Adventure Thug: Li Li Restaurant

A co-worker at Farmer Mac always told me never eat at hotel restaurants. As a general rule, I never do. However, this time I chose to make an exception since they had “Bird’s Nest Soup” on the menu at Li Li Restaurant in Manila Bay Hotel. The balance of the menu also looked intriguing. My new favorite poultry is pigeon and it was on the menu. Moreover, the overall trip advisor reviews for the restaurant were positive.

The “Bird’s Nest Soup” arrived first. It was excellent. It was very smooth velvety. The only other dish that I ordered and really liked was the piggy buns. The rest of the dished I ordered I'm guessing were frozen first. The eel and tiger prawns were very mushy. They lacked springy freshness. The pigeon was over cooked and the inners (liver and heart) were still inside. I’m guessing the chef removed it from the freezer, cooked it and completely forgot to remove the inners. Ugh!

At least I got to try the Bird Nest Soup”!!! The soup is made from “edible bird's nests which are created by swiftlets using solidified saliva, which are harvested for human consumption. They are particularly prized in Chinese culture due to their rarity, supposedly high nutritional value, and flavour. Edible bird's nests are among the most expensive animal products consumed by humans. The Chinese believe that it promotes good health. The nests have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup.”