Eastern

Eastern comfort

TuanTuan

REVIEW BY YVETTE TAN

TuanTuan Chinese Brasserie is a franchise of a beloved Chinese-Canadian institution that combines Chinese fare with French-inspired ambience. The restaurant’s chef Gordon Mui comes from a family of Hong Kong restaurateurs who emigrated to Canada, and it’s this blending of cultures that is the inspiration behind TuanTuan, which is “to unite” in Cantonese.

The restaurant has become the go-to place for people looking for a good meal. Signature dishes include noodles in a tasty broth, beef curry, and the ever-popular snow buns—barbecued pork or pineapple encased in a sweet pastry with a delightfully crumbly exterior. Order the former for a light mid-afternoon snack and the latter for dessert. You shouldn’t miss it!

For your main course, follow the lead of the regulars and order a Spicy Noodle Combo, which includes a bowl of noodle soup with a halibut-broth base, a side dish (like Wings with Ginger, Deep-fried Spring Rolls, or Breaded Pork Chop), and a choice between tea or coffee (the restaurant uses the Black and White brand of milk, a Hong Kong coffeehouse staple, in their coffee concoctions). The best-selling combination features laksa (spicy cuttlefi sh, fi sh balls, and hofan noodles swimming in a thin but rich, spicy coconut milk broth) and deep-fried fi sh fi llet. If none of the sets catches your fancy, you can always create your own—TuanTuan’s menu offers detailed, foolproof instructions on how to mix and match.

The other offerings on the menu are not to be missed, either. The US Premium Beef Rib Curry is heavy on texture and light in taste. The beef is tender and is smothered in a sauce that incorporates over 20 spices, resulting in a subtly fl avorful dish that does not overwhelm the palate. The Fish Fillet with Pumpkin and Crabstick in Creamy Sauce on Rice—dory fi llets in a sweet pumpkin sauce lying on a bed of rice— is heavily infl uenced by Macau’s history with the Portuguese, and is reminiscent of ChineseCanadian cuisine, as it is featured frequently in Chinese restaurants across Canada.

TuanTuan’s charm and belly-fi lling, soulnourishing food make it the perfect stop for a comforting meal, whether a light snack, quick lunch, or dinner with the family. Dig in!

Pineapple Snow Buns and Crispy Barbecue Snow Buns Malay Laksa Noodle Soup Combo

in a nutshell

TUAN TUAN 3/F SM Mega Fasion Hall, SM Megamall, Julia Vargas Avenue corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City; tel. no. 570-9011

MUST-TRIES Crispy Barbecue Pork Snow Buns (P128), Malay Laksa Noodle Soup Combo (P518), Tom Yung Goong Noodle Soup Combo (P548), Pork Meatball Congee (P148), Fish Fillet with Pumpkin and Crabstick in Creamy Sauce on Rice (P288)

THUMBS UP

Looking for a snack? Stop by for deepfried mantou buns with condensed milk! They’re perfect with the restaurant’s Hong Kong-style coff ee.