Skip to main content

Xing Fu Tang - The Number 1 Milk Tea in Taiwan

 The best Brown Sugar Milk Tea I've ever tasted was Xing Fu Tang in Taipei, Taiwan .   It's even called Taiwan's No.1 Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea... And for good reason!  The branch that I visited was hidden in a corner walking distance away from Ximen Station. A line of people gathered around the store. Usually, their service is fast so there's not that long of a wait.       My family and I ordered a variety of different drinks from Xing Fu Tang... Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea, Brown Sugar Boba Milk, and Taro Milk Tea on two different  occasions.     I've got to say, I love them all... But the Iced Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea holds a special place in my heart.         Their cream is so rich and thick, it's almost like melted ice cream... Actually, scrap that. It's like you're drinking chilled heavy cream. It's good.  Their boba is tender and chewy... Surprisingly, despite being fried in sugar it's not overwhelmingly sw...
Post a Comment

Mazendo - Authentic Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup and the Best Boiled Dumplings in Manila

Today, we’re featuring a Taiwanese restaurant called Mazendo! It’s my favorite boiled dumpling place. 


I’ve been to this restaurant more than 10 times and I've brought friends and family here. If you have that craving for an authentic Taiwanese beef noodle soup in Manila, Mazendo can definitely satisfy that craving.


Here’s my menu recommendation for Mazendo. 




Red Roast Beef Noodle Soup (P350)


Oily, fatty, rich, well flavored, and delicious. Those are adjectives I’d use to describe the broth. The soup served in Mazendo is an authentic Taiwanese beef noodle soup down to its oil content to its flavor. If you’re conscious about the oil in soup, this might not be for you… But for a beef noodle soup, it’s so good I finish all the broth despite the oil. Hey, once in a while can’t hurt. You really taste the richness of the beef enhanced with the fragrance of the tomato base and Chinese spices.  Their noodles are thick almost udon like noodles. Chewy, springy and delicious. They make the noodles on site and are perfect at absorbing all the rich flavor of the soup.  

The beef just falls apart in your mouth. Their beef is tender and and soft. I highly recommend that you add extra tendon, they do it just right! It feels like you’re eating fat! That’s how tender they get the tendon.


Despite it’s P350 price tag, it’s worth paying for considering the kind of soup they sell and the quality of noodles and broth. The portion size is also very generous. I strongly recommend that you add extra noodles at the end if you still have soup. 


Boiled pork dumplings (P190)



Out of all their dumplings… And I’ve tried them all, their boiled pork dumplings are the best. The way they marinated the meat and dumplings brings out the natural sweetness of the dumplings. It goes great as a side dish with the beef noodle soup. I like it with their serving of black vinegar and soy sauce. It’s SO good. The added vinegar brings out the pork’s natural sweetness even more. 


If you want something with a little more of a kick, get their boiled pork dumplings with chili sauce (P230) then just buy their regular boiled dumplings. You can re-use the sauce since they’re very generous with their chili sauce. 


Pork / Chicken Chop with Fried Rice (P308) 


If you like rice, get their pork or chicken Chop. Taiwan is famous for their deep fried pork and chicken fillets and Mazendo serves up good ones. Are they the best in town? They’re good considering how accurate the taste is with what we ate in Taiwan. Personally I liked it even better than what I had in Taiwan coz in Taiwan they’re really heavy on the Chinese spice. Pair it with their fried rice and it’s perfect.


Their menu changes every now and then but these are their consistent items and my personal favorites. My friend likes their Zhejiang (P130) mien since she hates oily food but I’m not that much of a fan of the dish… 


This is my rating for the restaurant…


Quality and consistency: 4/5

Quality wise, their recipes and food have stayed great throughout the years. However, as a long time patron of this restaurant, I’ve seen the changes they’ve made to their menu and certain menu items. That’s why I gave them a 4 out of 5. They took away their fried bread since they couldn’t maintain the consistency, for a time they took away their black vinegar, and they changed the serving sizes of the beef noodle soup based on customer reactions. So that’s why the score is as it is.

  

Value for money: 5/5

If you’re looking for an authentic beef noodle soup experience with great dumplings, it’s here in Mazendo. Their boiled dumplings are my favorite and worth paying for. 


Cleanliness: 2.5/ 5

The score is as it is because of three incidents I’ve experienced in the restaurant. But they were responsive with these kinds of complaints. 

