Uno Seafood Wharf Palace in Escolta, Binondo Manila

My grandpa just turned 87, and he decided to celebrate it in UNO Seafood Wharf Palace (which happens to also be a Chinese Restaurant) in Escolta of Manila's Chinatown. Thinking it will be cool to blog about it, I decided to bring my camera along with me and take some shots of the food. This, however, necessitated that I become the photographer of the night, which I didn't actually find worrisome. Anyway, let me know let you explore some Chinese food!

UNO Seafood Warf Palace offers fresh seafood! 

In Uno Seafood Wharf Palace, you will find tanks of fresh and live fishes, and sometimes it is very amusing just to watch them swim.

The Place
Uno Seafood Wharf Palace, being a Chinese Restaurant, features the traditional royal color schemes (i.e. gold and red) for the table setting. Also, there are plenty of rooms/areas available for private celebrations such as birthdays and etc.

Interior of UNO Seafood Wharf Palace in Escolta, Binondo

The Food
As expected, you will find there free peanuts and service tea as you wait for the orders to come. It's pretty much of a common practice in every Chinese restaurant.


One thing you should also note is that some Chinese restaurants offer a set/lauriat menu (which was what we did in our case). What you are about to read in this blog post are the dishes found in Set Menu 4 costing P6,980; however, for you convenience, I will also include the individual prices of the component dishes (if available).

Additional note: The cheapest set menu costs P4,980 while the most expensive one is at P18,800. All the sets are already good for 8-12 people.

Now, why don't we begin with the appetizer?

Assorted Cold Cuts || P380

UNO Seafood Wharf's Cold Cuts

Components of the cold cuts:

• Asado - unsatisfactory
• Chicken
• Century Egg
• "Kikiam" - good!
• Jellyfish (at the center) - sweet and tasty

First in the line was nothing but the traditional cold cuts platter which I found amazing, but not entirely so because of the asado's lack of tenderness and vibrant flavor. For this reason, Shangri La Chinese Restaurant still remains as the title holder of the "Best Cold Cuts" as of today.

Steamed Suahe || P380 (this is just an estimate based on the other shrimp/suahe dishes, since I can't specifically find this one) 

Exceedingly fresh steamed suahe of UNO Seafood Restaurant

These shrimps were of fantastic texture and quality that scream "I'm fresh, and I'm great tasting! Eat me!"

Braised Noodles with Assorted Meat || P280 

Braised noodles with Assorted Meat - believed to bring in longer life!

The pancit was uber rich with various flavors, and there was nothing I disliked about the noodles! It had the usual savory taste, but had exciting underlying flavors that unraveled as I began chewing more of it. Two-thumbs up for this!

Steamed Stuffed Scallop with Golden Mushroom || (I can't find the item in the a la carte menu)

Uno's Steamed Stuffed Scallop with Golden Mushroom

These scallops were fine but weren't as great as I expected, probably because I was already conditioned to have higher expectations after the first 3 dishes.

Three Variety Dried Scallop Soup || (I can't find the item in the a la carte menu) 

Three Variety Dried Scallop Soup of UNO Seafood Restaurant

The soup was an utter disappointment! It was bland and worst of all not photogenic! Thumbs down for this.

Roasted Duck (1/2) || (I can't find the item in the a la carte menu)

Roasted Duck - good and almost fantastic!

This was almost as typical as the ones I usually have. Hence, if you happen not to try any of these, well, you need to try it! The texture is not as tender as a chicken meat, but the taste will be something new to you.

Braised Abalone Shell with 3 Kinds of Mushroom & Veggies || (I can't find the item in the a la carte menu)

Braised Abalone Shell with 3 Kinds of Mushroom & Veggies

I don't actually know what to say about this dish, since I can't think of a good benchmark for it. The taste was interesting, although the texture of the "meat" was tough (but I guess that was the way it should be).

Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soy Sauce || Seasonal Price

Uno Seafood Restaurant's Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soy Sauce

This Lapu-lapu was soft at first bite but chewy as you go along. I don't know if this is how the normal texture should be, but I would really appreciate it if it was smooth and soft all the way!

Steamed Crab in Garlic Sauce || Seasonal Price

This steamed crab was noticeably fresh, but considerably bland. I was feeling a sense of regret for the dish because it had a strong potential due to its extreme freshness in terms of quality and texture.

Fresh Mango Sago || P50 per cup

Mango Sago Dessert - a family favorite that I started not to like anymore.

Serving the Mango Sago for everyone!

Back when I was little, this was the most delicious thing ever for me (given that as children we always look for something sweet). However, now that I'm older and taller (of course), Mango Sago seems to have lost its magic.

However, setting this personal view on Mango Sago, I would admit that it was good because in just a few minutes, everybody downed his/her cup already. Hence, if it will be your first time to try this, there's a high probability that you will enjoy it!

Peanuts Roll (Masachi) || P18 per piece 

The masachi was great, and tasted better than a buchi in many ways! Wait, that's a biased opiniom because I practically hate buchi! Nevertheless, I think its the outer coat of the buchi that I don't like, because the masachi has taste patterns with the inside of the butchi but I ended up liking it.

Also, in my opinion, the masachi was more enjoyable because of the crushed nuts wrapping the sticky rice ball giving more dimension to the flavor of the a mongo-like ingredient inside.

Extra: Shrimp Hakaw || P85 (this is just an estimate based on the other dimsum, since I can't specifically find this one) 

Shrimp Hakaw of Uno Seafood Wharf Palace

This was actually not ordered by me, which means I wasn't able to try it. I just decided to take a photo for your reference.

Uno Seafood Wharf Palace - Ratings 
Note: Unshaded stars are equivalents of half-stars.
Place ★★★★ 
Taste ★★★☆
Service ★★★★
Price ★★★
Budget: at least P500 per head for a hefty meal with desserts

Overall, I would say that I like my dining experience here in Uno. However, I won't deny that I got disappointed with the latter dishes not because they were awful, but because they failed to sustain the "great to excellent quality and taste" provided by the first few dishes. Negating any failed expectations in assessing Uno Seafood Restaurant, I would say that they did a great job!

UNO Seafood Wharf Palace
Location:
270 Escolta St., Binondo, Manila

Contact Nos.: 232-1054 or 232-1059 or 232-1060

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