Hap Chan - Ever Gotesco Commonwealth — Restaurant in Quezon City

Well, I was craving Chinese food so I went here. Even though the store wasn't full, it was already warm inside. Borderline comfortable warm.

Service was quite good. The staff were courteous and attentive. Far from the typical Chinese restaurant with old grouchy waiters. Although I noticed that they were kind of preoccupied with wrapping up and closing the store (hey! It was past 8 pm already). Pretty noisy too and a little bit cramped.

Food. Oh my! It breaks my heart to comment on this because I really like Chinese food. Here's what we ordered:

Jumbo pao: 5/10 Meh! It wasn't that bad but it wasn't good either. The taste and texture looks like it was frozen and directly placed to the steamer. It was soggy but still alright for me.

Plain noodle soup: 5/10 It was okay. Kind of like the instant noodle soup you buy in packs from the grocery. I was told that this same dish is BETTER on the Chinese resto on the other side.

Sweet and sour pork: 3/10 For its price, I expect a better quality cuisine. The Chinese fastfood restaurant inside the mall makes better S&S pork. The meat cuts are not for this dish. The pork was cubed for some reason. It was better for adobo. The pork wasn't breaded properly and evenly. The sauce seems pre-made and just poured as garnishing rather than cooked with the meat and vegetables. Had burned food/old oil aftertaste.

Lemon chicken: 2/10 I didn't know where they got the audacity to put this in the first page of the menu. The chicken was dry. The breading was poorly seasoned and added to the toughness of the meat. The lemon sauce tasted so synthetic even if they garnished it with lemon... And the sauce is like a garnish too... Not cooked with the meat as it is intended to be.

Salted fish chicken fried rice: 4/10 I've had better. Strong old oil/burned food aftertaste. I didn't taste the "salted fish" which is actually the reason I ordered it! I should have just ordered plain or garlic rice if I had known.

Salted egg squid: 7/10 If you have no choice but to dine here, order this. The squid was tender and well-seasoned. I loved it but my companion complained that it was too "flour-ry"... Probably because of the...

Asawa ko and myself had lunch at Hap Chan. We had the beef brisket noodle soup. I forget the exact name on the menu but we had the beef chow fun dry fried. It was as good or better than the beef chow fun the Kau Kau Chinese restaurant in Seattle serves. I mean the thing we didn't do at Hap Chan was lick the plate. Whenever I have beef chow fun around the world, I always compare it with the Kau Kau version. And Hap Chan knocked it out of the ball park! And the soup was great too. We will be back whenever we go to Gotesco Ever Commonwealth. Came back again the next day. Only difference in our order was the added wonton to the beef brisket soup. The beef chow fun is literally the best I have ever had. Better even than the Kau Kau in Seattles Chinatown. And the Kau Kau is pretty darn good. We will return just like McArthur. And the staff are friendly, approachable, and professional. I am terrible with names, my bad, but all the...

The place is too crowded. Like you were eating in a food park. It is too noisy. The tables are too close together that you can hear the conversation of the people in the other table. Their sort of preparation area is also in the dining area so you can hear the noise of plates and utensils being tossed here and there. The sound of the blender is too loud and too annoying as well. If you want a quiet and peaceful place to celebrate a special occassion or you just want to have a serene conversation, this might not be the place for you. The good points though are their service is fast. Like in 10 minutes, you can have your food already. The staff are friendly and accomodating. The food - taste wise, it is superb except for their pork asado which is more like pork toccino than an asado. Quantity wise - the serving is more generous here than in their...