I heard of this Chinese restaurant from my future brother in law – he said that they also serve Xiao Long Bao. So yesterday – after doing some baby shopping, my friend Selene suggested we go to Shi Lin at the Podium for an early dinner.
I honestly did not know where it was – its has been a while since I was at the Podium, so I was wondering where it was. The restaurant was located on the same floor as Toy Kingdom. When you first see it – you’ll notice that the entrance is quite narrow and that there’s a show window where the cooks are making the Xiao Long Baos manually. This reminded me of Din Tai Fung, one of my favorite restaurants abroad. I was skeptical, I thought – I’m sure the skin of the Xiao Long Bao will be thick, and I said to myself ‘No restaurant can copy the thin skin of DTF!’
So when we sat down – I immediately ordered the Xiao Long Bao – I was excited to see and taste this restarant’s version of the XLB. The menu looked familiar too – the red color, the design of the logo, even the fare – it was so DTF! When the XLB arrived in bamboo steamers – I was quite excited, and then my chopstick caught one – and it didn’t rip – I said to myself ‘PLUS points for Shi Lin!’ and when I bit into the XLB – I was already impressed. The skin of the XLB was just perfect! It was thin enough to hold in the juices and not break easily. I thought to myself – ‘This XLB – coming from a copycat (remember, this is my opinion!) – was very well made!!‘ I mean, look at Suzhou’s, Crystal Jade and Lugang’s – the skin is still thicker than Din Tai Fung’s! 
And since it was a local copycat restaurant, I was more impressed! Think about it – Crystal Jade couldn’t do it – Lugang too! But Shi Lin was able to somehow give us the thinner skinned Xiao Long Bao! Shi Lin’s Xiao Long Bao – has got to be THE BEST
I also remembered how good Din Tai Fung’s Noodles with Peanut sauce was so we decided to order Shi Lin’s version with a bit more spice. The dish in general tasted great, my only complaint was that the noodles were not as fine as I was hoping them to be – they were actually unevenly shaped, but nevertheless – I enjoyed eating them whilst sweating out the spicy-ness! I also ordered take-out for my mom to try! And she agrees that its really good!
The Beef Noodle was also good – the soup was very flavorful – and the nice thing was that when I asked for extra soup twice – they didn’t charge me for them!
As for the Drunken Chicken that we ordered – it was served cold (as it usually is) this was the only complaint of my friend Selene – but my Panget liked it and was used to eating this dish, cold! I didn’t try it because I have this thing of not eating chicken that is steamed or with liquid-y sauce, but there are exceptions! Haha! Yes, I am that maarte when it comes to chicken.
For dessert it was Selene’s request that we order the Taro Dumplings. This friend of mine LOVES taro so much – and true enough – they also tasted yummy. The Taro dumplings dish was a refreshing end to our early dinner – it was not overpowering but it was tasty – the sweetness was just right.
Overall – I enjoyed my dining experience in Shi Lin. I was really really impressed – I don’t know if I was just hungry or what, but I liked everything that I ate there. I am excited to bring my family there to try it out1 I just hope that the skin will be the same – still thin. Hahaha!!
Kudos to whoever thought of putting up Shi Lin – your Xiao Long Bao has to be THE closest thing to Din Tai Fung that we have here in Manila! No need anymore to buy the expensive franchise anymore! Hahahaha… Galeng!
