During a recent trip to Sta Rosa in Laguna, instead of dining at our favorite Filipino-cuisine restaurant, Kanin Club, we tried out Zong. It is not your usual Chinese restaurant because they serve the dishes with a twist.
We are a family who loves trying out new restos in and out of town. It is usually a hit and miss kind of thing. If it doesn’t satisfy our palates then it’s our first and last at that particular resto, but if it’s the other way around, then we come back to that resto, again and again, until we finally tried all their dishes!
The first group consists of the Yangchow Fried Rice, the Crispy Noodles with Seafood, the Seafood Soup and the Hotpot of Eggplant. Though these dishes come out with passing grades, it wasn’t anything extraordinary. Let me start with the Soup, they could have done with a little less salt and it would have tasted better. The Crispy Noodles with Seafood wasn’t so bad. It has a lot of toppings, fillets of fish, some squids, some mushrooms, some veggies; but the taste was normal. For the Hotpot of Eggplant, my hubby’s version was tastier. Theirs was just eggplant mixed with minced pork. The Fried Rice was ok.
For the 2nd group, these were the dishes that deserved a mention! The Boneless Milkfish which was Steamed in Soy & Garlic was something different. We usually encounter Boneless Milkfish fried so this dish was refreshing. The steamed vegetable roll was also something to love. The veggie was a little hard to chew, but I think it was really cooked that way so it would stay rolled. The Hot Prawn Salad also came out yummy. It didn’t taste like so mayonnaise-y. It was just right to my taste bud.
These 2 dishes make Zong’s a resto to come back to. Let me start with the Chicken in Salted Egg Yolk. This is one of Zong’s bestsellers and one of their signature dishes. It may look like an ordinary fried chicken fillet with Kropeck. But it’s not. The chicken was fried just right, crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside. What made it different was how they mixed salted egg yolk into its breading. It’s not too salty and it leaves something in your mouth. It has texture coming from the salted egg yolk. Their other signature dish is called Singapore Style Prawns. If it’s cooked Singaporean style, it must be very hot. It was but it doesn’t leave that burning sensation in your tongue. The tangy feeling in your mouth is just right. And of course, true for all seafood dishes, the seafood must be fresh. The prawns were really fresh and it wasn’t overcooked. The skin can be peeled off easily. You can enjoy the food without the hassle.
Oh by the way! I tried a dessert, their Mango Sago Cream and I didn’t like it. It was part of their bestsellers, but I think they could improve it still. The mango shake was too slushy and over mixed with cream. I couldn’t taste the mango anymore as it’s all cream that I could taste.
As how I will rate Zong, around 9 out of 10. We were able to try differently-cooked dishes and it didn’t fail us. Our expectations were met. Service was good. And they got free nuts too!
Zong has 4 branches to date: Paseo de Sta Rosa in Laguna, Westgate in Alabang, The Fort in Taguig and Centris Walk in Quezon City.
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