Hocto Place Restaurant — Restaurant in Quezon City

Update visit: Had my birthday dinner with Peking duck 2 ways, steam lapu-lapu, mixed cold cuts, seafood noodle, halaan soup and suahe. The peking duck is still top notch but honestly enjoyed the second way minced with the lettuce much more, a bit stingy also on the scallion mix for the duck wrap, the white chicken, jelly fish and Chasui are revelations and are the best we have in years. Lapu-lapu is a bit over steamed but taste good. Seafood of the noodle is seasoned perfectly. They did not use manila clam on the soup and use Akerai shell which is not as tasty, but the tofu is fresh soft and very very good. The complementary dessert is to die for! Grass jelly w almond jelly n shiratake noodles.

Do keep it up!

First visit. Did not think this relatively new restaurant could be at an level of an ol classic Chinese like the ol President. The sounds and feel ( ambience) brings that back. Then the food. Tested the selected prime items Peking duck 2 ways, steam lapulapu, Suahe, halaan soup w mustard and sizzling beef. And guess what? None disappoint. The peking was masterfully sliced, rolled the leeks and cucumber strips the taste is superb light crisp and not oily. The 2nd way w lettuce was even better. Steam lapulapu is good not great as the opening of the fish belly down seems to have oversteamed and lost the tenderness of the meat on the side. Taste is great! Suahe stramed to perfection, sauce to die for! The halaan soup w mustasa and tofu is a great stand alone soup but also complements the other dishes. The sizzling beef was tried to get a feel of the sauté tast and it was the best beef ever. Tender and juicy. Not overly soda soaked and springy. Pardon for no disk pics. It was so good we finished it all and forgot to...

13 Nov 2023, around 12:20 pm, 2 pax. There were plenty of tables available when we arrived. They did not have lobster (the closest alternative is the sea mantis, which were pretty small) nor the soup of the day, so our order was stir-fried regular crab (regular as in the one you can purchase in any public market), yang chow rice, sweet and sour pork, and sauteed chinese kangkong. Apart from free tea that is usual with Chinese restaurants, there was also a small platter of salted peanuts to munch on while waiting for the order. Our orders came within a reasonable time, but the service crew seemed irritated and snobbish. Neither the menu nor the service crew will tell you that some food items--the crustaceans, except shrimp--are priced by weight. The food needed a bit more salt in my opinion, and they accept only cash payments. The price is higher than the other Chinese restaurants in the area--our bill was 3225 PHP--and the servings were not that big. We had some leftovers, so i tried something: leave the leftovers bag on the table. Nobody tried to call our attention about it. Even with the aquaria at the front, I don't think I will come back, especially considering that there are lots of better options...

Frankly Gloria Maris, East Ocean, Xiu and Choi Garden fares do get a bit monotonous sometimes. It’s always fun to order authentic Chinese dishes with regional specialties as well as their blend of seasonings for other more common food. Hocto is a great example. There is so much to explore specially their Szechuan and Mala delights. This is one of the best places to get white chicken. The roast duck is plump, meaty and roasted well but you may miss a bit of the more traditional hoishin flavor (remedied by their wonderful plum sauce). The best dishes for me would be the pig’s blood & big intestine hotpot and the spicy sour fish with pickled vegetables. The stir-fried seafood with egg white is so tasty it’ll be hit if you bring a tray to your...