Great Eats,  Staycation Diaries

Classy Cantonese dining at Marco Polo Manila’s Lung Hin

This post is part of a series of features and reviews on Marco Polo Ortigas Manila. I was invited to a staycation in their hotel but all opinions stated are my own.

Since opening its doors in 2014, Lung Hin has carved a name among those looking to take their Cantonese feasts to the next level. I’ve personally read about Lung Hin here and there but have never tried it out until the night I had my staycation at Marco Polo Ortigas Manila. Located on the 44th floor of the hotel, Lung Hin refers to itself as a ‘contemporary specialty restaurant… which features authentic Cantonese cuisine and fresh seafood’.

The restaurant houses an impressive dining hall that still manages to maintain that Cantonese restaurant ambiance, albeit with a more luxurious feel. We arrived at a little past 7PM and I guess people didn’t think that a normal hour for dinner yet since the restaurant was still relatively empty at the time. Once the clock struck 8 it started filling up.

Aside from bigger scale private rooms, I love how Lung Hin has these little semi-private nooks for small groups of people to sit in. You can chat and enjoy your meal in peace, and you will barely notice time passing you by. I know that for a fact because we were seated in one of these nooks, and I loved the feeling of having that little space for myself and my companion.

Flipping through the menu, I immediately wished I had a bigger appetite. I get full more easily than you can imagine so I really had to be tactical with my orders. It was just me and my brother who were having dinner this time after all. I had such difficulty choosing though, because everything on the menu looked so good! With the help of our gracious server, we were finally able to decide on a handful of dishes.


Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with Gold Leaf (Php 220)

I always order hakaw or shrimp dumpling whenever I’m in the mood for dimsum, and what sets Lung Hin’s apart from the rest is not the gold leaf (although that is a fancy touch), in my opinion. It’s actually the fact that the shrimp inside these dumplings are huge, plump, juicy, and sweet. You can only make them this good using fresh shrimp. They are contained inside perfectly made wrappers as well, and thankfully, it’s all shrimp underneath and not just air pockets. I loved eating this with the XO sauce they provide.


Baked Barbecue Pork Buns (Php 220)

For the sake of comparison, I decided to get an order of this since I know so many people are going gaga over pork buns. I must say, the bun of Lung Hin’s version is probably one of the best I’ve eaten. It’s crisp but it’s got a nice soft bread layer inside that makes munching on this a pleasure. My only problem is that the filling is way too sweet for my taste.


Steamed Pork Siomai with Truffle Sauce (Php 220)

The moment my brother read the word ‘truffle’, this was automatically on the order list. Everybody loves a good siomai, so what more a version that pushes it up a notch with the use of truffle? With this siomai, it is the plump juicy shrimp inside that catches the attention. The truffle flavor is actually quite subdued that I do not recommend eating this with a sauce.


Stir-fried Seasonal Hong Kong Vegetables in Garlic (Php 465) 🌟

Because no meal is complete without veggies, I decided to order this classic. You’d think this a simple dish, but any Cantonese restaurant worth their laurels should be able to cook the basic crowd pleasers well, and I would consider this dish as one of them. And wow did Lung Hin cook the heck out of this.

Starting off with using the highest quality ingredients really makes a difference, because I could feel and taste it with every bite. There was just the right hint of garlic, but the highlight was the natural taste of the obviously very fresh vegetables used here. The broccoli was especially sweet and crunchy!


Sautéed Diced Beef Cubes with Goose Liver (Php 880) 🌟

This dish was insanely good. The beef cubes are tender and juicy, cooked to a medium degree to give it that perfect bite. Each piece is evenly coated with a black peppery sauce infused with the lovely flavors of bell peppers. This tickles the tastebuds and was my fave of the night, hands down.

The goose liver is inside a lightly breaded deep-fried shell, and the moment you bite into it, everything just melts inside the mouth. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about eating this so I had just one piece haha! If you’re not into fatty foods, I guess you don’t have to eat the liver, but the beef part is just too good to ignore. I want more please.


