What’s on the Menu?: Prosperity toss to welcome Year of the Monkey at Jade Garden

MANILA, Philippines - Jade Garden offers its special Lo Hei Yu Sheng (Fortune Toss), a traditional Chinese dining experience where everyone gathers at the table and tosses all the fresh ingredients in the air to make a wish for growth and fortune.  Colorful ingredients include sliced fresh salmon, jellyfish, carrots, fried taro, radish, sweet peach, lettuce, crispy chips, pickled ginger with a dash of green limes. The Fortune Toss is included in the set menu or a la carte order.  The  special set menu for 12 includes Lo Hei Yu Sheng, roasted suckling pig, fish lips with chicken & dried scallop soup, baked prawns with salt & pepper, steamed lapu-lapu fillet with zucchini & sotanghon, glutinous rice with Chinese sausage, deep-fried stuffed taro with fresh scallops, braised sea cucumber with dried oysters, and for dessert, hot almond puree with dumplings.

Jade Garden is at the second level, Glorietta 2, Ayala Center, Makati City. For information, call 955-1808 or 95-51728.

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Lucky ‘ang pao’ at Resorts World Manila

Resorts World Manila (RWM) The Plaza in Newport Mall is transformed into Manila’s little Chinatown offering Chinese food and goods. Also check out the Lunar New Year mall sale until Feb. 8. There is a Lion and Dragon Dance performance on Feb. 9. Guests have the chance to win special prizes in the “Lucky Ang Pao Promo” at the Newport Mall, the Lucky Fortune Cookie Giveaway at RWM’s signature Cantonese restaurant Passion and Cinema Roulette at the Newport Cinemas.

For information,  visit www.rwmanila.com or call  908-8833.

Traditional lion and dragon dance at Makati Shangri-La

 Makati Shangri-La, Manila presents the traditional lion and dragon dance and a display of firecrackers on Chinese New Year’s Eve today, at 11 p.m. and on Chinese New Year’s Day on Feb. 8 at 12:30 p.m. Nian Gao, also known as Tikoy comes in shapes of prosperity fish, the traditional gold bar and in mango or peanut flavor.  It is available until Feb. 8.  The Shang Palace offers a special set menu for guests today  and Feb. 8: Gold for P2,288+, Platinum for P3,688+, Jade for P4,688+ and Diamond for P6,688+ per head.  Each set offers a variety of appetizers, soup, desserts and a main course. There is a festive dimsum buffet with unlimited dimsum at the Isabela Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. for P1,688+ per person.

For information, call 814-2580 or e-mail rric.slm@shangri-la.com.

Lucky lunch at New World Makati

New World Makati Hotel offers the traditional eye-dotting ceremony at 12:30 p.m., followed by a dragon and lion dance prior Feb. 8. Jasmine restaurant offers a “Lucky Lunch” set at P2,388 per person. The set menu features dishes that symbolize health, wealth and good fortune such as roasted suckling pig, braised baby abalone with sea cucumber and dried oyster, or braised pork knuckle. There is a ceremonial Salmon Yu Sheng salad toss for good luck. Jasmine offers unlimited dimsum for lunch and festive set menus until Feb. 11.  Traditional treats and tokens include the elegantly packaged tikoy delicacies at P1,688 per box of koi-shaped nian gao, and P1,388 for per box of round-shaped nian gao.

For information, call  811-6888, visit manila.newworldhotels.com, follow New World Makati Hotel at www.facebook.com/NewWorldMakatiHotel or on Twitter and Instagram @newworldmakati.

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 12-course lucky meal at Peking Garden

Peking Garden offers a set meal for 12 persons. It includes four kinds of appetizer (choice of shark’s fin soup with seafood & pumpkin or assorted seafood with superior pumpkin soup), whole Peking duck, crispy vegetables & conpoy with puffed sea moss and dried oysters, steamed lapu-lapu in light soy sauce, braised sea whelks and sea cucumber in oyster sauce, deep-fried peppercorn crabs, fried rice with shrimps and pineapple bits, and hot almond puree with glutinous balls for dessert.

Peking Garden is at the fourth level, Greenbelt 5 Phase 2, Ayala Center. Makati City. For information, call 729-0719 or  729-0567.

Three-course set meal at The Peninsula Manila

The Peninsula Manila features the lucky Dragon Dance at The Lobby on Feb. 8 at 11 a.m.  There is also a three-course set menu at the Lobby from Feb. 8 to 10 at P1,600. On Feb. 8, Escolta restaurant offers a Chinese-themed feast of “lucky” dishes for Chinese New Year brunch, 12 noon to 3 p.m.  at P3,688 (with free-flowing Champagne for adults) and P2,588 (adults) and  P1,288 (children under 12). For dinner, from 6:30 to 10 p.m., the Chinese New Year dinner is priced at P2,088 (adults) and P988 (children under 12).

For information, call 887-2888, email diningpmn@peninsula.com or visit our website peninsula.com.

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Free hotel gift certificates at Diamond Hotel

Diamond Hotel Philippines offers Chinese dishes at its lunch and dinner buffet at

Corniche restaurant until Feb. 9 for P2,150 per person. Enjoy traditional Chinese New Year celebratory fare such as Chinese roasted suckling pig, steamed grouper, Peking duck, Chinese prawn salad and assorted dimsum. For dessert, there’s mango pudding, tikoy and other sweet treats. Every P5,000 spent at entitles you to “pick-a-prize” from the Prosperity Tree where you have a chance to win hotel gift certificates for accommodations, dining and more. On Feb. 8, every P5,000 spent at the lunch buffet entitles guests to a 10-minute feng shui consultation with Angel Macalino.  Consultations will only be from 12 noon  to 3 p.m. at the Upper Lobby. Feng Shui charms, luck enhancers and guide books from Frigga Charmed Life by Marites Allen are on sale at the hotel lobby until Feb. 9.

Watch the Lion and Dragon Dance by the Philippine Ling Nam Athletic Federation on Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. 

For information, call 528-3000 ext. 1121.

Jasmine Monkey King Tea at TWG

TWG Tea swings into the Lunar New Year with an exclusive blend, the Jasmine Monkey King Haute Couture Tea. Created specially to celebrate this most important Chinese festival, Jasmine Monkey King Tea is a hand-picked green tea composed of the finest quality buds and young leaves, blended with sensual night-blooming jasmine. This intoxicating infusion yields a mellow and relaxing aroma with a touch of floral sweetness. The latest addition to the Haute Couture Tea Collection is packaged in the signature tin design, the sophisticated jade-hued box with gold embossing.