Choi Garden opened in 2000 with its founder, Mr. Choi Tak Pui, bringing the delightful taste of Hong Kong cuisine to the Philippines. With the rise in demand for hot pot restaurants, or shabu shabu as we call it here, Choi Garden decided to branch out their own hot pot creations into its own restaurant.

Choi Hot Pot has two floors of shabu shabu tables for small or big groups. We took our seats on the second floor which can also serve as private dining areas for parties, birthdays, and other celebrations.

What differentiates Choi Hot Pot from the other shabu shabu restaurants in the city is that all the ingredients, meat, and seafood are all flown in fresh everyday from Hong Kong. 

Another specialty is its rich and unique soup broth which is set up at every table. You can ask for a Double Soup Base and choose two different soups like the Chinese Herbal Soup, Sate Soup, Pork Bone Soup, or Chicken Soup base. 

You can customize your own dipping sauce at the condiments station. I prefer putting lots of garlic and sate on my sauce.

Each order at Choi Hot Pot is only around P120 to P260 so you can definitely have a shabu shabu feast. Our first set of orders were mostly vegetables such as polonchay, watercress, fried beancurd, crabstick, fish fillet, corn, and radish.

I like getting lots of meatballs and dumplings for my hot pot. These include beef balls, lobster balls, handmade squid balls, shrimp wanton, and smoked cheese sausage.

Be careful with these dumplings because they tend to squirt very hot soup when you bite into them. 

Choi Hot Pot also offers Live Suahe and you can still see them moving about as they are served on the sticks. Simply dip them into the hot pot and you have the freshest shrimp available.

The meats at Choi Hot Pot are of premium quality and definitely worth ordering. The Australian Sliced Fat Beef and Imported Fat Beef are highly recommended with their thin slices of tender and fatty beef.

The Japanese Wagyu is a bit on the expensive side but it is really so good. These wagyu cubes just melt in your mouth and it only takes a few seconds to cook them inside the hot pot.

Now it’s finally time to eat! I can’t wait to have these slices fat beef on my bowl. Each table has its own hot pot area in the center so you can just put all the ingredients inside.

Aside from the beef and wagyu cubes, I particularly liked the delicious lobster balls and the live suahe. It’s actually easy to peel off the shrimp skin using your fork since they are already placed on sticks. I must have had almost a dozen!

Another great feature at Choi Hot Pot is their automated hot pot cookers which can lift up and drain the broth with just a touch of a button. This way, you can grab all the dumplings and balls that you want easily after they are cooked.

They also have an ongoing promotion this month where BDO World Elite Mastercard, Platinum, Titanium and Gold Mastercard holders can get a 50% discount at Choi Hotpot and Choi Garden from September 2 to 30, 2019. This is available for lunch and dinner from Mondays to Fridays only for a minimum purchase of P5,000 with a maximum P5,000 discount. So take advantage of this promotion and head over to Choi Hot Pot this September for a truly authentic hot pot experience.

Choi Hotpot

G/F Promenade Mall, Greenhills, San Juan City

(0945) 133-7391 / (0999) 872-2537

Winford Hotel and Casino is the newest gateway to rest and recreation in the Greater Chinatown area. With its grand opening last April 2017, Winford Hotel offers three levels of dining, entertainment and gaming. This $8-billion property has 128 deluxe rooms with MICE-ready facilities, swimming pool, gym and spa, retail outlets, and more importantly, ample and free parking space to serve as an oasis filled with leisure and luxury alternatives for everyone to enjoy.

With just a little peek around the lobby area, one can already notice how elegant and sophisticated the hotel designs are. You would not think that you are just within the Greater Chinatown area as the hotel simply exudes style and grace. I later found out that hotel interiors and artwork were designed by Ms. Anja Silling of Melange Interiors, a friend I met a few years ago who also designed the interiors for the Marriott Grand Ballroom. No wonder the hotel interiors looks so classy.

Choi Garden Manila is located on the second floor of the hotel which can be accessed through the grand escalator. A special Dragon Dance was also held after the official ribbon-cutting ceremonies to bring more luck and fortune to the restaurant and those visiting the hotel. 

