Exploring the world's oldest Chinatown: Binondo Food Tour Tips and Advice

Published on 10 March 2024 at 09:50

TikTok, which I don’t watch, has made Binondo, the world’s oldest Chinatown, in Manila famous.  Binondo is famous for the viral food tour.  When researching for our trip to Manila, I came across Binondo on YouTube and it looked like somewhere that I wanted to go.  Narrow streets towered by massive skyscrapers with red lanterns and spaghetti wire running between the tightly packed streets looked like somewhere interesting to stroll around while enjoying Chinese food.  So after we spent half of our sun blasted day exploring Intramuros we were off to Binondo.

It was the late afternoon, we were hot and tired.  We paid 100 PHP to park in front of the church and headed into the narrow streets.  There was a parade while we were there, and it was probably even more busy than usual.  Our first stop was to try the famous Ube Siopao in Eng Bee Tin.  We were hot and tired and it didn’t lift our spirits to see the massive lineup waiting for the milk tee and Siopao.  We had our baby with us and my fiancé was tired so we decided to head into The Great Buddha Café, after waiting a few minutes for a spot, Gerlie got a table.  She was content with ordering some food in the air conditioning, so we took off to see what kind of food we could get without waiting forever in line. 

There was the Ati-Atihan festival, so Binondo was busier than usual.  But still, the lineups were massive and because of the famous viral videos, you will always have to wait in line.  I’d suggest going early and don’t mix Binondo with a day of exploring somewhere tiring like Intramuros first; our energy levels were zapped but we were still determined to try some of the food.

After walking the streets and contemplating soldiering some lineups like the oldest fast-food restaurant in Binondo, Chaun Kee…. I didn’t know you had to lineup for one hour plus to get “fast food”; we decided to be smart and efficient.  We first stopped and got some Dragon Ice cream, ice cream on a popsicle stick shaped as a dragon, from an ice cream stand in the street, to cool off and some sugar coated strawberry skewers.   We then got some roasted macadamias from another street vendor.  Our final stop for quick street food/snacks was from an authentic Chinese grocery store where we picked up some famous Hopia. Hopia was introduced to Filipinos by Chinese immigrants in the early 1900’s and is a filled pastry.  The Hopia, ice cream and strawberries were good and we saved a lot of time instead of waiting in long line ups.  But we still had to try some of the more famous food in Binondo.

After walking around a bit, the line was finally starting to diminish at Lord Stow’s Bakery which is famous for the fresh egg tarts.  The trick is to wait until they are sold out of the egg tarts, this is when the lineup will simmer down.  Then go in, wait in a small lineup inside the store while they are baking more of the delicious tarts.  We still waited over half an hour, but that was nothing compared to the lineup earlier and to the lineups at some of the other places.  I wasn’t keen on trying egg tarts, but after I had my first freshly baked one, I understood the hype, they were delicious.

We then headed back to The Great Buddha Café, a few of us waited in line outside at Egg Bee Tin while the rest of our group headed into the AC at the Great Buddha Café and brought some Hopia, egg tarts and macadamias back to Gerlie.  The line was still big, but trying the Ube Siopao was a must.  Unlike normal Siopao, at Eng Bee Tin, the Siopao have an Ube (purple yam) bun surrounding the delicious fillings.  I waited about 45 minutes and picked up a bunch of Siopao.  I then joined the group inside The Great Buddha.  The Siopao were phenomenal… the best I’ve ever had.  Unfortunately, they were sold out of the famous lava Siopao which is more of a desert and filled with chocolate.   We got Bola Bola (sausage and egg)  and Asado (pork).  We then decided to order a few more dishes inside.  We had fried rice, siomai, sesame balls, wonton soup and lemon chicken.  The lemon chicken was the best I have ever had and everything else was delicious too.  After our appetizers/snacks in the streets, it was a good meal to top off a long and tiring day.

If you are in Manila, you should definitely head to the worlds oldest Chinatown, Binondo.  But be smart about it.  Go early and don’t pair it with another tiring activity.  And if you want to save some time, pick your battles, and only choose a few of the famous spots to wait in line.  You can’t skip the Ube Siopao from Egg Bee Tin, so devote some time to waiting in line there, then pick one or two other famous places and that’s it.  We really enjoyed the egg tarts and the lineup wasn’t horrendous.  You should then stop at some of the shops or food trucks with small lineups to get some unique snacks you’re not used to eating back home.  Finally go and eat lunch/dinner in The Great Buddha Café.  You will still be in Binondo but inside a restaurant with good service, AC and excellent food.

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