Lugang Cafe!

Anyone craving for Taiwanese cuisine? If you are, then Lugang Cafe is the place for you. Lugang Cafe has brances in Greenhills and in SM Mall of Asia. Their website describes their restaurant as the 'epitome of elegance and style', to which I would agree to. 

We were able to visit the MOA branch and were greeted by a long queue... good thing it was worth the wait. Lugang Cafe was honestly a very good experience. 

Lamps... :)

The branch is, indeed, 'elegant' looking. This is random, but their lamps resemble the ones that can also be found in Wee Nam Kee.

Lugang's Interior

For starters, I ordered the Milk Tea for my beverage... because I'm obsessed with milk tea. However, even if I'm obsessed with milk tea, a lot of them fail to impress me. Fortunately, their milk tea was good. :)

Milk Tea - P140

Of course, who can go to a Taiwanese restaurant like this one and not order their special dim sum? These are steamed and have broth in it... it's tough to eat at first, but you get used to it. Personally, it's a favorite of mine. I also can't help but compare their steamed shrimp and pork shiao mai (or just siomai to most of us) to the ones found in Shi Lin. Lugang's was definitely better, as the dough was softer and steamed to perfection.

Steamed Shrirmp and Pork Shiao Mai - P188

Then we have the XLB dumplings, which is what the restaurant is known for. XLB stands for Xiaolongbao, and are also known as 'soup dumplings'. Just like the shrimp dim sum, these also have broth in them. Really delicious, and a must try for ever foodie out there. 

Pork XLB Dumplings - P188

Here's some hot and sour soup. 

Hot and Sour Soup - P180

Who can go to a Chinese or Taiwanese restaurant without ordering Jelly-Fish?

Jelly Fish

The Seafood Balls were also good. They were fried to perfection but were not oily, and the meat was succulent.

Seafood balls

Fried Rice

I really loved the Chicken topped with Scallion and Ginger Oil! Just look at all those scallions. I immediately fell in love with it. It has a similar taste with Hainanese Chicken, but there's no need for additional dips since the toppings give it a good taste. The chicken meat was juicy and delicious!

Chicken topped with Scallion and Ginger Oil - P450

Sweet and Sour Pork, another favorite from this cuisine. 

Sweet and Sour Pork - P280

I wasn't a fan of the Steamed Fish Fillet with Crispy Tauso, although my companions liked it. I have no idea what Tauso is, and even after doing some searches on google, I found nothing. The closest thing I got was that it's fried and crispy soy beans... is that right? Anyone care to enlighten me? All I can explain is that it has a peanut-y taste.

EDIT: I just took a peek at Lugang's FB page, and apparently these are pine nuts. Mystery solved!

Steamed Fish Fillet with Crispy Tauso - P380

Dessert!

You can see how the dim sum is made, which is always fun!

So this is how it's made... O:

Amazing.

Verdict 

Lugang Cafe is a must go-to for all the foodies out there. Good service and good food.

Taste - 5/5

Ambiance - 5/5

Service - 5/5

Price - 5/5

Overall Value - 5/5

Posted in: chinese, greenhills, moa, pasay, rating: 5/5, san juan, taiwanese