Location is one heavy factor in choosing where to eat. Whether you like it or not, your choices and decisions on where to eat depend on where you are currently located. With the Manila traffic we have, you wouldn’t want to drive for more than 2 hrs on the road. Convenience becomes your initial thought in deciding for a restaurant to dine in. 

Restaurants located in San Juan are close to my heart and close to where I live. I would always prefer dinners in that area mostly because of convenience. No doubt I immediately freed up my schedule for a dinner with The Food Club at the newest Chinese restaurant, Chow Fun. 

Eating is absolutely fun at Chow Fun… FYI, forgive me for overusing the word “fun” in this post. I just think it is the perfect word to describe my experience at Chow Fun. 

Chinese Fun-Due (Php 155) – A signature starter at Chow Fun is this fun food called Fun-Due. Who wouldn’t be delighted in using fondue stick to eat seafood balls, calamares, and vegetable cakes? Two types of fondue to choose from, cheese & curry and spiked sweet chili. 

Ordering Chinese Fun-Due may not result to “fun” if your only option is to eat alone. Taking friends to share this experience brings out more interesting conversations over interesting dishes such as this one. 

Oriental Duck Spring Rolls (Php 165) – Fried and made crispy with duck filling to shift your usual Lumpiang Shanghai taste to something different. Three sauces to choose from. So no excuse to get sick of its taste. 

Crispy Pork w/ Sour Caramel Sauce (Php 255) 

Chowfun Chicken Fry (Php 290, half / Php 520, whole) – Another signature dish of Chow Fun that you can’t miss out on trying. Just imagine the perfect crispy and juicy fried chicken with a ‘special ingredient’ to make the chicken stand out among other fried chickens you’ve tried. Special ingredient you may ask? After 3-5 bites, I figured out what that special ingredient is. Have you heard of Kiamoy? I’m sure most of you are familiar to that famous Chinese candy. If you know the taste of Kiamoy, you’ll get a clearer idea on how the chicken would taste as you mix juiciness, crispiness and kiamoy-ness. 

Beer Chicken (Php 235) – Since we are talking about Chinese here, beer used to make the dish different is also Chinese, Tsing Tao beer. Hotpot style with thick Tsing Tao beer sauce blended with some spiciness. 

Scrambled Prawns (Php 290) – These tiger prawns are succulent that makes it unbelievable for its reasonable price. Simple saucy dish at Chow Fun that’s mixed with scrambled egg. 

Coffee Braised Beef (Php 275) – I’m not a coffee drinker but I appreciate how coffee is used in dishes that could extend the flavors to its finest. A combination of easy-to-chew and slice tender beef and rich coffee and spice sauce. Now I can say I love coffee, but only on food. 

Chowfun Birthday Noodles (Php 260) – Yes, indeed they serve noodles in Chow Fun. To complete Chinese birthday celebrations, the traditional birthday ho-fan noodles is always part of the order list. 

Dark Chocolate Buchi (Php 115) – Notice how Chow Fun mixes tradition with modern international favorites. I’m not Chinese but it is my personal tradition to order Buchi after every Chinese meal. When I know the Buchi is good in a restaurant, I recommend the restaurant right away. In Chow Fun, I believe their ideas to make eating more “fun” match my eating personality instantly. The idea to fill their buchi with premium dark chocolate is genius. 

Just take a look at that overflowing dark chocolate. Oh so indulging to grab a piece and murder in your mouth. 

Haw Flakes Pastry (Php 85) – During my grade school days, I buy haw flakes in the grocery and finish them in less than 5 minutes. I was addicted to it at some point. This baked puff pastry filled with layers of haw flakes made me remember how addicted I was to haw flakes. The 5-spice cream fixed the dessert to be more palatable to your mouth. 

Signature Ice Creams (Php 115/scoop; Php 125/ 2 flavor sampler) – Flavors differ everyday. Call on the server and ask for assistance on what homemade ice cream they prepared for that day.

To complete the fun, paying the bill doesn’t pull out the fun and make your pockets lighter. As you can see, they are reasonably priced. Knowing that it is just near my area, it’s not impossible to bump into you one time and see each other at Chow Fun. 

Cheers,

Location: J. Abad Santos St., San Juan, Metro Manila, PH (Already Closed)

Budget: PHP250++

Rate: 8.5/10