Binondo aka the Oldest China Town in the world is located in the heart of Manila City. Albeit the old post-war buildings and 20th century architectures where Manila is known of, it is one of the few places in Metro Manila with a distinguished food crawl scene and Eng Bee Tin is one of the famous store in the area.
Along Ongpin Street just beside Binondo Church is where Eng Bee Tin's flagship store is located. A brand that is mainly known for Chinese delicacies such as hopia, mooncakes, and tikoy. And recently they just launched a Fried Xiao Long Bao and Custard Buchi.
Now take note if you're planning to visit. Bring water, umbrella, pamaypay, and a lot of patience because there will be a very long line and a long waiting time due to its only on a kiosk located outside of the store. Just beside the entrance. We waited around an hour and a half.
The kiosk only has 2 iron pans where they fry the xiao long baos on the spot and each pan can only accommodate 25 pieces of xiao long baos. Each order comes in 5 pieces and customers usually order 3-4 packs. The price? 125.00php for one order.
Verdict. It was indeed fantastic. Crispy bottom and once you take a bite, the soup splurges in your mouth together with the juicy pork meatball. The xiao long bao wrapper is also slightly has a chewy texture because it's a bit thicker than normal and that is a good thing. Slathered with the chili sauce and the soy sauce they poured in it was like heaven. We only bought 2 packs and we regretted buying a few. The fried baos is sort of similar to sheng jian bao I experienced in Taipei, a brother of the xiao long bao made instead with thicker dough and fried from the bottom and topped with sesame seeds. And it actually reminded me of it. We also bought the Custard Buchi, it was great as well, imagine a regular buchi but filled with creamy vanilla custard similar to those lava buns you get in famous places.
As an alternative, they actually also sell the frozen ready-to-cook version. Just go inside their store. Yes, the line for the counter is also long, the brand is really that famous, but at least the place is air-conditioned. The price for the Frozen Xiao Long Baos is 230.00php for 10pcs.
Note: They only sell on Fridays, Saturday, and Sunday.
Note 2: I have checked the other Eng Bee Tin stalls in other malls and if they have a freezer section they likely have the frozen xiao long baos.
Location: Eng Bee Tin Flagship Address: 628 Ongpin Street, Binondo, Manila City
Landmark: beside Binondo Church
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