Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Savory Chicken

Savory Chicken

Specialty: filipino, chinese
Location: Mall Of Asia
Service Charge: None
Price Range: php 135 - 210
Rating: ★★★





In 1950, two Chinese brothers had the brilliant idea to start a panciteria in Quiapo. They eventually developed a "special" recipe for fried chicken and gravy that became popular with the local Chinese community. Savory Chicken then opened its first branch in Escolta serving Filipino and Chinese dishes. After more than 50 years, the third generation of the Ting family has re-launched the Classic Savory Chicken and that is our feature for today.

Yang Chow Fried Rice
Price: php 120
Rating: ★★★

Traditional Chinese fried rice with shrimp, minced pork, eggs and green peas. Yellow rice mixed with bits of meat, carrots and peas. I reckon it goes well with anything. Not spectacular, but not bad either.

Savory Chicken
Rating: ★★★★

We got a half piece of the supposedly famed Savory Chicken. It is served with gravy and a tiny slice of banana. I really don't know how you are going to share that banana piece but in any case, it's the chicken that is the focus here. The chicken is indeed meaty and juicy. Personally, I don't really see anything special about it. The chicken is flavorful by itself, anyway, but the gravy really does add a lot of flavor to it. The taste of the chicken gets tiring and monotonous after a while. Then again, that happens to most fried chicken anywhere else.

Lo Han Chai
Price: php 120
Rating: ★★

A medley of seasonal vegetables. Perfect for vegetarians. As far as I can tell, it has cabbages, baby corn, mushrooms, peas and carrots. There were other veggies that I wasn't able to identify. Looks a lot like chopsuey but much less appetizing.

Conclusion
Their menu list is a bit sparse for something that serves two cuisines. The technique employed here is specialization. Less dishes but supposedly better than others. Casual dining is the style here. Not really for romantic dates nor for large gatherings but more suited towards casual family dinners. On a side note, a rather unfortunate incident happened when we dined here. The receipt was taking forever to make. Customers got rather upset and frustrated at waiting. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that it will never happen again. It's a rather unpleasant wait between giving your money and getting your receipt.

9 comments:

Arnold said...

Ah I had the same sad experience. Waited for almost 20mins to get my receipt and they ended giving me the wrong one! Thats over and above that fact that we were waitlisted for about 30mins. The place was too small for how popular it is. They were moving their desks and chairs as if they were monoblocks. Sayang, since I really like how their chicken tastes.

m9dhatter said...

I see. Would you remember when this was and was it the same branch? We dined there last September 29. This is really unfortunate if it happened recently. That only means they haven't improved.

Arnold said...

quite recent, about a month ago. And yes its the same branch :(

Unknown said...

Savory Escolta (main branch) and Savory at the malls are owned by different people (related but not directly.. maybe 2nd cousin..heck they are also related to Charlemagne Lim the founder of Little Asia). Kinda same with Aristrocrat (Alex III and Reyes BBQ). Service in the malls is really really bad! Waiters eating at the customers table, sleeping, slow service, etc! The taste of the food is not the same as the main branch! If it continues to be like this then the whole Savory brand will be destroyed! Poor main branch... I love the main branch.

m9dhatter said...

Thanks for the clarifications Ms. Natasha. This is well appreciated. As for the main branch, we'll probably try to visit the place sometime in the future so we can see for ourselves and compare.

Federico said...

I live within the Chinatown vicinity and my mom occasionally calls Savory escolta for delivery. One time, my mom got really pissed because the restaurant isn't that far from our place and it's almost 3 hours since my mom called to order (plus my mom called them several times to follow it up) and all they say is that their delivery boy is already out, w/c means our order is already on the way. Finally around 1PM my mom called to cancel her order since it should be for our lunch. (My mom around 10AM) what a poor service! my mom never ordered again, and spread the bad news to her friends!

Federico said...

I live within the Chinatown vicinity and my mom occasionally calls Savory escolta for delivery. One time, my mom got really pissed because the restaurant isn't that far from our place and it's been almost 3 hours since my mom called to order (plus my mom called them several times to follow it up) and all they say is that their delivery boy is already out, w/c means our order is already on the way. Finally around 1PM my mom called to cancel her order since it should be for our lunch. (My mom called around 10AM) what a poor service! my mom never ordered again, and spread the bad news to her friends!

shinyfeet said...

Yes ms. natasha is right, theOriginal Savory Restaurant is different from Classic Savory (the ones in the malls). The only branches of theOriginal Savory is in Escolta, Shaw Blvd Mandaluyong, Pasay, Valenzuela, Banawe and Earnshaw Sampaloc. Very different taste.

Reference: http://savoryrestaurant.multiply.com

bonz said...

guys out there if you want to taste the tenderest and juiciest chicken in the Philippines pick your lucky number to call classic savory branches near to you.

SM NORTH EDZA- 9283002
ALIMALL 9135439
SM STA. MESA- 7141307
GREENHILLS SHOPPING CENTER- 5717058
ROBINSON’S METRO EAST- 5719056
SM SAN LAZARO- 3530591
ROBINSON’S ERMITA- 5671944
SM MANILA 5271958
MOA 9000791
ECOM CENTER ( MOA) 5566481
SM PASIG 7063164
GLORRIETA 4 8193927
LANDMARK 8937511
THE LINK 5568810
CASH AND CARRY 8560044
ALABANG TOWN CENTER 5568257/ 7106299
FESTIVAL MALL 8283613
SM LAS PIÑAS 8720163
SM ROSARIO CAVITE 046-4898744
SM PAMPANGA 045-4550971
SM CLARK 045-4990344
AYALA MALL (MARQUE MALL) 045-3040735
SM LIPA 043-7842576
SM BAGUIO 074-4241991
SM MEGAMALL 4706323
ETON 4706127

SM City Tarlac classic savory branch recently open and now ready to serve you.

CLASSIC SAVORY RESTAURANT ALSO AVAILABLE AT SM CEBU AND ROBINSON’S CYBERGATE.

DELIVERY SERVICE IS FREE OF CHARGE.

> congratulations to classic savory by being recognized by the Department of tourism, unilever phil. and phil. inquirer, as one of the best restaurant in serving PANCIT CANTON… there LONG LIFE PANCIT Canton.. only at classic savory