The food and the restaurant are very savory and delicious. My personal favorite here is their clay pot rice that I personally find the best in the country.
This is definitely a must eat place for anyone coming to Binondo! Plus, the family running the cafe is humble, grounded and charitable. You'll always have a good time with the Eng Bee Tin brand along with their staff and food!
Great food, great place. Modernized old chinese cuisine, my personal favorites are wanton noodles, beef tendon claypot rice and cream cheese nai cha (milk tea). A must visit place in Binondo......
Beef tendon claypot rice is best ! Other dishes are good too. Drop by and enjoy. Give yourself a treat. Reasonable price, great ambiance, helpful staff.
Must try their Beef Tendon Claypot Rice. Every bite melts in your mouth. Yummmmm!
Their siomai is my new favorite! The best 👍
The First in Chinatown.. ��
When I started blogging and got invited for foodie events, I enjoy going on food crawls. I can’t remember though, the crawl where I went to more than 5 restaurants. But then I enjoy joining them, but in the long run, it got a little tedious. So nowadays, I only join if it’s less than 5 places or when I’m doing it with friends.
Once you sit down, order the Honey Pork Sparibs! masarap talaga!
We’ve tried the HK noodle, sauteed fish w/ broccoli and honey asado cuts too. Of all the dishes we’ve tried, the honey pork asado would need to improve on their presentation. Everything else, was good.
Ambiance is good, high ceiling, smooth music, very good service.
Overall, I’ll never have second thoughts of coming back to this place.
There will be two part of my reviews since I have been to this wonderful chinese cuisine, first part will be mostly for their savory dishes and second is going to be more on The Eng Bee Tin and their Moon Cake Festival. A year a ago The Great Buddha was a newly opened cafe by the Famous Eng Bee Tin Group, strategically situated in the oldest China Town in the world in Binondo Manila. We were fortunate enought to try their dishes
•Cream Cheese Nai Cha
•Golden Custard Buchi
•Xiao Long Bao
•Hainanese Chicken
•Pork Ribs Glazed with Hkney Garlic Sauce
I would highly recommend the Great Buddha Cafe for you to try out.
The second time we joined their Moon Cake Festival so we able to taste different types of Hopia, moon cake and buffet Chinese dishes like noodles, Yang Chow, and a lot more.
Mits Almarez | Mitsadventurez
+5
It was a privilege to get invited in this special event by Eng Bee Tin. Because of this, I got to learn something new and fun! I really had zero about idea this festivity, it was so nice to immerse my self on a continuing tradition. The place is spacious, I didn’t expect them to have a souvenir shop. I would’ve taken home some had I not been on a tight budget haha!
Mid-Autumn means Mooncake Festival, The Mid-Autumn Festival is an East Asian harvest festival celebrated notably by the Chinese and Vietnamese people. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar with full moon at night, corresponding to late September to early October of the Gregorian calendar with a full moon at night. Mooncakes, a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean or lotus-seed paste, are traditionally eaten during the festival.
As the Mooncake Festival falls on September 13 this year, Eng Bee Tin invited us to share this tradition.
Eng Bee Tin treated us to sumptuous dinner. We had Seafood Spinach Soup (P 320), Stir-Fried Asado Noodles(P 240), Fish Fillet-Tofu (P 340), Pork Ribs with Honey Garlic Sauce(P 320), and Soy Garlic Chicken (P 600 whole).
Every dish waa good and filling.
Mooncake season is here! With beautifully designed Chinese baked treats in countless shelves in the market, the only other thing that excites me is the annual dice game. Known in Manila as Mooncake Festival and more aptly called Mid-Autumn Festival in China, this tradition can be traced all the way back during the Qing Dynasty in 1600. It has been said that this celebration is to give good luck to scholars for their exams hence the game being known as zhuang yuan bo bing. It eventually evolved throughout the years and we now veer away from mooncakes as prizes and give out snacks or money instead. But Eng Bee Tin had the wonderful idea to bring back tradition.
We enjoyed the food with their milk tea for our drinks.
1. Stir-Fried Noodles. I'm not sure if this is part of their menu. This is a classic noodle dish whereby they mixed whatever ingredients they have.
2. Fish-Fillet Tofu Hotpot. Even if this wasn't served in a hotpot, the sauce and the generous servings of vegetables elevated the mild taste of the tofu and fish fillet. This is great with plain rice.
3. Soy Chicken. Braised in soy sauce and Chinese spices, the chicken was good. I, of course, prefer this served in its original plate where it's swimming in its sauce.
4. Pork Ribs Glazed in Honey Garlic Sauce. This is a succulent dish with the pork ribs perfectly coated in honey garlic sauce.
5. Fried rice. I think this is shrimp fried rice but they skimped on the shrimp. What I like about this one is that it doesn't have green peas.
Im always in Search for the Best places to EAT and Dine... and SHARE with you all🤗
My HAPPY PILL for today🤗❤
"GREAT BUDDHA CAFE"
A Must VISIT Place😊
#WhenInOngpin🤗
#8/21/19
Four STARS ☆☆☆☆
Xiao Long Bao. End of story.
It would seem that their menu is a bit pricey but once the meal is served, you'll realize that its worth it. The serving size is big!
Not to mention their place, very good for "millennials" who goes to restaurants for Instagram photos.
