Going to Binondo on a Sunday is a very good idea. The streets are almost empty so you can freely roam around at your own pace, take pictures in the middle, and just do your thing without the usual pack of people crowding the place. I missed the usual hustle and bustle of its Chinatown but it was actually good. It was a lazy Sunday after all.

We planned on having the ultimate food trip and start with brunch but failed. We arrived there at past 1PM already and everyone’s damn hungry. Our first stop was at Ying Ying Tea House where we ordered a sumptuous feast of a lunch.

And by sumptuous and feast, I meant this!

But it doesn’t end there. I have to make a separate collage for two of my favorites: Shrimp Hot Salad and Hakaw (shrimp dumplings). I was hoarding them like a pig from the others. Haha! Yes, I am the ultimate takaw hakaw. @_@

The food were all delicious and the price are perfectly acceptable for the taste and the quality of service. Our first set arrived in less than 30 minutes (which was good since we were all starving at that time). There is unlimited house tea and the waiter who served us even gave some tips on what dishes and servings to order. I like it when waiters are honest with their advice. Makes me think that they are not only into the profit that the resto will get but the satisfaction of the customers, too.

Because we were so full, we decided to skip dessert or any kind of munchies and go to 168 instead. 168 is a popular mall in Divisoria just a few blocks from Binondo’s Chinatown. It is a mine of very cheap but amazing items. I will write about it more the next time I visit. 😉

Going back to the food, we headed to Eng Bee Tin after 3 hours of 168 scouring to buy some take-home goodies. There were rows of flavored hopia (filled pastry), mochi, milk teas, and Chinese food items that I grew up with as a kid.

After that, we went to the adjacent restaurant, Tasty Dumplings, for our last hurrah. Their wintermelon iced tea is good, and it only costs 45 PHP. Babes and I shared the tossed noodles with porkchop meal. Babes was crazy about the porkchop but it was just OK for me.

Tossed noodles look just like the usual spaghetti pasta and is served with a pickle-ish garnish and oil-based sauce. It is served separate from the soup but you can opt to combine them later, like what we did here. 🙂

Even though we were only able to visit three stores, the overall foodie experience in Binondo has been superb. I will definitely go back and visit the other dumpling houses and get more wintermelon iced tea. And yes, it will be still be on a Sunday. 😉