A Blooming Love for Mei Hwa Foods Chinese Restaurant and Deli

Naks, melodramatic title =b

The Shaolin kid figurines keeping us company at the dining table.

Mei hwa/mei hua is a Chinese name that means ‘beautiful flower’.  It also translates as ‘plum flower’ (which upon looking at images of it on Google, I found to be a truly fetching blossom). In the City of Pines, we have a restaurant version of the beautiful flower which after two dining experiences, I found I now have a blooming love for. ^^,

Hot calamansi juice to keep the cold & colds away. =D

What is there to love?

It was Race’s heart strings that Mei Hwa Restaurant first tugged at with their mouthwatering rice topping, Hong Ma rice. (Mei Hwa Foods menu, for your reference here.) It’s a dish that’s so much like pata tim, just that it makes use of pork belly instead of pork hock. Braised in soy sauce, the meat became as tender as it could be, making my better half say that he wants the same order, if we ever find ourselves at this Chinese restaurant again.

Hong Ma rice/pork belly braised in soy sauce =)

I was craving dumplings (or anything that means dipping in the petit saucers of soy sauce/chili oil/calamansi juice mix) from having “A Tale of Samurai Cooking” on repeat on my PC (in the background *heehaha ADHD.  My gosh, the stuff they cooked up there. *droolfest!) and so I went for the Mei Hwa soy tofu and shark’s fin dumplings. Because they were small and a little on the tough side (overcooked for the tofu and undercooked for the shark’s fin), it’s the reverse of ‘hana yori dango’. In this case, I thought flowers are better than dumplings. (Needless to say, Mr. Ching holds a spot in my heart as a great place for dimsum. Steamer stacking, yeah! If it’s rolls and soy sauce dips, my stop would be Zushi Me. =) )

Dimsum – shark’s fin dumpling and soy tofu

Because someone’s been dreaming of coming back since that plate of braised pork, we returned a month later, with Beth in tow.

This time, we went lamesa style with the resto’s pork ball soup, chicken lettuce fried rice, lechon Macau, and another dish that involved braising; it’s the veggies turn now, with tofu and mushroom in a pot. (What is it about Chinese restaurants and mushrooms? … and mushrooms and us? *hihi)

Service tea and peanuts \m/

While we waited for our lunch, Mei Hwa deli gave us some peanuts and a pot of tea to occupy ourselves with. Xie xie! (“,)

The chicken and lettuce in the fried rice mostly served as a garnish since it didn’t lend any distinct flavor to the rice but it was okay considering, we had enough of it from our chosen viands. First, the pieces of lechon Macau with smears of Mang Tomas.  (I’m afraid the dip was necessary for the lean was bone dry. Can I have all the fatty stuff?  No? Pass the sauce then please. *hee)

Chicken lettuce fried rice and lechon Macau

In contrast to the lechon, our favorite veggies braised in a pot was tasty and uber saucy. I wanted the tofu to be softer (like one we’d find in a bowl of soondubu chigae) but it’s nothing that I’d throw a hissy fit for considering I’ll be barking up the wrong tree here).  We’ll keep on steppin’. And did I mention the mushrooms? =)) Suddenly, there’s an aroma and a fabulous taste with a spoonful every time I bit into the succulent slices of mushroom.

Braised tofu and mushrooms in a pot. (“,)

Aside from pork balls, our soup had leeks and sotanghon. We each had an okay bowl of it until we spooned some chili oil in it and mixed it well. (That’s  key, otherwise, the oil sticks to the back of your throat then you should brace yourself for a coughing fit. Trust me, I know. *snickers). It took the soup to another level. \m/

Pork ball soup ^^,

We worked ourselves quite a sweat walking to the Chinese resto  from Pancake House at 12 noon, but we were comforted by the knowledge that Mei Hwa served halo halo for the affordable price of P40.   Imagine our surprise when dessert was finally served. =D  That’s a large bowl of beans, kaong, nata de coco, gulaman, sweetened banana, rice crispies, and ube on a well proportioned helping of ice shavings. [So glad for the no spill ‘ice chipping’ and mixing because the bowl wasn’t exaggeratedly filled (with ice).]

Regular halo-halo. Yum!

X marks Mei Hwa Foods Chinese Restaurant and Deli for good food in Baguio. I have a blossoming love for this restaurant and deli and I can’t wait till I dine there again.

Food:  for the dimsum and lechon Macau.  for the other dishes and for their halo-halo, .  We just got the regular one but I thoroughly enjoyed it as if it was the special kind.

Service: 

Ambiance:  Mei Hwa is a relatively new place (spotted by Jo, thanks much) and yet carries an atmosphere like it’s been here forever (it’s reminiscent of old Filipino-Chinese cafes like Star Cafe.)

Price: 

The Chinese resto.

Mei Hwa Foods Chinese Restaurant and Deli

Ground Floor, Blue Mountain Hotel

18 Marcos Highway

Baguio City, Philippines

0922 838 0419