Choi Garden Manila President Benito Gaw continues to provide “good food, reasonable prices, and quality service,” which he mentions is needed for a successful restaurant. This is definitely the biggest and most luxurious Choi Garden branch yet, with a seating capacity of 300 guests on the second floor including eight private rooms, a presidential room with lavatory, as well as a ballroom on the fourth floor which can seat up to 700 guests in a Chinese Lauriat-style setting. The restaurant interiors goes well with Winford Hotel’s own upscale features as it was designed by renowned architect Jose Antonio Nazareno of Nazareno + Guerrero Design Consultancy.

Other notable personalities who joined the grand opening were former Senator Edgardo Angara, Manila Jockey Club Investments Corp. CEO Alfonso Reyno, Jr.,  and several candidates for the Mr. & Ms. Chinatown 2017.

Executive Chef Ho Wai Kit, an experienced Hong Kong chef who has cooked for fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong and Thailand, runs the kitchen at Choi Garden Manila along with three other chefs from Hong Kong and China who have all mastered traditional Cantonese cuisine. Guests were treated to a lauriat fit for royalty as Choi Garden Manila showcased some of their signature dishes during the grand opening event.

Complimentary appetizers were set on each table before the 10-course Chinese lauriat was served. Mr. Benito Gaw assured that the food in Choi Garden Manila will remain faithful to the standard and quality of their Greenhills and Makati outlets. Some of the authentic ingredients for their seasonal specialties are shipped fresh daily from Hong Kong markets.

The first course was the sumptuous Suckling Pig with Glutinous Rice. The pork skin was so crispy and the glutinous rice made this dish more filling. The suckling pig goes so well with the sweet Hoisin sauce and this is the best way to start the feast.

Next was the XO Sauce Shrimp with Celery with its big pieces of plump and juicy shrimp cooked and mixed with the slight spicy XO sauce. The result was a profoundly flavorful shrimp to fuel up the taste buds.

The Whole Dried Scallop Ring is one of Choi Garden’s signature dishes combining huge scallops with radish and vegetables. This is a light and healthy course to balance the other more savory dishes to follow.

Soup was also part of the 10-course set and guests were served the Braised Shark’s Fin with Crab Meat Soup. Shark’s fin soup is usually served at Chinese restaurants during very special occasions and events, so it is only fitting that this is also featured during the grand opening of Choi Garden Manila.

Throughout dinner, shots of The Dalmore 15-Year Old luxury single malt whiskey were offered upon request to make the festivities even more memorable. The Scottish brand was brought in to the Philippines by Emperador Distillers, Inc. of Andrew Tan.

The next appetizing course was the Australian Abalone with Mushroom. Abalone is very expensive and it is also a symbol of prosperity among Chinese.

Another favorite is the Steamed Lapu Lapu in soy sauce caught and cooked live to offer the freshest and highest quality seafood. The fish was so tender and the light soy sauce was the perfect accompaniment.

Another mouthwatering dish was the Deep Fried Pigeon with its succulent and juicy skin. This is the part when guests simply have to use their hands to finish this savory item but no one was complaining.

The Singapore Style Crab with Hong Kong Style Pao was then served to round off the main courses. Chili crabs are served on the streets of Singapore but there’s no need to fly all the way there because Choi Garden prepares this dish at all their branches in the city.

For dessert, guests were treated to a Snowball mochi with custard and cream inside. The Avocado Sago was also very much appreciated with its cold and thick avocado cream loaded with small sago. Everyone went home full and satisfied from all the wonderful dishes that were presented.

Choi Garden Manila is indeed another exciting addition to Winford Hotel and Casino’s superb lineup of dining establishments to cater to its growing number of guests. The luxury hotel really looks so majestic, and hopefully I will be able to stay here one of these days and see their rooms and facilities for myself. Winford Hotel and Casino is indeed making waves in the travel industry and Choi Garden Manila could not have found a better location for its new impressive restaurant.

Choi Garden Manila

2/F Winford Hotel and Casino, Brgy. 350, Santa Cruz, Manila

528-3600