not get to take pictures — left my camera at the car and got busy chatting about with my siblings and playing with the pamangkins, so will just write about the whole thing 
Setting: Like an ancient Chinese palace. The furniture, china, and interiors are styled consistent with what you’d expect in a traditional Chinese resto. We booked the Hong Kong and Beijing contiguous rooms, overlooking a gorgeous view of the Manila bay.
Food: I did not go with their prescribed set menus, but instead conjured one of my own (with my full knowledge and consideration of the palates of the clan).
| Category |
Dish |
Comments |
| Appetizer | Assorted Meat Combination | Peking duck, roast pork asado, jellyfish, century eggs.. typical Chinese hot and cold cut fare, served with hoisin sauce. The duck skin was crisp, and the pork asado was tender (didn’t taste like salitre). Good starter. |
| Soup | Seafood in Spinach Soup | My mom loved this. HB1 (a normally no-veggie eating teener) said, this was the only time she ate spinach and tofu, and liked it. I liked it for the chunky seafood. |
| Shellfish | Crystal Prawns with Seasonal Vegetables | The prawns were very pale in color, prompting HB2 to suspect that they were scallops. One bite into their succulence and you’ll know how fresh these are. We loved the flavor and the fullness of the prawns’ texture. |
| Noodles | Birthday Canton | Complimentary, c/o the house! As with western restos giving free cakes for birthday celebrants, I found out from my dad that Chinese restos typically give out canton noodles for free as well. Wow tip for all of you — next time you’re dining a lauriat (set menu) at your favorite Chinese resto, request for a complimentary plate of birthday canton noodles. Yes, even if it’s not your birthday (according to dad hehe)  |
| Fish | Steamed Garlic Fish Fillet | Steamed grouper fillet smothered with ginger and garlic. Fragrantly cooked and perfect for health-conscious folks like me. |
| Poultry | China Palace Roast Chicken | This one’s for the kids, served with a sweet red sauce and prawn crackers. An okay dish, not something that I’d go out of my way to order. |
| Pork | Salt and Pepper Pork Spareribs | I actually ordered the ribs to be King Dao style (with sweet sauce), but the waiter probably mistook my order. They looked willing to go back and change the order (the server came over to confirm), but I just had them served anyhow. This dish has probably the fiercest calorie count tonight. Haha. |
| Rice | Lotus Fried Rice | Wow, one of the night’s standout dishes for me. I loved the taste and smell of the lotus leaves infused into the rice. A must-try I should say. I have not eaten rice (regularly) for about 9 months now, but I succumbed to around 3 cups of this dish. Sarap eh  |
| Shellfish | Deep Fried Salt and Pepper Crabs | In my opinion, this one loses to Emerald Garden’s famous peppercorn fried crabs. In any case, it was my idea to have it fried this way — the standard set has it steamed with garlic. Nonetheless, still a lot lot better than the horrendous crabs at Fish Out of Water. |
| Dessert 1 | Mango Fruit Fantasy | Another standout dish — fruit chunks (mandarin oranges, peaches, grapes, whole cherries, etc) in a creamy iced mango base. Very sweet and delightful. HB2 complained that it was too sweet (ang arte), but I saw others taking second servings of it. I myself wanted another bowl after my first one, but exercised some much-needed self-control. |
| Dessert 2 | Chinese Pastries | Mongo buchi (fried sesame seed-encrusted dough balls with sweet mung bean paste filling). It was not like the standard greasy buchi you get elsewhere. The paste was thick and the flavor not overpowering. Mom loved it, so did I. |
Drink: I had their bottomless dalandan drink. Sweet and tangy. With real dalandan slices.
Service: Great, we were all delighted. Yes, even my usually hard-to-please dad. They kept changing our plates every so often when it’d be full with food scraps and shells. We were teasing that the waiter staff must have some hidden anger against the dishwashing crew due to the frequency by which they changed our plates (around 6 or 7 times throughout the whole meal).
There were 3 dedicated wait staff who were unobtrusively attending to us inside the function room. They were attentive and courteous, and acted at our service with little prodding. When I pulled the blinds up so we could see the bay, the 2 wait staff hurriedly went over to pull up the other blinds as well. When baby Keisha broke porcelain soup spoons by accidentally dropping them to the floor (she broke 2, her dad broke an additional one more! haha), they quickly went over to clean up after us while the other offered a replacement spoon immediately.
 |
They were also very knowledgeable of the menu items — obliging to my requests consultatively in crafting my own set. Their suggestions proved to be real winners (Lotus Fried Rice and Mango Fruit Fantasy). I’d boldly rank their service over and above any other typical Chinese lauriat restaurant in the city (perhaps with the exception of those in hotels like Shang Palace and Li Li). |
Price: A few hundred pesos difference with other similar Chinese food establishments, but well worth the (minimal) additional premium for the good service and ambiance. Expect to pay around P500-P1000 per head for a sumptuous lauriat.
By the way, I was given a 10% rebate by the waiter in the form of Gift Certificates. NICE! I’ll definitely come back here. 
My verdict: Beats President, Century, and Emerald anyday in terms of service and ambiance. Some dishes are clear standouts and must-try’s, while a few others are just like your usual Chinese fare. Looking at their clientele that night tells me why this place is raking in the greens for the Sys — it has the perfect fusion of authentic Chinese comfort food and standout high-touch service becoming of upscale fine dining establishments, situated in a prime location and with apparently reasonable prices.
Highlands China Palace menus can be found online at munchpunch and at flickr (c/o Our Awesome Planet).
Highlands China Palace
2/F Unit 215-221 South Wing, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia
Pasay City, Metro Manila
(02) 556-0291
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For service and ambiance-Superb!!! In terms of food, masarap siya kasi libre..
i loved the Spinach soup..nagulat ako sa price range nung menu nila kasi medyo affordable siya considering na the resto is located inside a prime mall..sama mo kami pag babalik ka dun…:)
hehe
[Reply]
Wow! I’ll probably bring my parents here. Highlands China Palace will definitely have the upper hand if you compare it with Emerald and President on service and ambiance for the latter two restaurants are not really known for the two attributes mentioned, hehe.
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nakakagutom! Lotus fried rice, sarap!
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oo masarap bro! I wonder where I could get lotus leaves
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masarap sya kahit hindi libre! hahaha.. I can’t forget the Lotus Fried Rice.. ang sarap eh! hehe babalik ako soon
[Reply]
I’m sure your parents will like it. Tama ka nga re: Emerald and President hehehe, busboy culture kasi dun
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i’ve always wanted to try this resto since it has always caught my eye each time i pass by but i never got the chance to do so… ur post is very convincing hahaha
[Reply]
It is really worth the price and the trip.. really good Chinese food that I’m sure your family will love
[Reply]
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