5.356
27 (Sat) December 2014
Soya Cake with Three Kinds Mushrooms
4.0
at Golden Fortune Restaurant
-Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with the Family
Winter Holiday with the Family: Day 4 of 11
- Day 1 (5.353 Lapu-Lapu Chazuke)
- Day 2 (5.354 Deep-Fried Tofu with Shrimp & Vegetables in Oyster Sauce)
- Day 3 (5.355 Seafood Pizza)
- Day 4 (5.356 Soya Cake with Three Kinds Mushrooms)
For our first extended family time since I left home to work overseas, we’ll be spending the winter holiday together. Starting with Christmas in the Philippines, ending with the New Year in Korea. Having everyone around, just hanging out, makes it feels like home, wherever it may be.
LUNCH
At the crack of dawn, we packed our bags and left Eagle Point like bats out of hell.
We drove down the street to Anilao Scuba Dive Center. I would’ve taken them there from the start – warm hospitality and great food and good times and reasonable prices, guaranteed -but its sparse facilities don’t seem very family, at least not on first impression; W wouldn’t have appreciated it without the crappy experience of Eagle Point for comparison. Awesome Korean home-style breakfast, snorkeling in the ocean all morning (I managed to squeeze in one dive), Korean BBQ lunch on the beach. A most fulfilling day, wiping out all memories of Eagle Point, totally worth the trip.
Next time, ASDC from the get-go for sure.

DINNER
Golden Fortune Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant. Specializes in Cantonese cuisine, particularly seafood.

Located across the street from WHO, the closest/only real restaurant in the area, it’s a popular place for us to have lunch, especially Korean staff. I’ve already been there a dozen times for lunch, tonight the first time for dinner, the first time for a personal occasion.

The WHO Korean staff’s history with Golden Fortune goes way back before my time, so there’s a list of vetted dishes that they order from, most of them quite good. I was happy to share a few of my favorites with the family.



My favorite dish at Golden Fortune is the Soya Cake with Three Kinds Mushrooms. Egg tofu, silky and sweet and creamy. Lightly deep-fried for a delicate savory skin. Enoki, shiitake, button mushrooms, each providing a distinctive chewy texture and woodsy flavor. All doused in a pitch-perfect oyster sauce gravy. Divine on its own as an appetizer, even better as a main dish with steamed rice. Maybe my favorite dish in all of Manila, certainly the one dish that I’ve had more than any other here, can never get enough. The family liked it.
(See also FOODS)
(See also PHILIPPINES)