Binondo Food Trip: Rosso Asian Kitchen

We we're not supposed to eat here...

For lunch on our second day in Binondo, we headed to Sabino Padilla St. (formerly Gandara St.) in search of Fu Yuan Restaurant and its fabled Fookien Fried Rice. 

Photo Credit: http://www.thefoodencounters.com/

But tried as we might, we couldn't find it! We eventually asked the guard in the area where we think Fu Yuan should have been standing, and was told, "Ito po yon, nag-iba lang ng pangalan." 

So we went in and as we were about to order, I asked the waitress if they are still serving the same dishes as Fu Yuan. She was honest enough to tell us that though it is still the same place, it is a completely different restaurant. Bigo!!

As we stepped out to look for an alternative place to eat, I spied a familiar sign across the street. 

Sorry, photo was taken aboard a moving kalesa on a late afternoon :)

I have read several blogs that featured Rosso Asian Kitchen and its famous hotpot, but none has mentioned the peso-signs. As much as possible, I don't like recommending places to Mike to which I do not have any idea of the prices. Baka hindi kasi sulit...  

Rosso Asian Kitchen menu as of Oct. 27, 2012

 

Seeing that prices are on the not-so-cheap side, but reasonable, we decided to go ahead and order the Ji Gong Bao and yang chow.

The Ji Gong Bao dish is their version of the Shabu-Shabu, but with a delicious twist. Instead of just a boiling pot of soup, we actually started with a pot half-filled with cooked pork spareribs (other choices are pork knuckles, chicken, beef, frog, goat or lamb instead)

Rosso Asian Kitchen: Pork Spareribs Pot (P380, small)

We did not even order mildly spicy but specifically asked for "not spicy", since our daughter has low tolerance for spicy food. The spareribs was very flavorful and was a perfect complement to the Yang Chow Fried Rice.  

Rosso Asian Kitchen: Yang Chow Fried Rice (P198)

When there were just a few pieces of meat left, our server filled the pot with their special soup. She went on to add our choices from their shabu-shabu list:

Golden mushrooms (P95)

Cheese Bun (P110)

Fish Tofu (P90)

US Fat Beef (P185)

All the ingredients we ordered worked sooo well together to give a very satisfying flavor and texture. 

 The mushrooms were crunchy, but also stringy, similar to having noodles in your soup. The fish tofu was firm and spongy. The beef cooked fast because it was thinly sliced, and it was tender and fatty, just the way we liked it. 

Not much to look at...but very, very nice

And finally, the cheese buns! Oh the cheese buns... Para syang sosyal na squid balls with melted mozzarella inside. Heavenly!!

In the end, we paid roughly P1,200 inclusive of three sodas in can. Pwede na! So, even if it was only by chance that we ended up eating there, I'm glad we did.