Binondo Eats: Ang Tunay na Beef House

Another Chinatown post courtesy of my beloved Chinese boyfriend. 

A few weeks back, Gus and I found ourselves in Chinatown, again. This time, I was running an errand for my dad, who wanted to find out the price range of gold rings here in the Philippines (he's in the US).  He requested that we look for it in Chinatown. After going around Binondo, looking for daddy's gold rings, we decided to have lunch before heading home. Since Binondo is like a big pot of delicious, varying delicacies and dishes, we had to spend a few minutes walking around, deciding what and where to eat. We finally decided to eat where Gus' angkong usually eats every Sunday -- Ang Tunay na Beef House.

Ang Tunay na Beef House is like a cleaner, more posh carinderia-style restaurant. It is air-conditioned with very simple tables and chairs. The different dishes they offer are posted on a menu board on the wall behind the food counter. Unfortunately, the prices are not posted.

Most of their dishes can be seen behind this long, stainless steel food counter. Dishes are placed either on plates or in rectangular chafing dishes. Other dishes are made-to-order and are not on display. A serving staff usually comes up to you to take your order once you reach the stainless steel counter. Just tell her which dish you want (and if you're not sure what the dishes are, just point and ask her what it is -- the serving staff are Filipinos.)

The fish fillet caught Gus' attention, while I just wanted to have some hot soup. And maybe try out some vegetable dishes. But since their servings were quite big, we decided to share to avoid ending up with too much food again.

They didn't have plain soup so I ordered their Pork Rib Soup. It was the closest thing to clear soup that I could order without having to eat noodles. I wasn't in the mood to eat noodles that time. I thought P110 was too much for clear soup but when the soup arrived, I quickly changed my mind. P110 was a fair price for this big bowl of rib soup with balls and vegetables. The soup was delicious. I know it looks like your regular free-soup-for-every-P50-meal but the soup was actually very flavorful. I'm sure the pork ribs were boiled for hours since the soup tasted of pure porky goodness. No hint of additives or flavorings, except for the flavor of the chopped spring onions. This actually reminded me of the delicious and unforgettable pork rib soup I had in Singapore a few weeks ago.

Pork Ribs and Meatball Soup

P110

I thought this was chicken at first, but I was with a Chinese food expert. This is Gus' Steamed Fish Fillet. It actually looks like Fish in Tausi but the menu said Steamed Fish Fillet. This one was a bit more expensive at P180, but I guess it was cheaper than most restaurants outside Chinatown since this dish had a hidden bed of soft tofu under all that fish! The fish tasted fresh, no aftertaste whatsoever. The sauce was not to strong, but it wasn't bland either. Just the right mix that complemented the fish very well.

Steamed Fish Fillet

P180

Last but not the least, the polunchay. We wouldn't have a complete meal without vegetables! Ang Tunay na Beef House had several vegetable dishes but I was just attracted to this fresh looking plate of greens. I have a thing for green leafy vegetables, if you're wondering. I like seeing fresh, really green, leafy vegetables. The garlic on top of this dish sealed the deal for me. Who could resist green leafy vegetables with flavorful garlic on top? Not me.

Polonchay

P70

We spent a total of P435 for the whole meal. It sounds a bit too much for three dishes, but you have to see and try it yourself. The servings were big (I wasn't even able to finish my cup of rice because even the serving of the rice was bigger than your usual cup -- it was a bowl), and the taste was just delicious. The dishes didn't taste like a cup of MSG with a side of meat. And since we didn't feel lightheaded after the meal, I'm guessing there wasn't or wasn't much MSG on any of the dishes.

Look at that rice

P20/bowl

Price Range: P110-250/person

4.5 out of 5 for Ang Tunay na Beef House (the attendants weren't too friendly)

Ang Tunay na Beef House
825 Sabino Padilla Street,
Sta. Cruz, Manila
Contact Number: (632) 733 1340,

Contact details courtesy of: http://angtunay.com/menu.html