Located on the second floor of Golden Phoenix Hotel near the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City is a Chinese restaurant and KTV club rolled into one.
Patterned after hugely popular restaurant concepts in China, Ashark Club is a Chinese restaurant that has several VIP rooms, some of which are equipped with state-of-the-art karaoke system. It’s a place where people can enjoy authentic Chinese food and also belt out a song or two.
“This is patterned after China, where most of the restaurants have KTV. They love to sing there and, of course, must be accompanied by good food. If you want to eat and sing, you have to go to two different places. Now, you can go to one place,” said Ashark Club board director Bernard Chong during the restaurant’s opening.
Guests have an option of dining at the main dining room that can accommodate 200 people or dine in the privacy of a VIP rooms. The restaurant has a total of nine VIP rooms, four of which are equipped with KTV systems. VIP room prices range from P20,000 (USD 400) to PHP50,000 (USD 1,000), consumable.
“We called it club because it’s a combination of restaurant and KTV,” explained Ashark Club brand manager Amy Peng. “The experience is very different from other places. If you just want to dine, you can enjoy the food but if you want privacy and entertainment, you can go to the VIP room.”
The interiors of the restaurant created by a Manila-based Chinese design company is modern and upscale but screams Chinese.
The entrance features bottles of Chinese wine displayed at the reception, the floors are fully carpeted, modern crystal light fixtures hang above the main dining room, the tables covered in white linen, and the walls adorned by traditional Chinese ink paintings.
But like any other modern restaurant, Ashark employs technology in the food service. It has an iPad ordering system where guests can easily choose from the more than 50 dishes on the menu.
The owners named the restaurant after two sharks that live in a tank inside the restaurant because they feel it will bring luck to their business.
Choosing the location is also a strategic move since the area is quickly developing and mostly surrounded by office buildings, residential condominiums, and other commercial spaces.
Ashark Club promises authentic Chinese cuisine. The kitchen is headed by Cantonese chef Mike Cheng from Hong Kong. He is assisted by four other chefs from China coming from Guangzhou, Hunan, and Szechuan regions; and also by two Filipino chefs.
The menu is a mix of Cantonese, Hunan, and Schezuan flavors. And to make sure everything’s authentic, Ashark sources most of its ingredients from China.
But it also offers select Filipino food like lechon or roast pig.
The tasting menu during the opening is a sample of the restaurant’s extensive menu.
Some of these dishes include the braised marinated ox shank served in thin slices and with a drizzle of Sezchuan chili sauce; the abalone with mixed dry seafood in thick soup; deep fried pigeon; sauteed snow diced beef with black pepper; assorted steamed vegetables on ice; sauteed prawns with long jing tea; polonchay with wanton in soup; and fried rice with salmon.
“When it soft opened, we served most of the dishes so they can try everything. So far we didn’t hear any bad comments,” Chong said.
There are several dishes at the opening that stood out from the crowd. The steamed red grouper with peanut oil topped with chopped chives and a side of broccoli is as Chinese as it gets.
The fish is fresh and perfectly cooked, flaky and melt-in-you-mouth goodness.
The deep-fried pechay, on the other hand, is not what it seemed. It’s not just a simple as its name. The vegetable is chopped and mixed in some kind of batter then molded, covered in almond flakes then deep fried. The result is a soft center and a crispy outer shell.
Then there’s the pan-fried lamb chops. It’s a simple, no-frills approach to lamb. The chops had the right amount of seasoning, had good sear on both sides, and the meat is tender. The gamey-ness is unnoticeable.
“We want the customers to be happy and hopefully we want to be recognized as a place where we serve good food with good entertainment,” Chong ended.
Ashark Club is open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Republished from ABS-CBN News
