Read a lot about Dong Bei from various blogs talking about Ivan Dy’s Binondo Tour.
Piqued my interest on how it compared to Lan Zhou which is our favorite noodle shop in Binondo.
This is a 4-table place. What’s interesting is that dumplings are actually made in one of the tables in the dining area by the staff. Perched on their seats, they stuff pork & chive mixtures into tiny wrappers. Makes the meal an interactive experience.
Dumplings – chives, celery, cabbage, pork Php 80. Specialty of the house. The dumpling wrapper is extremely thin and a bit watery. The staff said that these dumplings are actually placed in boiling water and not steamed as I initially thought. I prefer Lan Zhou’s dumpling though since I like dumplings chewier.
Beef soup Php 100 – Pretty difficult to compare the noodles with Lan Zhou but we ended up concluding we liked Lan Zhou’s noodles better. Firmer and chewier. Soup broth was different for both places. Dong Bei broth tasted made of Chinese herbs while Lan Zhou broth tasted of beef or pork bones. Depends what type of soup broth person you are.
Fried chicken with sinjian flavor Php 180 – I liked the way they cooked the chicken. It was crisp and there was mix of subtle flavors.
Summary : Pretty interesting to compare Dong Bei with Lan Zhou. They are both good and deciding on which dumplings or noodle soup is better is a tough choice. On my part, I prefer Lan Zhou. Which one do you prefer?
Rating : Like It
Food : Dumplings
Dong Bei Dumplings
Oriente corner Yuchengco Street
Binondo, Manila
April 23, 2008 at 4:17 pm
for noodles and/or dumplings, i hope you give mien san (along gilmore, qc) a try
April 23, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I like mien san!!! Good taiwanese style cooking. I should blog the place one time. Thanks for reminding me =).
April 25, 2008 at 1:09 am
I liked the fried chicken with sinjian too. I found the chicken cubes juicy and the flavor was very interesting. I just thought it could use just a teenie weenie bit more flavor.
April 25, 2008 at 8:21 pm
i ate at LAMIEN several times before and for me its not really that good. you have to try LINGNAM in alonzo,ongpin they really served the best noodles ever and at an affordable price.=)
April 28, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hi Balot : Hmmmm…. I should revisit LingNam then. It’s one of those places I grew up seeing and actually took for granted already.
Haven’t been there for ages. I’ll give it a go. Thanks for the tip!
April 28, 2008 at 9:23 am
Hi Ruy :
We were trying to figure out how they got the flavor but couldn’t pinpoint the ingredients.
Any ideas? It’s an interesting taste. And I agree, they can add more on the flavor and it would be perfect.
Medyo bitin… like you want to get more out of the taste.
April 28, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hmmm, I think I’ll need to eat it again as its been a while and I dont quite remember the minute details of its flavor.
June 2, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hi everyone my driver wife work at this restaurant Dong bei dumpling. she say that the soup broth for the mami is sibot boil in chinese broth cubes kaya lasang gamot sabaw nila.
yun beef broth naman is chinese herb tungkwi and sokteh mix with star anise and beef broth cube.
nagtitipid kaya sila kasi mahal raw beef or pork bone haha kaya broth cube ang hinahalo nila.
dumpling naman madali lng pala harina , yeast , liha , egg and oil for the dumpling wrapper tapos sibuyas , kuchay , cabbage , mushroom , pork , carrot , singkamas para sa laman
they mix the laman with sesame oil , toyo , pepper , egg ayan balot na sa wrapper then pag kumukulo na tubig drop it one by one serve.
July 28, 2008 at 2:11 am
[...] originally thought these kuchay dumplings were steamed but no, they were boiled instead. Unsurprisingly, they tasted strongly of [...]
February 5, 2009 at 3:24 am
Right before Christmas, my sister Queenie and I missed a turn round Binondo church.
Were we lucky ! Dumpling-rolling lady made us stop to watch her roll some more. Right then we decided to try Dong Bei. We never regretted it.
Queenie treated the whole gang for a Dong Bei feast on her birthday a week before the Lunar New Year. The couple and their staff let us stay past 8 o’clock. Tired as they were, they gamely let us sing the Birthday song racuously.
Try their cold cut beef – kalitiran; handiwork noodles; fried dumpling.
This is one of the rare diners where the staff are in awe of their Chinese employers’ discipline, industry and simplicity. The quick-footed staff also made us proud to be Filipinos.
When we first dined there, we waited for our dumplings amid wafting onion and kuchay vapors that stung our eyes then whetted our appetites.
February 6, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Wow Desiree : Your description makes me want to grab some of those dumplings again this very moment! Yummy!
December 20, 2010 at 3:41 am
on tuesday, december 21, 2010, we will be dining there again . my niece Esther will be celebrating her 9th birthday in Dong Bei.