Restaurant Review: Lugang Cafe

Last May 27, we celebrated Mama Kolokoy’s birthday by having dinner at Lugang Café in Glorietta. It actually took us weeks to come up with a venue for Mama’s birthday celebration. Being her usual indecisive self, she kept on changing her mind every single day. She wanted to go back to Vikings. The next day, she wanted Chinese food, pizza the following day, then back to Chinese food the next day. I told her that Joie recommended Lugang Cafe. There is a branch in SM Aura which is very near our office. But they all disagreed because they all wanted to meet in Makati. The only Lugang Cafe branch I know other than the one in SM Aura is in MOA. But thanks to Google, we discovered that there is one in Glorietta!

My brother got two sets of their Steamed Pork Xiao Long Bao. It wasn’t his first time at Lugang Cafe so I was pretty sure that he knew what he was doing. I didn’t contest because someone also told me that I should not leave Lugang Cafe without trying it.


I love that the wrapper is really thin making the filling the star of this dish. I hate it when I eat dimsum, and all I could taste is the wrapper. I let it set for a while because I don’t want the hot soup to burn my tongue. We were all given a dip which is apparently for this. I tasted it before the Xiao Long Bao was served, and my face crumpled because it was too sour. But when I dipped the Xiao Long Bao in it (well, I actually sipped it along with the soup), it all made sense! Super duper sarap! The filling is very tasty and leaves that “melts in your mouth” sensation. It’s one of the best I have ever tried.

We always make it a point to eat fried rice when we’re in a Chinese restaurant. We actually got two sets of their Golden Fried Rice w/ Egg and Shredded Pork. Ang haba. Sana Yang Chow na lang ang name! Hihi. :p


When it was served on our table, Boyet blurted out that the fried rice looks oily. I agreed with him. But after we all finished the two plates, we all agreed that the fried rice is not oily at all. It doesn’t leave that yucky aftertaste you usually get when you ingest too much oil from fried food.

My parents arrived ahead of us so they were the first to place our orders. I don’t know why, but they got this dish called Aweto Flower, Mushroom and Jellyfish. And since I was trained to eat whatever is served on the table, I had to give this a try.


I liked it! I loved the different degrees of chewiness of whatever was put on this dish. The sauce also has that perfect sweet, sour and tangy combination. Although I got a bit confused because our receipt says that what we had was “Abalone, Mushroom and Jellyfish”. I don’t know which is which. Good thing I am such an adventurous eater so I didn’t really mind. :p

Because it is a popular belief that noodles signify long life, we had Cantonese Mushroom Stir-fried Noodles.


This dish reminds me so much of Yellow Cab’s Charlie Chan because I could taste nuts in it. But this one is 100 times better! Aside from its nutty flavor, I also loved its appealing aroma and that added crunch from the bean sprouts.

My parents also got this Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Squid. Every time there is salt and pepper squid in the menu of a Chinese restaurant, my parents always make sure to give it a try.


Now this was quite a disappointment. We all got used to having salt and pepper squid really spicy. They used bell peppers so instead of the dish being salty and spicy, it was actually sweet and salty. The squid was very tender, though.

Thinking that the food wouldn’t be enough, I decided to make a last-minute additional order. I scanned the menu and their Roasted Meat Combination caught my attention.

In a roasted meat platter, I usually go for the century egg. A lot of people find this weird, but I really love century egg. But surprisingly, I fell in love with everything on this plate! I liked the chewy jellyfish (yes, jellyfish again!) and the hint of sweetness from the asado. But the star of this dish is the lechon!!! It’s crispy and very tasty, too. The sauce that came with it definitely made it taste a lot better.




Lugang Cafe
Ground Floor, Glorietta 2
Ayala Center, Makati City