8 Treasures Roasting: Worth the Buzz?
8 Treasures Roasting has always been buzzed about as a top purveyor for roasted meats; unfortunately, its Petron Dasmarinas outpost and Powerplant outposts offer limited seating as they mainly cater to the take-away crowd. Fortunately, its Santolan Town Plaza branch brings about much needed dining-in capacity; which was why my family opted to spend our Christmas Day lunch there.
ROAST DUCK (QUARTER – P650)
Unfortunately, the restaurant was overwhelmed with a lack of manpower and a surplus of orders (majority were take-outs) coupled with the fact that its dining area was filled to maximum capacity. As it was our first-time dining there, it made sense to order their platter. Priced at P1888, it already comes with Roast Duck, Soy Chicken, White Chicken, Charsiu, HK Red Sausage, Century Egg and Jellyfish. The platter basically allows you to try out all its main offerings in one go. Unfortunately, it was unavailable so we had to settle to order from its limited ala carte menu for that day.
HK SOY CHICKEN (HALF – P750)
Its Roast Duck was plump and juicy; boasting a nice ratio of skin:fat:meat. It was a delicious plate of Roast Duck; but you can’t say that it stands out from other HK-roasting concepts in the Metro such as HK Little Kitchen. The same goes for its HK Soy Chicken. It’s definitely well-cooked and juicy; yet, its relatively steeper price-tag gives rise to the expectation that one would be served an exceptional plate of chicken. In consideration of this, I’d rather get my chicken fare from Wee Nam Kee or the more affordable Hawker Chan.
FRIED SIOPAO
Since the restaurant’s roasted meat selection was limited, we decided to get a couple of items from its extensive appetizers. The Fried Siopao looked appetizing; but paled desperately in flavor when compared to Mien San Noodle House’s.
HK CURRY FISH BALL (P240)
The HK Curry Fish Ball was promising; mainly due to its use of premium fish balls which were served in a tasty and mildly spiced curry sauce. Unfortunately, we had to request the kitchen to heat it up TWICE as they kept serving the dish cold. Mind you, its coldness felt like the bowl came straight from their refrigerator!
FRIED WANTON (P230) and JELLY FISH (P200)
Its Fried Wanton was a great choice for appetizer; as each piece boasted of plump tasty filling; but it was the Jelly Fish which was the runaway winner. Drizzled in a spicy sour hot sauce (reminiscent to the sauce of Mien San’s Spicy Wanton sauce), the crunchy jelly fish served as a perfect palate cleanser in between bites.
Service that day was heart-breakingly sloppy. I understand that it was a holiday; yet, the restaurant could have undertaken measures to mitigate diner dissatisfaction. Upon entry, they could have managed expectations of the diners by telling them that they were understaffed. Coupled with the influx of delivery orders, wait time will be longer than usual. Yet, no warning was made (I just overheard the situation from the restaurant staff as they grumbled near our table). They could have pushed for advance bookings for all delivery orders; so that they can better forecast the availability of their roasted meats.
On my end, I wouldn’t say no to giving it another try; but I’m definitely not rushing to do so. As I've mentioned earlier, its prices are relatively steeper than most of its counterparts; with offerings that aren't really exceptionally greater than those served by smaller roasted meat shops.
8 Treasures Roasting
GF, Santolan Town Plaza, Little Baguio, Santolan Town Plaza
Date of Visit: December 25, 2019 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua
