Manila's Bellagio Lugang Cafe

It was a few days before Christmas and I was to attend my last Christmas party of sorts with friends. We decided to try out the newest restaurant in Greenhills that everybody was raving about. Turns out I tried this in Beijing a long time ago already (2006), only I know it as the infamous Bellagio and not by its Chinese name Lugang. These were some of the pictures of 鹿港小镇（原满星楼）a.k.a. Beijing Bellagio.

Bellagio is a go-to place in Beijing, known for its towering bean desserts.

Check out my latest Beijing Experience in this link - http://guiltlessgetaways.blogspot.com/2010/09/beijing-10-day-13-saying-goodbye-with.html.

Connecticut Greenhills Lugang Cafe - The menu was extensive and we ended up ordering a lot of good stuff for 10 people.

Lugang Cafe Appetizers

While waiting, we sampled the Xiao Long Pao and Veggie Dumpling.

I didn't like the mix of veggies so much and I found Suzhou Dimsum's Xiao Long Pao better although if I would pick between the dumpling and the xiao long pao, I'll go for Lugang's Xiao Long Pao (though it is dry along the top as you can see in the picture and the soup is a bit off). Order other flavors of it.

This next dish was for our vegetarian friend. Shhh, I beat her to eating the last piece. I liked the innocent-looking veggie on the side but it has that tangy kick to it. We also had fun imitating what we saw on the next table. They poked the tofu with a chopstick and stuffed the veggies and sauce inside! The flavor will burst when you eat the whole thing! Simple "healthy" dish with a twist.

I also loved this vegetarian pancake. One bite is already filled with flavors so it can be shared by a lot of people.

Lugang Cafe Main Courses

This beef with green pepper was okay and normal.

This is the actually best pineapple rice I've ever tasted simply because it tastes sweet and very pineapple-y, perfect for more food to come.

The TanTan Mien (Szechuan-style Spicy Noodles) and the Spicy Eggplant did not meet my expectations.

These beans were one of my favorites. It was fun to eat with every little salty bite.

This pork dish was a little too small for the 10 of us and there's a whole egg inside. This is a decent attempt to dress up a normally fatty DongPo Pork. It tastes somewhat like that only saltier. I was also looking for the beef in the beef rice.

This next dish needs a little bit of acquired taste and smell. The herbs used were the same as the yummy YangRou Chuanr (lamb sticks) they have in Beijing. (http://guiltlessgetaways.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-10-trapped-in-rain.html)

We had a little bit of discussion as to what water gourd was. It tasted like okra. We ended up with patola.

Lugang Cafe Drinks

I loved my Mango Jelly in Mango.

My friend had this. I was actually tempted to order the cranberry.

Lugang Cafe Desserts

The peanut slushie tasted like ChocNut without chocolate (tasted like real grounded peanuts)! It melts quickly though so better eat it fast.

I didn't like the seeds (looks indigestible) and the kiwis were super sour. It looks healthy though.

Do not ask the server to divide this masterpiece in front of you or you'll lose your appetite (it looked almost gross with stuff spilling with their rush, she did ours from top to bottom). I recommend scraping the sidings first then splitting the tower of ice after. The beans were great although I would like more condensed milk.

The tower above was like this in less than 5 minutes. Messy and the toppings were unequally shared!

I like Lugang Cafe. The only downside is that you tend to order more stuff. Our bill for 10 people reached 5K. Plus I think not everything was recommendable. The ambiance was very trendy and inviting for the young and families, almost like Gloria Maris that has caught up with the times (servers included).