Nakapag Binondo food trip na ba ang lahat? If you’re a sucker for dumplings, a hot bowl of authentic noodle soups, and well, Chinese food in general, obviously, then you may want to start planning your next food crawl in Binondo with your best pals and assume your role as true foodie!
Binondo is the first and oldest Chinatown in the World, and it is located in the city of Manila. This place is rich with culture and absolutely palatable foods that will satisfy your Chinese food cravings. In fact, it is one of the best places to visit in the Philippines for locals and tourists alike who want to experience authentic and flavorsome Chinese staple delicacies. You can also discover a lot of great eats in this place that are budget-friendly, which is perfect for people who want to go on a food trip while sticking to a certain budget.
To get you started, here’s a list of must-try places to eat in Binondo:
1. Dong Bei Dumpling
Photo Source: Dong Bei Dumpling
Don’t be fooled by the size of this dumpling restaurant. They may have a small place, but Dong Bei Dumpling is the most popular dumpling house in Binondo. Their best seller kuchay dumplings is what people rave about in this small restaurant because of its clean and rich flavors. To top it off, they’re affordable and freshly made everyday. If you do go on a Binondo food trip, make sure to drop by Dong Bei Dumpling and order their kuchay dumplings.
Location: 642 Yuchengco St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM – Sunday, 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Kuchay dumplings
2. Wai Ying Fastfood
Photo Source: Wai Ying Fastfood
If you’re on a budget and want to satisfy your dimsum cravings, Wai Ying Fastfood is a great choice for that. This place is usually packed with people since the food is both quality and affordable. But don’t let the long line discourage you! They serve fast, so the wait won’t be as long as you think.
You could say that it is not overhyped at all since people really do enjoy coming back to Wai Ying because of their specially flavorful dishes. Aside from the wide variety of dimsum and dumplings, they also serve other dishes that you should try such as their beef mami, congee, roasted duck, lemon chicken, and more.
Location: 810 Benavidez St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Various dimsums and dumplings, roasted duck, beef mami,
3. Shanghai Fried Siopao
Photo Source: @ohnoitshungryjoe on Instagram
You’ll always find foods that are worth trying when you walk the streets of Binondo, particularly in Ongpin. Ongpin street may be narrow and a bit crowded, but it is home to a lot of notable restaurants that serve delectable dishes. One of the great food finds you’ll discover in this street is Shanghai Fried Siopao. It’s easy to miss their stall since it’s small and appears ordinary, BUT then again, it’s Binondo we’re talking about here, so the size of the store doesn’t matter when they’ve got something tasty to offer.
Hence the name, their best seller is fried siopao, which is a good pick-me-up food or snack while you walk the streets of Binondo on your food trip. They sell other Chinese delicacies such as siomai and kikiam, but their fried siopao stands out to many people, both locals in the area and tourists alike, because of the freshly made soft, fluffy, and moist buns filled with juicy meat combined with minced vegetables inside — which is just an explosion of flavors in every bite. Unang kagat, laman lahat! The best part is that they give it to you while it’s still warm.
Location: 828 Ongpin St, Santa Cruz, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Fried siopao
4. Ying Ying Tea House
Photo Source: Ying Ying Tea House
Ying Ying Tea House offers scrumptious and inexpensive food that you will surely love. People rave about their dishes, so you can expect long lines most of the time when you visit this place. But then again, don’t let it stop you from tasting their best seller dimsums, dumplings, noodle soup dishes, rice meals, and more. It’s one of the classics in Binondo that you should definitely aim to eat at on your next food crawl.
Location: 233-235 Yuchengco St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Siomai, hakaw, chicken feet, spareribs tausi
5. Sincerity Cafe & Restaurant
Photo Source: @discovermnl on Instagram
We’ve mostly been talking about dimsum and dumplings since the start of this list. But now let’s go over to another dish: fried chicken. If you love a good oriental chicken, then check out Sincerity Cafe & Restaurant. They are well-known for their best seller dish called Sincerity fried chicken that’s also available in two other flavors: honey and curry. You can take your pick on other bestseller and must-try dishes that they offer such as shrimp omelet, fried oyster cake, Sincerity chami, kiampong, BBQ spareribs, and more.
Location: 519 Quintin Paredes St. Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Sincerity fried chicken
6. Lan Zhou La Mien
Photo Source: Lan Zhou La Mien
Craving for a fresh and warm bowl of noodle soup? Lan Zhou La Mien is one of the best places you should head down to because they are famous for their hand-pulled noodles and they serve a wide array of lamien noodles that you can choose from on your visit there. Oh and they have big servings at just an affordable price!
Location: 818 Benavidez St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Beef lamien, spareribs lamien, steamed dumplings
7. Tasty Dumplings
Photo Source: ForkSpoonManila
Another place at Binondo that will give you yummy dishes at a reasonable price is Tasty Dumplings. It’s a small and narrow restaurant with two floors, yet they offer big servings. In fact they’re well-known for their big, juicy, and crunchy pork chop. This is then complemented with steamed rice topped with toasted garlic and stir fried veggies on the side. Other well-known dishes of theirs that you should try are: fried kuchay dumplings, spareribs rice, and other rice meal dishes.