Three Flavored Prawns (Php 1,680) 🌟

This was another highlight of the night. I was so full at this point I couldn’t finish my share, but I’m happy I still got to sample each piece. These babies are really big and I’m not sure if my photo gave them justice! Admittedly it is a pricey dish, but it is a real experience for those who love prawns.

At their core, these are basically breaded juicy jumbo prawns that’s been deep-fried, then coated with three very distinct flavors. My favorite was the rich and creamy Sakura (orange), with a sweetness reminiscent of a classic hot prawn salad. The Blueberry was the most unusual of the three, and since I’m not used to eating shrimp that’s this sweet and fruity it surprised me at first. Finally, the Salted Egg one is impressive in that it has a full-blown salted egg flavor but is not overly coated. It isn’t soggy or oily like many other similarly prepared prawns I’ve tried.


Signature Earl Grape Iced Tea (Php 275) 🌟

I’ve been wanting to try this signature drink ever since laying eyes on a photo of it. Looking at the elaborate set-up, I can only imagine how much thought they put into this. It must be good! This drink is symbolic because it ‘re-enforces the link between East and West – like Marco Polo himself’. Back in the 19th Century, the British loved drinking tea from China, but it was too expensive to get them at the time so they used Earl Grey to imitate them instead.

Once the set is brought to your table, the cold Earl Grey is poured over elderflower-infused ice and seedless green grapes in a wine glass. Because the grapes have been slightly pressed, it releases a slight sweetness that melds with the Earl Grey, but you can adjust the sweetness to your taste with the syrup provided. The Earl Grape Iced Tea is also served with a freshly baked Turkish delight.

As a fan of Earl Grey Tea, this drink didn’t need to work that hard to win me over. It was refreshing, and it was a great palate cleanser between all the flavorful food we had that night. It’s certainly a new way to enjoy tea, and it was utterly refreshing to boot. For some reason, it was fun for me to scoop up those pieces of green grapes at the bottom too. So would I order this again? Absolutely.


Final Thoughts

First of all, I think Lung Hin was very effective in showcasing exactly how dining at a five-star hotel restaurant should be done. The moment you walk up to the restaurant, you will be attended to until the end of your meal. Of course, since this restaurant is definitely up there in terms of price range, it would be smarter to order things you can’t find in any other common Cantonese restaurant. You won’t run out of options even if you remove all the familiar dimsum and dishes Lung Hin also offers. If you do decide to order them anyway, be prepared to experience the difference.

I was sad about not being able to try any dessert since I was already too full, but they have a bunch of really interesting options I look forward to tasting next time I get the chance. And let’s be honest, there are so many other dishes on the menu that I look forward to trying as well, and after this dinner I feel confident that I won’t be disappointed at all.

In hindsight, I actually feel like we could’ve gone without the dimsum and ordered some interesting appetizer dishes instead; or maybe a soup, just so I can share a more extensive look at Lung Hin’s menu for you guys. At the same time, I can’t really say I regret anything I ordered. If anything, the dimsum really proved to me that they are serious about specializing in fresh seafood. You just can’t fake that juicy shrimp dumpling.

Oh, and I’ll have to apologize for completely forgetting to take a photo of the view from this floor. I think it’s a relaxing exercise to leisurely eat while looking out at the cityscape every once in a while so I wanted to give you guys a glimpse of what it might feel like, but I guess you’ll have to see that view for yourself while having a meal here at Lung Hin!

~~~

Lung Hin

44th Floor, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila
1600 Meralco Avenue,
San Antonio, Pasig, Metro Manila
Hours: Lunch 11:30AM to 2:30PM / Dinner 6PM to 10:30PM
Contact No.: (02) 720-7720
Website | Facebook

If you enjoyed this post, do follow me on social media for more. I’m on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. See ya around! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.