Crystal Jade

During the stay in F1 Hotel last Holy Week, Hubby and I were on a hunt for a restaurant during dinner.  We passed by one of the newest restaurants among the Bonifacio High Street Central block, Crystal Jade.  For those of you who are not familiar with Crystal Jade, it is a Singapore-based restaurant which specializes in Chinese dishes, also famous for their xiao long bao.  When the thought of xiao long bao entered my mind, the growling in my tummy began, so I said to Hubby, why not?  Although we weren't very much impressed by their Greenhills branch, we were willing to give this one a try.  Hey, maybe the chefs are better here!

Already seated at the table, Hubby and I were given the menus.  With the xiao long bao in my mind, naturally, I looked for a page with the xiao long baos.  It took me a whole menu scan twice before I realized that they didn't have it.  I still refused to admit it, so I asked one of the servers if they have the dish to which she replied "No, we don't serve xiao long bao here.  It's a more formal dining set-up here so the xiao long baos are only available in the Greenhills branch".  WHAT.  Impossible.  How can a Crystal Jade not have their signature dish?!  It's like Burger King without burgers.  Jollibee without Chickenjoy.  Mcdonald's without fries.  You get my drift.  It took all my self control for me not to get up and leave.  I just wanted the xiao long bao and there's none.  But we were already seated.  And it was getting late.  So we just decided on a few dishes and thought of eating somewhere else after that.  Here's what we had:

Deep Fried Beancurd with Salt & Pepper

BBQ Combination (3 varieties)

Sauteed Egg White with Fish Meat & Conpoy

And the verdict?  Everything we ordered were pretty delicious.  Except the duck in the BBQ combination.  It was tough and dry.  But the biggest shocker was when the bill was delivered to us.  Php 1500++ for 3 dishes?!  Don't let the pictures fool you, these dishes were on the small side.  And there was just 6 small pieces for each of the 3 BBQ combination.  We counted.  So I don't think it warrants the price tag.

Overall, I'd give Crystal Jade a 4 out of 5 stars.  The price?  A negative 1.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not being cheap here.  Eaten much things that costs way more but I just think that the food we ate plainly isn't value for money.  I could think of a hundred more restaurants where my Php 1500 will be worth it.   

Crystal Jade is at Bonifacio High Street Central, 30th corner 7th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.