Location: Wellington Building, Norberto Ty St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Every from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out
Famous dishes to try: Pork chop rice, fried kuchay dumplings
8. Cafe Mezzanine
Photo Source: Wanderista PH
Cafe Mezzanine is the ideal place for some chill and casual hangout with your friends or family when you visit Binondo. They serve traditional Chinese food that you can enjoy. It’s an absolute must that you at least try their xiao long bao and kiampong when you stop by this place.
Location: 650 Ongpin St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 8:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Xiao long bao, kiampong, lava pao
9. New Po Heng Lumpia House
Photo Source: New Po Heng Lumpia House
Located in the narrow street of Carvajal in Binondo, New Po Heng Lumpia House is a small canteen that sells authentic Chinese style fresh lumpia. Despite the difficulty of locating this food stall, people still try to go here just to order their popular dish which is the fresh lumpia. Packed with chopped and minced vegetables and other ingredients thoroughly covered with a lumpia wrapper topped with sweet garlic sauce, it’s just a delight to your taste buds. If you fancy a ‘koboy’ type of food trip, this place would be perfect for that since it’s an al fresco canteen so you’ll really have to eat outside with all the traffic noise.
Location: 621, 1006 Carvajal St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM – Closed on Sundays
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, drive-through
Famous dishes to try: Fresh lumpia, kiampong, pork maki
10. The Great Buddha Cafe
Photo Source: The Great Buddha Cafe
If you loved the dishes served in Cafe Mezzanine, then you may want to try The Great Buddha Cafe. It’s a cozy Chinese restaurant that’s located on the second floor of Eng Bee Tin’s flagship store in Ongpin, Binondo. They are well known for their beef tendon claypot rice as well as their dimsum, dumplings, and many more dishes.
Location: 2F UBE Tower, 628 Ongpin St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Beef tendon claypot rice
11. Chuan Kee Chinese Fastfood
Photo Source: Chuan Kee Chinese Fastfood
Dubbed as the oldest fastfood in Chinatown, Chuan Kee Chinese Fastfood serves traditional Chinese food but with a twist — turo turo style. They have various dishes prepared, placed, and lined up for people to see, and you just basically have to point out what you want to order. They also have a wide list of other dishes to try in their menu which includes: various dimsums such as hakaw, pork siomai, and xiao long bao, rice toppings such as beef tendon. Some of their famous dishes include kiampong and lechon kawali, so you may want to grab one of those.
When eating at Chuan Kee, you’ll be surrounded by more options of places to eat at because on the second floor of its building sits Cafe Mezzanine and beside it is the popular hopia shop, Eng Bee Tin. You’ll be targeting three places all at once!
Location: 650 Ongpin St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM – Sunday, 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Kiampong, maki, lechon kawali
12. Masuki
Photo Source: Lucky Chinatown
Masuki is a well-known place in Binondo that serves rich and flavorful mami that’s simply comforting and satisfying. They are pretty much like Ma Mon Luk because people also come for their mami and siopao as a fave combo.
Location: 931 Benavidez St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Beef mami, asado mami, chicken mami, siopao
13. Quik Snack
Photo Source: Quik Snack
Quik Snack is another small stall or joint in Binondo, located in Carvajal street that you’ll have to check out. It has been around since 1967, and is still standing strong today, serving people with their delicious classic Chinese comfort food. Some of their popular dishes include: Kuchay Ah (a small meat pie that’s filled with ground pork and minced chives) and fresh lumpia. They’re the perfect go-to food if you’re looking for some quick bites on your food trip.
Location: Carvajal St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 AM – 9:00 PM – Closed on Sundays
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery, pick-up
Famous dishes to try: Kuchay Ah, fresh lumpia
14. Awi’s Cafe and Restaurant
Photo Source: Awi’s Cafe and Restaurant
Awi’s Cafe and Restaurant may be small, but they serve incredibly delectable Chinese dishes in big servings at reasonable prices. When you visit Awi’s, do try their special chicken, various dimsum choices, chami, and salt and pepper squid. Definitely worth it for big eaters and Chinese food lovers!
Location: 520 E.T, Yuchengco St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM – Closed on Sundays
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Awi’s special chicken, salt and pepper squid, chami
15. LGA Fastfood (Estero Fastfood) – Ongpin
Photo Source: LGA Fastfood
LGA Fastfood or otherwise known as Estero Fastfood to some of its regular customers is a canteen style food establishment located in the heart of Ongpin, beside the estero or canal (thus its name). It doesn’t have the most appealing environment to eat at and it can get a bit crowded since a lot of people come here, but you can find good food here at a budget-friendly price. Some of the must-try dishes are: pancit (stir fried noodles), lechon kawali, and lemon chicken. If you want to go kind of ‘exotic’ and be extra with your food choices, you may also want to have some of their famous crispy fried frog legs.
Location: Ongpin St, Binondo, Manila
Opening hours: Everyday from 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Available for: Dine-in, take-out, delivery
Famous dishes to try: Crispy fried frog legs, lechon kawali, pancit
There’s no denying that Binondo is one of the best places in the Philippines to spend a day for a good food trip experience. No matter what your budget is, you’ll definitely find a place to eat at Binondo that’s not only going to fill your bellies, but also create a burst of flavors down your palate. And of course, there’s no better way to carry out this experience than to do it with your co-foodies! So tara, food trip?
