Jing Ting is the new Chinese dining outlet in City of Dreams. The casual restaurant serves Northern Chinese cuisine, a bit lesser know in the Philippines compared to the globally popular Cantonese cuisine. Jing Ting’s menu focuses on hand tossed noodles and jiao zhi (dumplings) and dishes with spices popular in the region but veers away from the super spicy dishes.
Chef Yang Chen Fei or Chef Allan is in charge of the kitchen at Jing Ting, bringing with him 15 years of experience. You can catch him pulling noodles at the big open kitchen and be amazed at his superior speed and precision.
Crispy Five Spices Eggplant (P198). A toothsome started of deep fried bite sized eggplants tossed in five spices with a surprising topping of pork floss. It’s easy to finish half a plate of this one as you get piece after piece without even realizing it.
We were able to try 2 dumpling dishes, Beijing Pork ” Jiao Zi” (P378/ 8 pcs, P1260/30 pcs) and the Poached Pork and Kimchi “Jiao Zi” (P378/ 8 pcs, P1260/30 pcs). Jing Ting’s dumpling are good value because they are easily 50% bigger than usual and filled with meat with no hint of extenders whatsoever.
The pork dumpling is very good with lots of juices still inside when you bite, wrapper is not overly thick but has the nice chewiness “QQ” that we enjoy. Be sure to dip it in the sauce before eating to add a little spiciness.
I liked the pork and kimchi as it adds a nice wrinkle in the usual dumpling flavor profile. The kimchi is not overly spicy but also brings a bit of sourness, no need for any sauce to enjoy this one.
Poached Hand Pulled Noodles with Mushroom and Pork (P298). If you like noodles without sauce then choose one from the poached selections, dry noodles topped with pork and mushroom and vegetables. This bowl is spicier but not overly so, just have to make sure to mix it thoroughly before eating. The noodle thickness are just right and the texture is very “qq” chewy.
Hand Pulled Noddle in Clear Chicken Soup (P368). This noodle dish is simpler, clear and light broth with their hand pulled noodles plus a few pieces of chicken and vegetables.
Toasted Pork Pastry with Sesame and Peanuts (P298). A very interesting dish made up of a thin toasted bun, similar to man tao, topped with sesame seeds. The filling is a non spicy, savory minced pork plus lettuce leaf and then whole peanuts. This was surprisingly good, strong flavors with lots of nice, fun textures like the crisp pastry and the crunch of the sesame seeds and peanuts.
“Genghis Khan” Roasted Prime Short Ribs (P1,380). With a dish name like that, you know it will arrive with some pomp. Looks wise, it is impressive, a whole bone in short rib with beautiful charring and visible spices. I found the meat too dry, cooked past optimal but flavor wise it was good.
“Xinjiang Style” Spicy Lamb Skewers with Cumin Spices (P768). These lamb skewers might be equally impressive, hung up with drippings falling into the extra cumin spices. These a little heat on the lamb as is but you can add more by dipping it in the dripping filled container. Flavorful and tender meat that would go well with a bowl of rice or some hand pulled noodles.
Chilled Sweetened Eight Treasure with Shaved Ice (P178). A cold and sweet ending made up of 8 ingredients with coconut milk. It’s mix of ingredients surprisingly included pomelo and mango.
Steamed Molten Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun (P288). Jing Ting’s version looks similar to the one from China Blue but I felt this one was a notch better. The bun is very soft while the salted egg custard had more intense flavor and runnier so be careful not to burn your tongue.
Jing Ting is a good addition to the City of Dreams roster of restaurants. It serves an introductory taste of Northern Chinese cuisine with a number of good choices for single or group diners plus it is open until late. If you want to delve more into Northern Chinese cuisine, explore Makati with it’s proliferation of restaurants serving the spicier side of things like Chuanxiang in A venue.
Jing Ting
U/G Level City of Dreams ManilaAseana Ave. cor. Roxas Blvd.
Entertainment City, Paranaque, Philippines
Contact No. (632) 800-8080
Operating Hours: 10am – 4am
Facebook Page: City of Dreams Manila
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