Update (Mar 12, 2015) — Feng Wei Wee Taiwanese cuisine changed its name to Fong Wei Wu in 2015. No worries, though, as that’s the only thing that changed. Everything else — the humba, the tenga with tokwa, the rest of the menu — is still the same.
COCONUTS CRITIC’S TABLE — I wasn’t expecting much when my foodie friends dragged me all the way to Quezon City for lunch at a turo-turo featuring authentic Taiwanese cuisine. I live down South so going to QC is like making luwas for me. On our way there, I just hoped that I’d enjoy at least a couple of dishes or, in case I don’t, that the prices would at least be cheap so I won’t feel bad about traveling all the way up north for so-so food.
I didn’t have time to research about Feng Wei Wee so I didn’t know what I was up for. We went there on a Saturday and when we finally got there, the façade instantly made me go hmmm…
The signboard was obviously old, just like the dirty plastic shade, plus the front glass panels had huge tacky stickers. It looked like a place untouched for at least 10 years. Great, I thought. It has character.
Impressively, the little place — the first floor of which has around five tables (there is a second floor that we didn’t get to check— was almost packed. Only one table was available, and we took it, of course. While waiting for our orders (we let our chef friend do the choosing), we surveyed the place. To put it simply, it looked like a carinderia that sold some other products to make good use of the space; there were CDs and DVDs beside the bottled drinks, plus a rack filled with stuff like wheat crackers, coffee and tea, and jars of pickled lettuce and bean curd with chili. Oh, they play an assortment of weird music, too: from Taiwanese love songs to tunes that would make you feel as if you’re either inside the elevator of an old building or on the other line of a phone, on hold.
I have to admit I didn’t get excited when the food arrived. Even after trying most of them, I wasn’t satisfied. The Adobo Tofu was boring. The Sautéed Kidney in Ginger wasn’t anything special. And what looked like tasty fried pork turned out to be blah; good thing it came with a sauce, which turned out to be just ketchup and didn’t do much. The Cuchay Tokwa could have been good if only it had more tokwa.
The only thing I kind of enjoyed was this pork dish that was really, really tender.
I was on the verge of letting out a sigh of exasperation and regret when another dish arrived. My chef friend, as it turned out, asked for a plate of Sautéed Bamboo Shoots because we still had some rice. Oh, let me tell you how good it is. It was definitely love at first bite. It’s so good it made up for all the dishes I didn’t like (which was basically everything we ordered). It’s so good I wish I skipped everything and just asked for two orders of it, plus a cup of steamed rice (which is perfect with it because it’s spicy).
And because of one dish, I am officially in love with Feng Wei Wee and will definitely go back.
But just to order one dish.
PS:
I was so surprised to find out that we had to pay just PHP850 for several dishes that fed four hungry people.
Fong Wei Wu Taiwanese Cuisine, 82 Banawe cor Samat Sts, Quezon City; +63 2 4125435 or +63 2 7413112. 10am-9pm.
Coconuts Critic’s Table reviews are written based on unannounced visits by our writers and paid for by Coconuts Manila. No freebies here.
