In The Hands Of The Master

CEBU, Philippines - If we speak of Chinese food taste, which restaurant name tops your list?

Inarguably, you have one or two names snapping right out of your picky brains after reading the question. The next question is, why? Is it through name recall, or simply one that’s referred to you by friends? Or maybe, the distance from your workplace or residence? Is it the restaurant’s immaculate cleanliness and sanitary upkeep? Better yet, is it the authenticity of taste?

Authenticity could be your best reply — and mine, too! The others may simply fall under “considerations of choice.” But, on top of it all, anyone who loves to eat good food always thinks of the person behind the menu spread on the buffet table.

Allow me then to introduce to you Chef Chow Wing Fat who has thirty-two years of Chinese culinary expertise to back him up. He was only 18 years old when he first experienced doing a kitchen job in his HongKong hometown, starting from being a mere Chopper 1 (a kitchen job position I heard for the first time), up until he slowly made a name for himself. At 22, he found himself amidst a mix of races in New York City, cooking in Chinatown for six long years, after which he went back to HongKong. A year after, he just realized he was amongst Puerto Ricans for a period of two years and went home again to HongKong.

It was no easy job, mind you, being contracted to work 63 hours per week and six (6) days weekly and working at such times or for such periods as the Company shall decide. Chef Chow did not complain because he knows he has so much to learn. Despite being entitled to statutory holidays, he obliged on overtime whenever required for the company he worked with compensated him with equal time-off.

Having worked in HongKong as a Master Chef in different restaurants, he was offered a contract to become Executive Chef at one of the prestigious hotels in Manila located along U.N. Avenue. It was here that he learned so much more about the Filipino taste, somehow discovering that our taste is pretty much closer to that of the Chinese. The big difference simply lies in the style of cooking and in the presentation of the food at the dinner table.

Being in Philippine soil already led him to several other posh hotel establishments and hotel food outlets around Manila, from Pasay City to Roxas Boulevard. It is not surprising then that his fate has led him to the vicinity of the country’s tallest tower hotel - Crown Regency Hotel & Resorts - specifically at the Wang Shan Lo Restaurant, located at the 20th Floor of Club Ultima in Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City.

Through the years, food taste is his first consideration. With the advent of healthy eating habits, Chef Chow has also learned to adjust to so many factors in the style of cooking - less oil, less salt, less monosodium glutamate or none at all. Take for example the crab. How do we normally cook it? Steamed, right? Add in a flavor - pepper, lemon, ginger, taosi, corn pepper or coconut milk and you have a different dish. Mind you, it does make a difference! Concoct your own sauce and you’ll find that the dish is utterly yummy andheavenly!

Let the accompanying pictures tell you more and you’ll find out what Club Ultima’s Wang Shan Lo has to offer to a person like you, dear reader, with excellent taste buds! You can personally meet Chef Chow during lunch or dinner and have a spoonful of gustatory delights in the hands of the master. For reservations, please call 418-7160.