There was a time where the glasses smelled bad. One time they gave me three different glasses that all smelled bad. The servers immediately replaced and washed all their glasses in the kitchen. They even washed their hose and filter. I saw them do this since they have an open kitchen and the server explained this to me as well. 

Another time I was sitting in the couch when my hand felt dust. My fingers turned grey with the amount of dust that was there but since I was with friends so I wasn’t able to report it. 

Another time, the pre-set utensils weren’t washed well but after telling the staff they immediately replaced it with a clean set. They really need to watch out for this since they have an open kitchen and an open area for the restaurant.


Ambiance: 4/5

The best place to sit is on the couches. The other tables and chairs are a sort of eat and run place. It has a quiet environment and an open kitchen. 


Service: 4/5

I would have given the service a 5 out of 5 since it was because of the friendliness of the servers that I entered the restaurant in the first place. However, as the years have gone by, they still have very friendly wait staff but they need to be a little more alert to the needs of the people in the restaurant. It’s sometimes the chef or the people prepping the food in the open kitchen telling the wait staff to go to tables trying to call for their attention for a restaurant. This is with at least two servers serving just two or three tables at most.


Overall score for:  3.9/5


I hope you can give this restaurant a chance. They’re worth visiting for just their beef noodle soup and dumplings.


I’ve tried their take out but it doesn’t give their food justice as their food is best eaten freshly made at the restaurant. 


I hope you can try to visit it one day! Cheers!

 



Labels:
Location: G/F Main Mall SM Central Business Park, SM Mall of Asia, 123 Seaside Blvd, Pasay, 1300 Metro Manila, Philippines

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Xing Fu Tang - The Number 1 Milk Tea in Taiwan

 The best Brown Sugar Milk Tea I've ever tasted was Xing Fu Tang in Taipei, Taiwan .   It's even called Taiwan's No.1 Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea... And for good reason!  The branch that I visited was hidden in a corner walking distance away from Ximen Station. A line of people gathered around the store. Usually, their service is fast so there's not that long of a wait.       My family and I ordered a variety of different drinks from Xing Fu Tang... Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea, Brown Sugar Boba Milk, and Taro Milk Tea on two different  occasions.     I've got to say, I love them all... But the Iced Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea holds a special place in my heart.         Their cream is so rich and thick, it's almost like melted ice cream... Actually, scrap that. It's like you're drinking chilled heavy cream. It's good.  Their boba is tender and chewy... Surprisingly, despite being fried in sugar it's not overwhelmingly sw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Addiction Aquatic Development - King Crab, Deep Sea Abalone, and Fresh Salmon in Taiwan! (picnic time!)

Addiction Aquatic Development If you're a foodie looking for a great place to wrestle up some grub, the one place you MUST visit is Addiction Aquatic Development.  Why? Aside from being a giant complex dedicated to seafood... It's also... THE BEST PLACE FOR KING CRABS! That's right. I said it. King Crabs. The stuff you see on "The Deadliest Catch"... You see them LIVE swimming around in the tanks. You can buy them fresh or you can get them from the grocery... Chopped up, cooked, and served in more affordable portion sizes. IT'S A PLACE WHERE BUYING KING CRABS WON'T BREAK THE BANK! You can buy lobsters, Snow Crabs, and other different species of crustaceans as well. But I strongly recommend you buy King Crabs when you're here.  The price for crabs and lobsters start from NT$ 600 (PHP1, 006.75) to NT$ 3, 000 (PHP 5, 033.77) for a generous portion.  The crustaceans are boiled and their shells pre-cracked so you can easily access the sweet tender meat.  T...
Post a Comment
Read more

Umeko - Buttery Delicious Unagi (Japanese style Eel ) in Taipei Taiwan

 If you find yourself craving for legitimate Japanese food in Taiwan, then I highly recommend that you go to Umeko.   It’s famous for it’s Japanese food and it’s one restaurant that can definitely compete with the stuff I have eaten in Japan.  As we were not quite sure what we should order, we decided to go for their set menu NT$480 (PHP 800) . We ordered their eel set which cost an additional  NT$50 (PHP 83.46).  Appetizer The first course that they brought out was their sashimi. It consisted of two pieces of salmon and a single piece of snapper. Their sashimi appetizer was so good it brought tears to my eyes.  It brought back memories of the delicious omakase I had in Japan .  The fish was so incredibly fresh and cool. You could really taste the sweetness of each piece of fish. The salmon had a certain fattiness to it that was so incredibly sweet.    I savored each bite... hoping... praying that it wouldn't end.  But alas, three ...
Post a Comment
Read more