By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter
TUNG LOK SEAFOOD, a Singaporean import, opened its third branch (actually its fourth; we’ll explain in a bit) at the Greenhills Mall in August, but they had a grand opening with San Juan’s mayor Francis Zamora on Oct. 25. It’s our second time to try it out at a Tung Lok (we were also present at the S Maison opening last year, but dare we say they’ve gotten even better?
DINING ON 17 DISHESThe Greenhills opening left us stuffed: 17 dishes across four courses. Some people at our table had announced quitting some time before the rice, but we still caught them nibbling. The meal opened with cured cherry tomatoes, fruitier and juicier than if it were fresh (which meant it wasn’t much to our liking; our healthier companions polished it off). They did set aside their diets for the Pork Bakkwa with salad, thin strips of pork barbecue hung over a rack, with dry ice creating a fog, concealing the salad. The Crispy Fish Skin, flavored with salted egg powder was such a hit that they had to replenish our bowl (and it was promptly finished, too).
The Dimsum selections were those found in many other Chinese restaurants: Pork Siu Mai, Chicken Feet, Steamed Pork Spareribs — just with more depth of flavor, we suppose (but then, the luxurious surroundings may have contributed to that bit of praise; the gilding on the plates was so bright they sometimes gave a glare). We do have a bit of unreserved praise for the har gow (known as hakaw in these shores): it had a delicate taste matched by its delicate appearance, the rosiness of the shrimp just peeking from the translucent skin, strong enough to hold the whole thing together, a testament to the kitchen’s talents.
We also give praise to the Fish Collagen Soup: it had a sweetish opaque broth, with a silky and delicate mouthfeel (despite the angry-red grouper’s skin). It proved to be a nice relaxing break from all the flavors — just as well because we were served a spicy Laksa noodle next. The coconut-based broth, with prawns floating in it, was very fragrant, but comparatively mild in its taste compared to its scent. No matter: not every meeting with spicy food has to be a bout.
The heavyweights came next: their hero products, crabs.
According to Mango Tree Philippines President and CEO Eric Teng, who brought the restaurant here back in 2023, the Singapore mother company’s crabs are always on top 10 lists for Singapore’s crab offerings (it being a famous dish).
Gloves are available upon request, the better to crack open the stubborn crustaceans. The Salted Egg Crabs were terribly indulgent; very fatty by themselves, with the addition of the salted egg paste and all that oil — they’re delicious, but, for your doctor’s sake, eat them sparingly (we did not). Its sibling, a Black Pepper Crab, was more balanced and elegant, with the crabs presented by themselves, just slathered with a sweet-spicy dark sauce.
While the Three Cup Chicken (chicken braised in rice wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil, and other nice things) was mostly ignored by our companions at the table (except by myself), and so was the Sauteed Spinach with Three Kinds of Egg (as is, salted, and century). Their loss: while they do lack the zing and pizazz from the crabs, they provided a nice interlude, and the spinach was especially relaxing.
We thought the meal had calmed down by then — as per Chinese etiquette, rice is to be served last, just to make sure the guests were full. We were wrong: the rice dish was Glutinous Rice with stuffed crab steamed over it. Impressive, definitely, but after the several flavors of the evening, we stuck to plain rice (but not before pouncing on a shell or two, as well as the flavorful rice itself).
Dessert was relatively tame with Honeycomb Cake, a cake flavored with molasses that just so happened to be shaped like honeycomb (it was like a more delicate brown puto).
FOR THE FAMILYAs mentioned above, this is Tung Lok Seafood’s third/fourth branch. Their first branch in the Philippines, which opened in 2022, was Tung Lok Signatures in City of Dreams. “More high-end stuff,” Mr. Teng told BusinessWorld, describing that restaurant. Tung Lok Signatures was later converted into a seafood restaurant — “We wanted more family-oriented (fare), so we chose to go with (Tung Lok) Seafood,” said Mr. Teng, but later it was closed in favor of this Greenhills restaurant.
Other Tung Lok Seafood branches are in S Maison and Gateway 2.
“We always go into a market not really thinking that it’s going to be a big success right away. We want to wait for the customers to find familiarity with us first,” he said about opening four restaurants in two years. “It’s picking up steam; it’s picking up traction.”
In Singapore, Tung Lok was founded by Andrew Tijoe in 1984. Mr. Tijoe is a scion of the Tijoe family behind Charming Garden. Tung Lok means “happy together” in Cantonese. The restaurant has 40 branches all over Asia, in Indonesia, China, Japan, and Vietnam, and of course, its home country, Singapore.
“We wanted to present a version of Chinese cuisine that is not commonly found, which is Singaporean style,” said Mr. Teng. The seafood is locally sourced but executed a la Singapore. “We’re lucky that we are in one of the seafood capitals of the world. We have the best, freshest crabs, that we can get live,” he said.
“We try not to change,” he said when asked if anything is altered for Filipino tastes. “The goal is always to stay true to the DNA. We don’t want to think that it needs changing. That’s the whole point of getting a franchise.”
Mr. Teng’s other ventures include the local franchises of Mango Tree, Mango Tree Cafe, Sen-ryo, and Genki Sushi. Each restaurant he brings is significant to a member of the Teng family — his own is their Italian brand, Rossini: “I like pizza,” he says. “My mom is from Thailand,” he said about bringing Mango Tree here. “I love Thai food. Thai food to me isn’t really Thai food — it’s food.”
“As for the sushi, my kids love sushi, and we were approached by Genki Sushi. And we really like them, we like working with them,” he said about the Genki sushi brand.
As for Tung Lok: “When I’m in Singapore, I eat in Tung Lok. When I’m with friends there, I tend to invite them to Tung Lok,” he says. On a personal note, “My mom likes Thai food, but my dad likes Chinese food… this is for my dad.”
NEW CONCEPTSIn about a month, Mr. Teng is going to open Fatima, a Filipino halal (food in agreement with Muslim methods of preparing food) restaurant in the Promenade of the Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan.
“There are 12 million Muslims in the country — 10% of our population. [Yet] you can hardly find a halal restaurant,” he said. He also talked about the dilemma of introducing foreign Muslim friends to Filipino food like adobo and sinigang — which are decidedly not halal (the vinegar-braised stew and the soured soup dish are usually executed with pork). “We wanted a halal restaurant where I can offer them sinigang or adobo, but in a halal version.”
Mr. Teng is also the current president of Resto PH, the association of Restaurant Owners of the Philippines. “I think it’s my responsibility to see where the gaps are, in terms of where we have underserved consumers.”
Tung Lok Seafood is located at the Ground Level, Greenhills Mall at the Greenhills Shopping Center, Ortigas Ave., San Juan City.