There's a new foodie place in town and its name is Hole in The Wall.
This is a food court with an elegant & classier feel to it. The dining areas are cut into sections with different themes & interiors. Playful & inviting, Hole in the Wall have none of the hurried vibe we typically see in food courts. Observe, they even have high-backed chairs for comfort & that antler light fixture that seems reminiscent of the one seen in the Kutcher/Heigl movie Killers.
For their al-fresco diners, seating fixtures that resemble mini-greenhouses; monoblock white chairs & wicker seats were available.
Due to the time constraint (we had an appointment for 9:15pm), we just went with the first brightly lit food stall we saw.
Kwong's Provisions boasts of progressive Chinatown cooking. Their clipboard menu is streamlined into 5 sections. We wanted to try one from each so we ended up with too much food! Another case of over-ordering due to takaw tingin. ;)
It's a pay-as-you-order kind of system.
This lights up when your order's ready.
Here's how our table looked like with all the food!
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| Lazy chili crab with Mantao (Php 195) |
In typical restaurant fashion, this is usually served with full-sized crabs brimming with the chili sauce which you then soup up using the side order of mantou. Kwong's version is a simplified one; they cut up a few pieces of fresh crab meat & mix it in the sauce. Food-Stars Verdict? We were actually on the fence with this one. Eating the mantou by itself & eating spoonfuls of the crab sauce alone were a hit. But eating this the way it should be eaten (mantou dipped in the sauce) is a different story. The flavors don't work together very well.
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| Hainanese Chicken Machang (Php 150) |
This a mash-up of Hainanese Chicken made sticky & served up Machang style. To save time, they unwrap half of it & place on the opened leaves the 3 sauces that usually comes with Hainanese chicken dishes. As you bite into the rice, there is an overwhelming taste of ginger. This is a dish that makes it easy for you; it's either you like it or you don't. I didn't.
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| Braised short ribs rice bowl (Php 270) |
This soft, succulent beef with sweet sauce is a definite picker-upper. Serving size is small; it has that bitin factor. You'll soon find yourself with lots of rice still left on your plate with no beef in sight. The hefty price tag didn't help either. Food-Stars Verdict? Tasty but pricey.
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| Maki Mi (Php 190) |
We saw bowls & bowls of this coming out of their kitchen which we took as a sign & went ahead and ordered one. Kwong's version still had the classic pork tenderloin with noodles & thick soup consistency but they added a bit of twist to it as seen above. Theirs had crunchy dark brown pieces (that tastes similarly to chicharon) and lots of fried garlic bits. Food-Stars Verdict? I can see why they're able to sell a lot of this.
Are we coming back? Most probably. Our next visit would be for the Maki Mi & the Prawn & Crab Roe Balls (which unfortunately were sold out that night).
SERVICE:
TASTE:
VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY:
'Til our next Good Eat!
"make us your daily habit!"
Kwong's Provisions, Century City Mall
Hole In The Wall 4th Floor,
Century City Mall, Kalayaan Avenue corner
Salamanca Street, Brgy Poblacion
(02) 887-2089
Opening hours: 5pm-11pm
Noting your tips for my visit soon!
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