Yum Cha Unlimited at Shanghai Saloon, The Podium, Philippines

     We have always been game with trying out anything unlimited, but we also find ourselves less than satisfied with the experience more often than not (low quality of the meat, slow service, etc). Another thing that you should know about us is that Makati City is our comfort zone meaning, each drive out of the city limits ups the ante for our expectations for the restaurant. Simply put, it had better be worth the drive.

    Enter Shanghai Saloon at The Podium. 

This particular restaurant ticks both of our boxes above, placing it in a much higher standard than usual. 

We made reservations for their 2nd seating of the day (1:30-3:30pm). We arrived at exactly 1:30 just to be told that our tables were not available due to several differing reasons (the previous seating was not yet done; the table was given to another party). 

To remedy the situation, the manager had us order from the Yum Cha list so that they could start preparing our dishes while waiting.

We were soon led to our seats at around 1:45pm. I had only a few minutes to look around when our orders started pouring in, clearly they were making up for the earlier mishap. 

Towers of freshly steamed dim sum flooded our table. Notable ones were the Hakaw, Siomai and Chicken Feet. We also tried some from their Fried/Oven Baked section. Food-Stars Recommendation? Get the Prawn Prawn Roll with Cheese (this gets out of stock quickly). Stay away from the Pork Dumplings. 

I’m a sucker for Hot & Sour Soup so I just had to have one. I ended up getting 2 bowls :)

What I really liked about Shanghai Saloon’s Yum Cha (Php 888++ per person) offer was the fact that their entrees are unlimited as well.

I only managed to get a few pictures before our group started devouring the ordered dishes (understandably so since it was already 2pm). 

Kung Pao Chicken

This dish was on the average side compared to the others that we had.

Sweet & Sour Pork

If I was to choose the dish that I would definitely come back for, it would be this. Shanghai Saloon’s Sweet & Sour Pork can give the other restaurants’ versions a run for their money. Crunchy and nicely coated, everyone was raving about this dish even days after.

Their Salt & Pepper Squid was also a crowd pleaser; that lightly breaded crunchy coating together with the tender squid meat makes for a perfect bite every time. The vinegar that comes with it could’ve been better though.

If you’re looking for carbs, their Efu Noodles is not one to miss as well.

Overall, Shanghai Saloon did not disappoint. There were dishes that easily became our favorites (as seen above) and they did try to make up for the delay. 

One thing to note though, they informed us that the Yum Cha is until 3:30pm but by 3pm, service did not just go downhill, it came to a screeching halt. The kitchen suddenly had no stocks of the Buchi & the Egg Tarts were served cold. Good thing the vanilla ice cream helped cool off our heads.

Follow us on Twitter!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram!

♥ Food-Stars

"make us your daily habit!"

SERVICE: ⭐⭐⭐

TASTE: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐

VALUE FOR MONEY: ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Shanghai Saloon

IG: @shanghaisaloonph