By Tito Mike
If you’ve always wanted to travel Asia but find the odds stacked up against you daunting, why not take a culinary tour instead?
That’s what we managed to do in a mere 60 minutes (give or take some minutes for those who were tardy, ha ha!) at SM CDO Downtown’s Food Hall last weekend.
With colleagues from our CDO Bloggers and friends from the Content Creators Club, we were hosted by SM CDO PR Manager Carl Maglangit and SM CDO Downtown Food Hall Supervisor Rona Perong, who treated us to a virtual, sit-down culinary feast of 36 unique dishes, beverages and desserts covering six Asian countries and the USA from fifteen of SM CDO Downtown Food Hall’s resident establishments.
“We want to showcase the variety of dishes, desserts and drinks that guests to SM CDO Downtown Food Hall can choose from and enjoy,” said Sir Carl in introducing the concept behind their invite. “You can experience some of the best of Asia and the USA in this place with a wide variety of menus to choose from and enjoy!”
Indeed, we were a bit staggered by the feast from Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, our very own Philippines, and the USA that was spread before us. And mind you, this was just a sampling of what’s available from the SM CDO Downtown Food Hall.
Just to give you an idea: we had Seafood and beef with Laksa soup base from Panda Shabu-Shabu. Originating from Peranakan Chinese cuisine, laksa recipes are commonly served in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
And in a country where K-Pop reigns supreme, of course we had our choice of Crushh Landing Corndogs (Plain, Octo, Original, and Gamja); Bibimbob from Mr. Kimbob Korean BBQ, and from Gugu Manju, a Manju Mega Box of Manju in various flavors ( aka as jiaozi in China where they originated, and gyoza in Japan, commonly called dumplings in English).
Of course, even before Korean cuisine was popularized by the K-Pop global phenomenon, Japan cuisine was already popular in the Philippines and we enjoyed Cheesy Takoyaki from RSB Takoyaki; Teriyaki Double Salmon, Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice with Egg from Pepper Lunch Express; Spicy Tuna Mayo Onigori, Ebi (shrimp), Ika (crab sticks), and Kani tempura from Mr.Tempura Express, and Gyoza, Chicken Feet, Queens Roll, and Japanese siomai from Dimsum.
With the way Hollywood pervades our daily lives, it’s no surprise that SM CDO Food Hall Spicy Wings from Wing It Flavored Wings!, Fries in tera, giga ang mega sizes from Potato Corner, and of course, Chicken Fingers, Chicken Sandwich, Popper Fries, and Smashed Burger Taco from Backyard Barbecue.
Not to forget our very own native cuisine, we also feasted on Kinilaw, Tinola, and Tuna Belly from Tuna Republik; and Lechon, Kaldereta, Kare-Kare, and Balbacua from SALO Lechon Belly Kitchen.
So to wash it all down we had Lemon Cucumber, Lemon Mango, and Lemon Watermelon from Mr. Quencher Fruit Juice Bar; Mango Shake, and Fresh Fruit Salad from Fruitfull by Thirsty; and Strawberry Fave, Unicorn Ice Cream Halo-Halo, Upside down Halo-Halo, and Ube Halo-Halo from Cold Zone (formerly Frozen HaloHalo).
What’s best about a culinary tour of Asia to the SM CDO Downtown Food Hall? You don’t need a passport or visa to enjoy it! Just bring the whole family to the 4th Floor of SM CDO Downtown by elevator, escalator or park your car at the 4th Level Parking and enjoy!
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