Find Your Favorite Asian Cuisines In One Idyllic Location In McKinley West

Check out Manila’s dining landscape today and you’ll find a preponderance of Asian restaurants, from Korean samgyeopsal and Japanese ramen, to Chinese dim sum and Taiwanese milk tea. There’s something about Asia’s bold, umami-intense, complex flavors that Filipinos have fallen in love with. And while the metro seems to offer every Asian cuisine you can imagine, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for these concepts to pop up in your neighborhood.

Lifestyle malls pioneer Megaworld Lifestyle Malls recently opened Manila’s first AsiaTown, specifically designed to showcase the rich culture and flavors of Asia. Located in McKinley West, AsiaTown features a diverse range of Asian restaurants in an ambient park-like setting, which can also hold outdoor performances, activities, and art installations. 

Rong Hua Bak Kut Teh 

Originating in Singapore, this first-in-the-Philippines branch specializes in traditional Teochew dishes from Malaysia and Singapore, especially its signature Bak Kut Teh, a soup of pork rib flavored with a complex mix of herbs and spices. 

With roots going back to the 1920s, Rong Hua Bak Kut Teh also serves other traditional dishes like Premium Loin Rib Soup, Pork Tenderloin Soup, Pig’s Tail Soup, plus braised delicacies, vegetables, and specialties like Signature Braised Pig's Trotters (Te Kah), Honey Baked Char Shao, Spinach with Top Shell Abalone, and Oyster Sauce Vegetables (Chye Xin)

Black Sugar 

Like in much of Asia, the Philippines loves its milk tea. Coming from Taiwan, Black Sugar is setting shop in Manila for the first time, boasting drinks made with tea leaves freshly brewed daily, plus high-quality sugar cane in place of artificial fructose sweeteners. 

The drinks menu is quite vast, starting with its bestselling Black Sugar Healthy Grain with ground peanuts, walnuts, and black sesame; plus other concoctions like Black Tea Macchiato, Blue Sky Bubble Soda, Black Frost Charcoal Cream, Black Sugar Choco Dirty Milk, and Dirty Mango Macchiato. Black Sugar also carries snacks and rice meals like the Signature Chicken Pie, Egg Waffles, Taiwanese Chicken Rice, Fish Tofu, and Chicken Pops.

Chao Tian Men

Measuring 700 square meters, it’s the largest Chinese food hall of its kind, boasting China’s best regional cuisines all under one roof. The restaurant also features VIP rooms for private meetings and gatherings.

Kisoya

Founded in South Korea in 1988, this Japanese-Korean hybrid features both traditional Japanese and Korean dishes. 

The restaurant is best known for its ramen, udon, and soba noodles made in house using the highest and freshest quality ingredients. Kisoya also makes its own panko bread crumbs from fresh bread with the help of its own bread crusher machine

Salu

AsiaTown won’t be complete without a signature Filipino restaurant. Salu offers familiar Filipino dishes, but taken to another level with unique offerings from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. 

AsiaTown also features branches of well-known Asian restaurants like Samgyeopmasarap for Korean barbecue and Banh Mi Kitchen for Vietnamese specialties. In the pipeline is a Viet-Thai eatery, plus street food concepts to line the middle of the park. 

For those who want to visit but aren’t necessarily hankering for Asian food, AsiaTown has several spots offering Western fare. Madrone serves Mediterranean kebabs and local beers in a laid back outdoor setting, where diners can “make their own menu,” choosing a carb (pita, rice or fries), protein (falafel, beef or chicken), salad, and dip. 

And for specialty coffee, there’s Malongo Atelier Barista as well as the ubiquitous Starbucks, among other establishments.

AsiaTown is situated along Le Grand Avenue between West Campus Buildings, in the business district of upscale McKinley West in Taguig City, which is home to expat communities, multinational corporations and BPOs, international schools, and embassies. 

For more information, visit www.megaworld-lifestylemalls.com or like and follow McKinley Hill on Facebook.