Chowking Restaurant

Chowking is one of the famous restos back in Manila.  It serves oriental dishes and is well liked by expats here in the UAE.  We frequent this place a lot before, but this is the first time that I got the chance to blog about this resto.

I suck at giving directions for places.  The best that I can do to describe its location is to say that it is behind Crowne Plaza in Hamdan Street.  Better yet, you can check this out for directions.

Anyhoo, I get full easily so I don't usually follow the soup, appetiser, salad, entree, desert sequence.  For me, I go straight to the main course!

Speaking of which, we ordered this tempting fresh lumpia.  However, in reality there's nothing more to this lumpia than just cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage.  This was a major fail for me!  They used to serve better lumpias before.  I wonder whatever happened to that.

Lumpiang sariwa

My friend ordered this beef wanton noodle soup.  There's nothing special about this, it's just so-so for me.

Beef wanton noodles

The very thing that I cannot eat without in Chowking is this - chilli paste and soy sauce.  Kudos to the food attendant who gave this without us even asking for it.

Chili sauce and soy sauce

We also had the bulalo or marrow soup, which was just perfect!  The soup was not salty and it was not bland either.  The  beef was tender and the vegetables were cooked just the way I like - crisp.

Beef bulalo

Of course, this is the staple food in our family - fried chicken, well in this case it's Chowking chicken supreme.  The kids loved it especially the crispiness of the skin.  However, the gravy didn't really impress us at all.

Chowking chicken supreme

Then comes the desert, which my daughter asked me to get for her just   because of the pink and yellow Igloo ice cream on top.  This was okay but again - nothing special.

Halo-halo special

The resto's ambience is okay.  They have a second floor which also serves as their function hall.  I also would like to make a special mention about their washroom.  It's kinda uncomfortable for me having had the women share the same washroom with men especially in this conservative country.  Yes, they provide separate cubicles for men and women, but I find  it rather uneasy for me to come out from the lady's cubicle and see a man in the same room!

They also have several branches around Abu Dhabi such as in Al Wahda Mall and in Mushrif Mall.  Special promotions are also being offered every month.

So if you're in a tight budget and craving for oriental cuisine then give Chowking a try.


Chowking Restaurant
Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi
Telephone number:  (02) 633-4727
Opening hours:  10 AM to 1 AM