Savoring traditional with a twist
To mark the 10th anniversary of Michelin-selected China Blue, which also coincides with Conrad Manila’s first decade, celebrity chef Jereme Leung designed a new dining experience to delight regular patrons and newcomers alike.
“The first time I saw the private dining room, which was just a shell, we discussed what should happen in this space,” Chef Jereme recalls. “With over two years of planning, 10 years ago we launched China Blue by Jereme Leung together with the great team here. Ten years down the road, we are very fortunate to have the great support of the market, of our guests, of our VIPs.
“There are a lot of dishes you have not seen before on this new menu,” he continues. “Every year we challenge ourselves and say, ‘What we can do? Can we make something new for the next season? What can we bring from our Chinese markets to here, what could be interesting for the Filipino market? Then we do it in reverse: What Philippine ingredients can we bring to my other restaurants in China? I have six restaurants throughout the region.”
This crisscrossing of influences enriches the China Blue experience. “Expect traditional with a twist,” he says. “Some dishes have a Philippine inspiration!”
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It’s not just an exchange of ingredients that makes chef Jereme’s cuisine so brilliant, and the elegant space of China Blue, overlooking the bay, is filled with eager diners who show up the moment the doors are open for service. It’s his imagination and inventiveness that make a meal here extraordinary.
Take the new menu, dubbed “A Royal Return.” Fit for royalty is this seven-course menu that begins with a trio of creative appetizers on one plate. You start with what looks like a dainty little handbag perched on a stone. The bag is candied hawthorn, the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn tree, which is usually made into candy, and this little bag is filled with roasted duck salad. Just pop the whole thing into your mouth and enjoy. Next, try the crunchy lotus root filled with a shrimp mousse, and finally a cube of pork shoulder coated with a quinoa crust and calamansi sauce. Delicious and enough to quell your hunger pangs while leaving you enough room to enjoy everything else to come.
The next appetizer looks like a golden spring roll, but the flavor is like a Chinese take on a Philly steak sandwich with its filling of wagyu beef, mushrooms, wild pepper, and cheese. This is followed by a soup course, one made of various ingredients with healing properties such as ginseng, black chicken, sea coconut and sea cucumber, and goji berries.
The fish course consists of steamed red garoupa fillet on roasted red bell pepper sauce, light and clean-tasting. But the next course is, hands down, the favorite: a roasted and stuffed pigeon leg with the crispest skin. It’s served with a dark mushroom and abalone.
The final main course is half a braised lobster served on a bed of Hong Kong egg noodles with a golden ginger and scallion broth. They save the best for last, though for sure there will be diners still dreaming of that stuffed pigeon leg.
Dessert is a clever take on coffee and dessert, or coffee as dessert. Served in a caviar tin, a Yunnan white coffee panna cotta comes covered with a “caviar” of espresso coffee jelly!
You may opt to pair this menu with a series of special Saicho sparkling teas in osmanthus, jasmine, hojicha and Darjeeling variants. Or you may pair your meal with Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial champagne, Barons de Rothschild Bordeaux blanc and rouge. Whichever you choose, your glass of bubbly, enjoyed with another of Chef Jereme’s marvelous menus, will have you gazing out at the tall windows of China Blue at the colorful night lights, content and at peace with the world.
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