Luk Yuen Menu Cash & Carry Makati Branch

When I was still a little kid I remember going to Cash & Carry where my mother would shop for imported goods then after we would eat in a chinese restaurant called Luk Yuen. It was still very different from then. The building was very small. Actually, there were two different buildings facing each other but then the other ended up burning in a fire. Many years later, I come back, and see how things have changed but one thing stayed the same: there was still a Luk Yuen chinese restaurant there.

Actually there's another branch here nearer me as well in Makati Supermarket in Alabang (quite weird for them to call it Makati Supermarket). But of course, the idea of chinese cuisine had been embedded into my childhood through this restaurant. Back then it was very different. I remember you can see the kitchen and watch the people cook the food through a glass window. Now, they seem to have completely overhauled their image and have a totally different vibe.

I wouldn't really know if the recipes and food stayed the same (taste wise) but I noticed that a lot of my childhood favorites were still on the menu of Luk Yuen. This is the restaurant where I learned the concept of congee and the crispy stuff on top and the raw egg being mixed into it and cooking with the heat of the rice. If you are a kid that's already amazing stuff and I do remember being amazed by it.

I remember going to this place after school to eat after groceries or weird enough when I was sick (that's why I guess I've also associated congee with being sick). This time it would be in the Alabang branch. During this period, one thing I remember from their menu that stood out among the rest of the recipes would be the "taro puff". It's basically deep-fried breaded taro with some meat inside. It's really so good. or at least that's how I remember it. I haven't had it for so long. A while ago when I was in the Makati branch I didn't really order that. I just didn't feel like it.

One thing I can recommend would be their dim sum recipes. I'm not even sure if everything in their menu is entirely chinese or could be considered "dim sum" because they sell stuff like rice cakes and stuff like that. I don't know if those can be considered as dim sum but they're all in one section of the menu and I recommend the stuff from that part. One thing in particular would be the steamed shrimp dumplings!

Just look at how wonderfully the dumplings are made. It's like one of those stuff you can only see in TV shows like Master Chef or whatever. Actually, if I remember correctly, the hot girl who won in Master Chef did cook something very similar to this (maybe that's why I decided to have it a while ago). The wrapper is very unique. I don't really know the technical aspects of it but it's really very different from typical dumplings you'll get. It's very moist and slightly chewy. I don't even know how to describe it properly.

Inside, the shrimp is cooked perfectly. With a great texture and crunchiness to it yet preserving the amazing flavor of shrimp. Plus, mix it up with their chili oil and you're surely in for a treat (I'm very particular with the taste of chili oil in restaurants being that it can make or break your meal).

I guess the reason I'm being very truthful and honest about this restaurant (compared to my other HubPages articles that's full of backlinks and keywords) is because this restaurant is very close to my heart. It's not perfect, I can tell you that. There's a lot of better chinese restaurants out there. But maybe that's why people keep on coming back to this one because of the personal history and significance the restaurant has made in people's lives.