MANILA, Philippines ? There was a time when I figured that all Chinese food was the same. A hakaw is a hakaw is a hakaw, even if it?s a hao kao or har gow or har kaw or some other phonetically similar name. It?s a shrimp dumpling! Dough and shrimp. Simple, fast, yummy. Until I came across the hakaw of the Tagaytay China Palace. More than simple, fast and yummy, their dumpling is packed, compact, juicy but not soggy! At first bite, my immediate thought was, ?This is the best out-of-hotel hakaw in the country.?

Tagaytay China Palace is a very pleasant mall surprise. I rarely find myself at the Mall of Asia. Braving the Buendia traffic to go malling is an idea that has never appealed to me. So it took much cajoling before my friend, the Frog Prince, convinced me that China Palace was worth the trip. Pain was my middle name the whole way to MOA: I hated the traffic, I hated the parking wait, I hated the long walk to the mall, I hated the long walk in the mall to the restaurant. It took that damn good hakaw to shift my character from whiny to smiley. It did a pretty good job too!

Actually, the food is quite excellent. Looking around on a Saturday night, I noticed that the restaurant is packed with Chinese families, a good sign. The menu is quite typical for a fancy Chinese restaurant?lengthy selections of abalone, a whole page for fowl, a separate page for beef and pork, several variations of shark?s fin dishes (sorry, animal lovers), and another less lengthy list of dimsum.

I asked the waiter for recommendations for soup and tried a Black Chicken Soup. ?What?s that?? I queried, having never tasted black chicken before. ?It?s chicken with black skin,? explained the waiter. ?Like a rooster with black feathers?? I pressed. More like an Afro-American brother, actually. It literally has black skin. My silly head started seeing Will Smith?s face attached to the chicken wings in my soup, rapping in Chinese. Snapping out of that and getting serious, though, I must concede that the broth of this soup is amazing. I don?t know if it?s from the chicken but it was a mighty tasty broth!

Less tasty but more interesting was The Frog Prince?s order, the Dr. Or soup, named after a restaurant partner who came up with the idea of serving this soup that included herbs. ?A man asked for this and he and his wife returned a while later and she was pregnant,? shared the waiter with a sinister smile, adding, ?It has special herbs.? I wasn?t sold so much on this soup as I was on what?s in it: ox balls, according to the waiter. These are cut into small strips and kind of taste like ?litid,? (ligament) very fun to chew. On another visit, I also tried the Asparagus with Dried Scallops Soup. Scallops are always a plus for me. I?m just in love with this heavenly creature and what it does in terms of texture to a dish. This one, in fact, was my favorite soup among the three.

The appetizers are also on the theme of tasty. A casserole of eggplant with salted fish reminded me of our dishes with bagoong. I enjoyed this immensely on its own and with rice. Vegetarians beware, though; this dish has pork bits hidden in it. The elephant clams are a beautiful trip to the sea, and very creatively presented too, with sotanghon (cellophane noodles), garlic and leeks. It is slightly salty on top, then stringy from the noodles then rubbery soft from the clam. All these motions in one bite!

Peking duck and steamed lapu-lapu are pleasant enough, as they always are, but the main courses are far overshadowed by the dumplings. Siomai is ordinary only on the menu?once it arrives on your table you will notice that it is bedazzled with crab roe. And I just can?t get over the hakaw (here spelled ?ha kao?), which is such a juicy ball of fun.

Desserts are also impressive. A rather odd-looking green ball with sesame seeds seems unappetizing, but the pureed black beans in it, which is deceptively like chocolate, works magic. Mixed jelly?multi-colored gulaman and sago?with coconut milk is heavenly in the summer heat.

During dessert, you may chance upon the chef just sitting by the reception table, relaxed, with a leg up on the arm of a chair. On my two visits, I laughed to myself when I caught him sitting in that position: relaxed behind the rickshaw by the entrance. I wouldn?t have been surprised if he spat into the aquarium by the door. On my second visit he just sat there throughout dinner. But then I bit into my ha kao and figured, what the heck, maybe the man deserves a break?these are really good dumplings!

Tagaytay China Palace. SM Mall of Asia, 2F Unit 215-221, South Wing Entertainment Mall, SM Bay City, Pasay. Tel. 556-0291, Telefax 556-0442. Major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair access through various points of the mall.