Chinese cuisine has always been integral to Filipino festivities. From birthday staples like lumpiang shanghai, siomai dumplings, siopao, and to everyone’s favorite, the ubiquitous pancit canton. Filipinos indeed love their Chinese food. But that usually doesn’t translate to pinoys trooping to serious Chinese restaurants, most being content with the popular fast food chows, thinking most of the legit ones can only be found in Binondo—the oldest Chinatown in the world.

LIDO COCINA TSINA AT LA FUERZA, MAKATI

Unbeknownst to many though, there are quite a few restaurants around the metro where you can actually get your legit Chinese fix without traveling all the way to Manila’s Chinatown. And one of these is at Lido Cocina Tsina. With roots all the way from 1930’s Binondo, Lido has been serving their Chinese specialties for 80 years now. And as a testament to this, their newest branch, located at La Fuerza in Makati, is already their 15th store.

DRAGON DANCE AT THE OPENING OF LIDO COCINA TSINA MAKATI

Tucked on a quiet sidestreet along Chino Roces Avenue, we visited the restaurant on their opening day. It was drizzling a bit, but that didn’t stop their traditional Chinese dragon dancers from blessing the restaurant with luck and prosperity.

THE RESTAURANT CAN SEAT UP TO 90 PERSONS

The ninety-seater interiors, set with Lido’s history and photos of their mouth-watering specialties, were packed to the rafters with guests. We sat on one corner and waited with excitement for Lido’s famous pugon-roasted asado.

MANCHURIAN WINGS ~ PHP285.00

Soon enough plates of Drunken Lechon Macau, Manchurian Wings, 16-Spiced Shantung Pork and their Chinese Pugon-Roasted Asado were slid down our table. Everything looked delicious and very Binondo.

DRUNKEN LECHON MACAU ~ PHP290.00

The Drunken Lechon Macau is quite interesting, think pork liempo, except it’s marinated in premium wine and spices for sixty freakin’ hours before being fried. The Manchurian chicken wings, on the other hand, looks very tempting with gingery oriental sauce glazing its outer layer, covering the succulently tender meat inside.

16-SPICED SHANTUNG PORK ~ PHP275.00

Our favorites, however, hovered between Lido’s 16-Spiced Shantung Pork and their Chinese Pugon-Roasted Asado. The former, fancily named after Shantung’s cooking tradition, looks like pork chop. And indeed, it is! The difference is that each slice is peppered with 16 kinds of spices. It is, indeed, quite flavorful, very tender, and mildly spicy!

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From the quaint streets of Binondo, Panciteria Lido's signature pugon roasted asado now makes its way to the busy roads of Makati. #LidoLFMgo2016 #LakadPilipinas

A post shared by Christian L. Sangoyo (@lakadpilipinas) on Jul 8, 2016 at 1:18am PDT

The latter, Lido’s ultimate dish, is what people really come to their restaurant for. The Chinese Pugon-Roasted Asado is what established Lido from its humble roots in Binondo to the pantheon of Chinese restaurants in the Philippines. The dish is simple enough, sliced pork loins roasted in a traditional brick or oven. But what sets it apart are the secret spices infused within the meat, a family recipe going back 70 years to the quaint streets of Manila’s Chinatown. And the taste? Definitely Binondo legit.

~ OUR FRIENDS FROM LIDO COCINA TSINA INVITED US TO THEIR RESTAURANT OPENING. ALL VIEWS & OPINIONS ARE MINE.

Lido Cocina Tsina
Address: Unit 6 & 7, La Fuerza Plaza 2, Chino Roces cor. Sabio St., Makati City, Metro Manila
Contact No: (0927) 226-4940 | (0917) 843-9083
info@panciterialido.com | Facebook | Menu
Opening Hours: 7:00AM to 11:00PM
GPS Coordinates Map: 14.544529, 121.016963

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