What began as a long-standing invitation from Chef Danny Khoo became an unexpected birthday lunch at City of Dreams Manila—and a chance to experience another chef’s cooking from the other side of the table.
I thought I was simply going to lunch.
Last Sunday, a few days ahead of my birthday, I finally joined Chef Danny Khoo for lunch at Crystal Dragon in Nüwa. We’ve been bumping into each other at industry events for years, and he had invited me to come and eat at the restaurant more than once. This time, our schedules finally aligned.
I knew we would eat well. What I didn’t know was that he and the City of Dreams Manila team had quietly planned an advance birthday lunch for me.
It was intimate—just four of us around the table: my wife and I, Cathy Blas-Uy, and my nephew Andrew. No crowd, no program. Chef Danny and his team had prepared a special tasting menu for the occasion.
Maybe because I wasn’t expecting it, the gesture touched me. I’ve spent much of my life feeding other people. It felt good, for once, to sit down and be fed.
Familiar, but Far From Ordinary
Crystal Dragon isn’t your everyday Chinese restaurant. But neither is it one of those fashionable places trying too hard to make Chinese food feel new.
The room is elegant, the ingredients premium, the presentation sometimes intricate. But the cooking remains grounded in familiar Cantonese flavors. What sets it apart is the execution.
Chefs notice these things. We notice freshness, seasoning, texture, temperature. We notice the delicacy of a wrapper and the balance of a broth. We know how much repetition it takes before the hands seem to know what to do on their own.
We also recognize when another chef has the confidence not to do too much.
That was what I appreciated about Chef Danny’s cooking. It wasn’t elevated by flair but by finesse—freshness, attention to detail, and mastery of technique.
I’ve been bumping into Chef Danny at industry events for years, but somehow I had never connected him with the winning streak the City of Dreams Manila culinary team has been on lately. Turns out his team has been racking up medals in this year’s cooking competitions, and a few of his own people at Crystal Dragon were among them.
Sitting at his table that afternoon, the connection suddenly made sense. The discipline was right there in the food.
Even the accompaniments deserved attention. A pear pickled in red wine was outstanding, bright and refreshing against the richer dishes. Their XO sauce, made in-house, was superb. I found myself going back to it.
When a kitchen takes the things on the side this seriously, you know someone is paying attention.
Beautiful to Look At, Sublime to Eat
The dim sum made that craftsmanship immediately visible.
I still remember the steamed sea cucumber and shrimp dumpling, meticulously fashioned to look like an actual sea cucumber. Beside it was a goldfish dumpling with shrimp, almost too beautiful to eat.
But neither was simply a visual trick. The wrappers were delicate, the fillings beautifully handled, the textures precise. They were exquisite to look at and sublime to eat.
Flair gets your attention. Finesse makes you remember.
Then came the braised Szechuan hot-and-sour soup with prawn dumpling and flying fish roe.
For me, it was perfection.
The balance of sour and spicy was exactly right. Neither overwhelmed the other. The acidity sharpened the broth; the heat followed naturally. The prawn dumpling and roe added texture without getting in the way of what was, at heart, a deeply comforting bowl of soup.
I could easily have had another serving.
Another favorite was the braised homemade egg beancurd with morel mushroom and baby kale. Amid sea cucumber, crab, seafood, and truffle, something as humble as tofu stood out. Silky and delicate, it reminded me that luxury isn’t always about expensive ingredients. Sometimes it’s about what a skilled cook can bring out of something simple.
Then came the crispy rice with assorted seafood in an aromatic golden pumpkin broth.
The rice arrived crisp and slowly softened as it absorbed the broth. Each spoonful was a little different—crunch giving way to softness, with the sweetness of pumpkin and richness of seafood pulling everything together.
It was comforting and deeply satisfying.
The Respect Between Chefs
Maybe it comes with age, but these days I find myself less impressed by how much a chef can put on a plate and more interested in knowing why everything is there.
There is mastery in making something new. But there is another kind in taking something familiar and doing it exceptionally well.
I respected that in Chef Danny’s cooking. He didn’t have to make Cantonese food unfamiliar to show what he could do. The cooking spoke for itself.
Over the meal, we talked the way chefs do when food isn’t a contest but a conversation. Beyond the fundamentals, there isn’t much right or wrong in cooking. You learn to appreciate another chef’s perspective—the choices he makes, the flavors he prefers, and why he does things a certain way.
That requires some openness. You set aside your own kitchen and your own way of doing things and enter someone else’s flavor world with curiosity.
Most days, I am the one cooking, hosting, checking whether everyone has eaten. This time, I could sit at a small table with people close to me and enjoy another chef’s cooking.
I have spent much of my life trying to make people feel cared for through food. That afternoon, Chef Danny Khoo, the Crystal Dragon team, and City of Dreams Manila extended that same care to me.
I thought I was simply going to lunch.
It turned out to be one I will remember for a long time.
Chef Tatung Sarthou is a cook who talks too much, writes a bit, and occasionally wins awards for both. He’s the man who started Simpol, where he tries to make sense of Filipino cooking—and life—one guisa at a time.
Read more Stories on Simpol.ph
An Ode To Our English Teachers — Who First Believed In Our Writing
I’m Gonna Be A Rocker!!! 33 Years And A Vinyl Later With TEETH
