Kim Po Teahouse: Sparerib Rice Galore

If you attended my old high school ¹, one tradition (for lack of a better term) is really to have walked from the school all the way to Greenhills Shopping Center, when it was still called Virra Mall.  It was about a 2km. walk and the best place to chow then was Le Ching.  More specifically, sparerib rice.  Even today, it’s definitely not the tastiest version of the dish you’ll have, but it sure tasted especially good after (1) the LONG walk, (2) the heat you had to endure, and (3) not getting caught cutting classes.

What does this have to do with Kim Po?  I heard that the owners of Kim Po and Le Ching used to be the same.  Then they fought and this and that, but it’s all gossip, which is about as interesting to every guy in the world as Justin Beiber’s next record.  So before we get completely sidetracked, here are some classic Chinese comfort food.

For some reason my sister has a tendency to order Xiao Long Bao in pretty much every Chinese restaurant.  Let me save you some time and tell you to avoid this dish at Kim Po.  So what’s so bad about it here?  It’s basically a hunk of meat with terrible casing with no juice to it, which is exactly what a xiao long bao is not… or (if you’re looking for more porn references) what an uncircumcised infertile schlong is.

The Spring Roll was eh… Just some fried up roll with some veggies.  Wasn’t bad, but literally nothing to write about.

The Garlic Squid rounds up the terrible dimsum trio.  Just some rubbery crap that should go well with the Xiao Long Bao².

For once, we really should’ve skipped dimsum.

The Beef Wanton Noodle Soup was a little out of place in our meal, but it was all right.  Not great, but a bowl won’t kill you unlike that inedible, MSG-heavy shit over at North Park.

The Black Pepper Pork Chop was actually pretty good.  And I’m not just saying that because I had been eating crap until this point.  The sauce could’ve been a bit spicier, but the pork chop was fried pretty well.  I’d order this again.

Now, the Diced Chicken and Salted Fish Fried Rice was pretty awesome.  My mom takes out one of these babies whenever she can and this is really a meal by itself.  GREAT value for your money at only 100 bucks!  Kim Po maybe have some turrible dimsum, but it’s got some good rice!

And for more than sentimental reasons for me, the Spareribs Rice is a must.  Because the gossip is probably true, the Spareribs Rice is served exactly the same as in Le Ching.  Stainless bowl, steamed rice, (pretty) flavor-less³ pork ribs — it feels familiar, which is always good.

It’s pretty much the same as Le Ching’s.  It is a bit cheaper, but the one thing we didn’t have back then was permission and that really made it nostalgic more than anything else.  Like I said earlier, it’s not the best out there ⁴.  Spareribs Rice should have the tausi flavor with some kick from chili, but sometimes it just needs to taste and feel familiar.

Basically, Kim Po’s dimsum sucks, but the rice meals are pretty good.  And because it’s along Banawe, the price is generally a tad cheaper than in Greenhills or Makati or The Fort.  There’s stiff competition all over, but I think Kim Po can stand a leg against them.

Kim Po Teahouse: Sparerib Rice Galore 2012-04-13

f you attended my old high school , one tradition (for lack of a better term) is really to have walked from the school all the way to Greenhills Shopping Center, when it was still called Virra Mall.  It was about a 2km. walk and the best place to chow then was Le Ching.  More …