Good food, good fortune at City of Dreams

MANILA, Philippines - At the stroke of midnight, you know you’re not just dreaming when you find yourself seated at an elegant table, along with your family, ready to partake of your first meal in the Year of the Fire Monkey. You’re at the Crystal Dragon in City of Dreams Manila that’s gleaming with the most sumptuous and auspicious feast fit for an emperor to celebrate Chinese New Year (and, incidentally, it’s also the first year anniversary of this dream integrated resort).

Crystal Dragon gives us a taste of the cherished Chinese New Year tradition of preparing Yu Sheng by offering its Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang with Fruit Salad. For the Yu Sheng (which literally means raw fish), we’re told that only the freshest raw fish is sliced into the finest strips and tossed in a special sauce consisting of rice vinegar, plum sauce, kumquat paste, sesame oil, etc. Mixed into this scintillating dish, too, are some shredded radish and carrots, pickled ginger, and pomelo. It is then topped with Chinese parsley, red-hot chili, jellyfish, shrimp crackers, crushed peanuts, cinnamon, sesame seeds. Almost 30 ingredients go into your Yu Sheng (you better believe it)! A dash of ritual goes into the Yu Sheng (Prosperity Toss), too. The guests at the table stand and gently toss the salad — you must toss it as high up into the air as you can (I don’t know if I can catch it though) because the higher the toss, the bigger your fortune. While doing so, you shout out loud, “Lo hei, lo hei.” (Scoop it up, scoop it up.)

Indeed, Yu Sheng has earned a special place on the vibrant Chinese New Year table because for the Chinese, fish implies an abundance of wealth and long life. Fish (specifically, a pair of golden fish) is one of the eight Buddhist symbols of good fortune (along with parasol, conch, treasure vase, lotus, infinite knot, victory banner, and wheel).

Share the abundance of the season with family and friends as Crystal Dragon offers its lunch and dinner set menu selections for the whole month of February. Of course, you can dine a la carte, too.

There’s the seven-course Chinese New Year Elegant Menu with Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang with Fruit Salad, braised Eight Sea Treasures and shredded abalone broth; steamed cod with baby cabbage in Supreme Soy, Hong Kong style (truly in cod, we trust); stir-fried prawns with butter, curry leaf and crispy egg threads; wok-fried glutinous rice and wild rice with barbecue pork meat wrapped in lotus leaf  (a wok of art, the sticky rice symbolizes unity, while the rice represents a gathering of people). And to cap the auspicious meal, chillax and have some chilled red bean puree served with coconut milk ice cream  and Double Flavor of the Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter, a traditional Chinese New Year specialty that represents prosperity and fortune.

Then there’s the eight-course Chinese New Year Treasures Menu that’s got the Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang with rock melon salad; double-boiled fish maw and dried scallop with abalone in cordycep flower soup; steamed sea grouper with shredded ginger in homemade soy sauce  (with Crystal Dragon’s assorted fish offerings, we’re certainly getting more than our share of good fortune); oven-roasted fragrant chicken coated with sesame seeds; stewed sea cucumber, roasted pork belly and fish maw with green vegetables; stir-fried egg noodles with seafood, mushroom and shredded cabbage (egg symbolizes fertility, money, wealth and gold, while the long uncut noodles represent long life). After your hearty, lucky meal, have a refreshing — and heartwarming — warm sweetened Eight Treasures Tea with ginseng in honey and Double Flavor of Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter. What could be a sweeter way to start Chinese New Year!

The Chinese New Year Elegant Menu is at P3,690++ per person for a minimum of four to six persons while the Chinese New Year Treasures Menu is priced at P5,690++ per person for a minimum of six to 10 persons. The menus are available daily for lunch and dinner, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 6 to 11 p.m. Tonight, diners will be entertained by an instrumental music ensemble.

Exclusively for Chinese New Year and City of Dreams’ anniversary celebration, Nobu Manila blows hot and cold (literally, that is) for the whole month of February as it presents hot and cold a la carte dinner selections that fill the air with the delightful aroma of good Japanese-Peruvian food: 600-gram whole live bamboo lobster sashimi Nobu Three-Way, served New Style, dry miso, or tiradito (Peruvian raw fish); oh-toro karashi-su-miso with Oscietra Caviar and Pure Gold for the cold dishes; whole live red lapu-lapu two to four ways (good for four to six persons) with a choice of popular sauces (tempura amazu ponzu, truffle wasabi pepper, black bean, and ginger tosazu), abalone truffle sake soy, and 600-gram whole bamboo lobster with truffle butter complete the hot items featured in the promo.

There are more than eight reasons to visit Noodl8 where New Year a la carte specialties take center stage throughout February. There are oodles to choose from: braised pork trotters in brown sauce, pork and cabbage dumpling with black vinegar and chili oil, stir-fried longevity noodles (What’s New Year without noodles?) with slipper lobster; and double-boiled warm sweetened sesame ginger tea with sesame dumpling. Sumptuous feasts shared by families are bound to create lasting memories.

Of course, at City of Dreams, you can also bring home Chinese-themed food items to share with friends (or to guiltlessly indulge yourself with). At Café Society, you can pick up a pack (or two or three or more) of the New Year goodies: Nian Gao Box (tikoy rice cake), XO Sauce, Jade Dragon Tea, Chocolate Pralines Box, Macaron Chinese Box (choice of Red Bean or Jasmine), and Mandarin and Lotus Cake Box Set, which can be bought individually or in those elegantly-designed Chinese hampers.

And there’s so much more in store for the lucky diners. For the whole month of February, guests dining at The Tasting Room, Crystal Dragon, Nobu Manila, Red Ginger, Crystal Lounge, Café Society, Chez Gingy at DreamPlay, Breezes and Wave receive hong baos (it’s the Mandarin term for red envelopes with lucky money inside) with complimentary dining credits for a single-transaction receipt worth a minimum of P4,000. Outlets in the gaming area such as CenterPlay, Noodl8, Rice 9, and members-only lounges Signature Club, Li Ying Lounge, and Li Ying Hin are also included in the promo. Here’s the computation: P4,000 to P7,999 purchase is equivalent to a P500 gift certificate; P8,000 to P14,999 equals a P1,000 credit, and a bill of P15,000 or more entitles diners to a P1,500 hong bao gift certificate.

To complete the festive celebration, a weekend fair will be held today and tomorrow at the promenade of The Shops at the Boulevard on the upper ground level, from 12 noon to 9 p.m. where activities include palm and tarot card reading, calligraphy art, lantern and dragon paper crafts-making. A four-piece music ensemble entertains guests, young and old, at 5 to 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Because City of Dreams is a dreamland for kids, too, there’s the Dragon Warrior Quest on two weekends: Feb. 6 to 8 and Feb. 13 and 14. Kung Fu hip hop performances are set at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. For added luck, the Prosperity God will be passing around hong bao envelopes to lucky visitors.

So, once more with feeling: Gong xi fa cai (Congratulations on your wealth)! Wan shi ru yi (May all your wishes be fulfilled)!

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For restaurant reservations, call 8008080 or email guestservices@cod-manila.com.