Some of Lugang Café’s dishes

Lugang Café – SM North EDSA before its doors opened to the public that day.

Interiors of Lugang Café – SM North EDSA. It is very clean and well-lit. The mirror at the far end makes the area bigger than it is.

Private dining area at Lugang Café – SM North EDSA.

Steamed Vegetable and Pork Dumplings and Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings with Truffle Oil. I do not know which one is which, but I remembered liking the vegetable and pork dumplings but not the vegetarian dumplings. I had two of the first and one of the second. The vegetarian dumpling was just too…healthy, and it tasted weird in my still-carnivorous mouth.

Steamed Pork Xiao Long Bao (pure white) and Steamed Angled Loofah with Shrimp Xiao Long Bao (with green specks). They were both good, but the Xiao Long Bao had a fuller flavor that I enjoyed more. I had two of each.

Fried Rice with Taiwanese Sausage. It was well-seasoned and the sausage bits, all five of them, were flavorful. I did not ask for another bowl because I was too full.

Corn Soup with Chicken. It was nothing special. Knorr soup tastes better than this.

Cucumber with Vinaigrette. I love cucumbers in any form. This one was one of the better tasting dishes of the day. The cucumber was fresh and it was not overly drenched in vinaigrette, so it retained some of its crunch. The vinaigrette was light, not overpowering and had the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness.

Taiwanese Omelette with Preserved Turnip Bits. It looks like a brick and it was as heavy as a brick, too. This slice of omelette could have been my entire breakfast. Luckily, it was good. The preserved turnip bits was a great addition because it cut through all the egg to provide some relief.

Pineapple Shrimp with Crullers. Eating this was an immense pleasure. The crisp and crunch of the crullers were a welcome treat and the freshness of the pineapple bits cleansed my palate. I wished that the pineapple slices were a little bigger.

Abalone Mushroom and Jelly Fish. It was not as slimy as I imagined it would be. It had a neutral taste and since I have not eaten something like this before, I do not know how it should taste. I ate most of this dish and successfully kept it down.

Beijing Shredded Pork with Chinese Pancakes. This was served hot, but there was just too much food on the table that we were not able to eat it right away. Marco, our server, wrapped the shredded pork in Chinese pancakes and advised us to eat it like we would eat shawarma. I did not care much for the shredded pork (I generally dislike dark jelly-like sauces), but I found the Chinese pancakes a delight. I regretted not eating them immediately because their texture changed.

Wrapped Beijing Shredded Pork

Garlic Pork Roll. The roll is pork, and it was cold. As mentioned above, I dislike dark jelly-like sauces and I also dislike cold food, unless it is dessert. I skipped the sauce and ate the pork roll without embellishment. I finished three and found out that cold food is not so bad.

Vietnamese Egg Roll. They are fried, crisp and golden, in short, they were the food I normally gravitate towards. I was so happy that they were also scrumptious. The accompanying vinegar-based sauce complemented the egg rolls.

Tofu with Preserved Egg and Pork Floss. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Like Jessica Huang of Fresh Off the Boat, I believe that tofu has no innate flavor and just soaks up the flavor of other food items. Unfortunately, the last bite of tofu I got was next to the preserved egg. Let me just say that that last bite did not end up in my stomach.

Kung Pao Prawns. I am a fan of seafood, but this one was not a great dish. The sauce did not taste good and the prawns had not flavor at all.

Stir Fried Beef with Mango Slices. The best thing about this dish was the mango. it was ripe and juicy. The beef was gelatinous and the sauce was the same as the sauce of the Kung Pao Prawns.

Iced Tea. I was fond of this iced tea. It was better than most iced tea concoctions I have tasted. It was refreshing but not cloyingly sweet, and there was a hint of lemon that made it all heavenly. I wish I had two glasses of it.

Ice Cream. This scoop of mango ice cream was so yum! It was packed with mango flavor that did not taste artificial. The two mango bits I ate were just a bonus.

Lugang Café’s Feast All You Can 2017 (#FAYC2017) Special Menu

Lugang Café’s Feast All 2017 (#FAYC2017) Mechanics