Last April, my sister Aileen and I dined at Crystal Jade’s fine dining restaurant at the Fort called Dining in. We liked the food and the fast service. I think we were there on a Friday night kaya the place was super full and it was kind of noisy.
I didn’t know that Crystal Jade restaurant in Greenhills has a new owner, Jacinto “Junjun” Ng. His father was our very first Lincoln Towncar customer.
This is Junjun’s first restaurant venture, a far deviation from their real estate, hotel (Oakwood) and banking businesses (AUB).
Jacinto Ng Jr., Ohmybuhay, Kenneth Yu, and Cheryl (the restaurant manager).
Junjun and Kenneth are Xavier classmates. Kenneth handles the brand and marketing promotions of Crystal Jade and their other businesses.
The new Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight opened just two weeks ago.
They sent me an email about two weeks ago. Kenneth specifically mentioned that I bring Mr. Yee along.
Edmund and I were so busy yesterday and our schedules were jampacked. I must have met with at least 50 people yesterday, from morning till 5 pm. The dinner was a push kasi both of us were tired. But when we arrived at the restaurant, we both felt relaxed. The ambiance was maaliwalas. We both enjoyed the food and the company. Edmund’s golf friends were there too.
I liked their hard-bound menu book. Aside from being impressive, it’s customer friendly. Just look at the photos.
I ordered watermelon juice. When Edmund came back from his friend’s table, he ordered watermelon juice too. We’re so compatible (kuno).
Multi colored and multi flavored xiao long bao. P229/5 pcs.
Best eaten while HOT.
Chicken with noodles. P288 full portion/ P188 snack portion
Sobrang nakakabusog yung noodles. Unang tingin ko I thought they were spaghetti noodles.
I am not a fan of hot and sour soup kasi nga ayaw ko maasim. Theirs was not maasim kaya I almost finished one bowl.
I didn’t want to touch this dish but my husband insisted. Try ko lang daw, masarap daw kasi. After several prodding, sige na nga. Aba, masarap nga. The sauce was perfect and the eel was crispy. P288
Sautéed Beancurd with Seafood in Hot Stone Pot P458
This came from the Seafood with tofu hotpot. Next time I go back, I would just order this, okay na ako.
Braised Minced Pork and Mushroom with Cabbage Lion’s Head. P358
This is big actually and could be shared by four people.
Mango with sago and pomelo. P130
The waiter brought one too for Junjun but he didn’t touch it. Kung hindi lang nakakahiya ako na ang umubos kasi ang sarap.
Eto masarap din ito sa breakfast. The dough was very soft. I want to try their siopao asado next time. Judging from the taste of this red bean bun, pihado ko masarap din siopao nila.
Owner Junjun told us the story about his bariatric surgery years ago. He had many interesting tips about maintaining a healthy body.
Edmund and I were so bundat from trying to finish what they served us that I couldn’t relate to his story. I told him he should have told us those “how to lose weight tips” before we started eating.
Crystal Jade founder is Chairman Ip Yiu Tung, 66, who’s based in HK but their headquarters is in Singapore. According to Junjun, Chairman Ip’s focus is on the taste. Food must be very good daw. Syempre naman ano. No wonder they are collecting awards here and there. So far they have received over 300 Best Restaurants awards all over Asia. They now have over 100 outlets all over the Asia Pacific Region and still hopes to open more outlets across the globe. Crystal Jade in San Francisco is opening in 2014.
Cute naman nitong award na ito- Top Ten Mami. Sino kaya ang #1 sa Top Ten Tokwa?
There are perhaps a hundred people that jog regularly every morning around the Greenhills Shopping Complex. Their morning exercise ends with a steaming hot congee at Crystal Jade, which is open for breakfast starting at 7 am.
They used to have a big glassed cooking and prep area that could be viewed from the outside. It was facing the Milky Way halo-halo stall. According to Junjun, they have 4 cooks or chefs imported from China, trained in HK and Singapore. One of them fell in love with one of the waitresses from Milky Way. One night, the husband of the waitress came, nagagalit at inaaway yung Chinese cook nila.
Siguro nagkakatinginan sa bintana yung cook and waitress. Kaya ngayon, we can no longer watch the chefs preparing their famous xiao long bao. They covered na the window. Nadi-distract yung mga cook, baka magka-mali-mali ng luto.