A breath of fresh air and yummy food in crowded Binondo. Food was great for the price. We hd hainanese chicken and claypot rice— claypot rice was super flavorful and hot making the rice eating experience sulit! They were generous with the clearsoup too.
The interiors were of modern Chinese aesthetic. Restroom though was on another floor and had to be accessed via a stairwell. Overall the experience and the food was value for money!
Great place to eat your favorite chinese dishes, we ordered the beef tendon claypot rice, soy chicken, and the beef hofan. All the dishes were good. The claypot rice were done right, with crispy rice at the bottom of the pot. The soy chicken tasted of mild soy but was elevated by the ginger sauce. The beef hofan tasted clean and not too oily, the veggies added a nice texture to it as well.
Will definitely comeback to try the other dishes.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
The Great Buddha Cafe is very different from Buddha Bar in Makati, although both have “Buddha” in their names and a large statue of Buddha inside the restaurants. If you’re familiar with the original Eng Bee Tin store in Binondo, then you’ll find the wonderful cafe on the second floor interesting. The renovated place is now called the Grand Buddha Cafe, where mouthwatering Chinese food are served beside a souvenir shop selling trinkets of Filipino and Chinese culture. Soon, there will also be a museum showcasing the history of the famous hopia brand and the process on how hopia is made.
This was our first stop and our meeting place. The Great Buddha Cafe is like a sister of Mr. Ube and Cafe Mezzanine. It has a modern ambiance, a casual setting housed in an expansive floor. Interior-wise, it’s a step up from a hole in the wall. We shared an order of xiao long bao (PhP 248, 10 pieces)–soup dumplings that burst in your mouth with a memorable explosion of flavor, especially when paired with the black vinegar and ginger condiment. We also tried stir-fried radish cake with pork floss (PhP 220). The nice golden crust was a delight to bite into!
Having a party at your house? The Great Buddha Cafe is present in the Honestbee app or website, so you can enjoy great food delivered at your doorstep. To immerse in the full dining experience, visiting the place itself is more ideal of course.
The beef tendons was the best, very tender and savory. Then the beef hofan also taste good it just a little oily . But overall experience is good.
Very tasty food. The flavors are great. A little bit pricey compared to other chinese resto around binondo. The flavors are justifiable. The ambience is one of the best and also the CR is very clean.
Takaw Tikim X Nina Jesica Tolentino
+5
I was roaming around ongpin while waiting for cousin’s wedding ring and decided to do some chinese grocery. And saw this restaurant on the 2nd floor of eng bee tin building.
Their nai cha is perfect even without pearls.
Beef wanton noodles, the soup is very beefy the noodle is perfectly cooked.
Dumplings of course everything is good.
The ambiance is very filipino-chinese feels. It’s air-conditioned inside. They have the big golden buddha inside that you’ll see upon entering.
3rd Stop for our Binondo Food Crawl.
Among the resto we went to, this has the best dining area. Clean and spacious with a lot of seats good for big groups. This is also the best place to go to the toilet.
You have to order...
Chicken Mushroom with sausage Claypot - the rice just gets so toasted in the claypot
Beef Tendon Claypot - the tendon just melts in your mouth!
Radish Cake with Pork Floss - radish cake is light! I can't stopped popping it in my mouth!
My favorite stop in our food crawl!
Great food! Reasonable price! Instagrammable ambiance! Friendly staff! Definitely worth trying! My new favorite chinese restaurant! Had so much fun!
Emelou Antoniette Chan Chua
+4
this is the more sosyal version their old chuan kee resto. food is great! we had yang chow fried rice, salt and pepper squid, pork ribs honey glazed with garlic. we also had cream cheese nai cha and iced jasmine tea for drinks. lahat masarap! babalik siguro minsan pero i think mas gusto ko pa rin bumalik sa chuan kee.
Food - love the siomai and the panfriend dumplings. Tendon rice is superb.
Ambience - great Asian design and instagrammable.
Service - fast!
Bonus! They have a shop upstairs for souvenirs.
Fact: I think they are the same owners of Chuan Kee and Cafe Mezzanine. Both good places! This group really knows their market.
There are only few restaurants that provides good quality of food and price, and that would be this restaurant. They have a variety of foods, even though it's a cafe. My personal favorite would be the beef pepper, honey glazed ribs and also gyoza. In less than 1000 you'll be stuffed with these 3 dishes. It's definitely worth the price. My only complaint is that their space is a bit small, because during lunch time it will always be crowded. I suggest making reservations beforehand.
I loved how new the restaurant was. However, since it was new, it could use a bit of improvement with the staff’s attentiveness, as well as the overall cleanliness. I went there for dinner with a friend when it was almost closing, so there weren’t a lot of customers, but we still had to wait a while before our orders were taken. I had a hard time deciding what to order because everything looked so good, but this was always my first choice—Chicken-mushroom and sausage claypot rice. So flavourful and the textures were amazing! I loved how it was chewy and soft but had bits of charred rice at the bottom. Yum! The Cream cheese Nai Cha was also good but a bit cumbersome to drink.
The food is very good...ang sarap ng buchi nila with custard filling ata.masarap lahat ng inorder naming food..friendly and very accommodating ang staff..surely will comeback to try some on the Menu..
Eats Food PH By Kim Bryan Lambert
+4
Eng Bee Tin can be considered as a legend in the Food Industry. They popularized the Ube Hopia and later on venture out with other pastries. They now have lots of stores within Manila. They looked like a convenience store of Chinese Deli. Right now they opened a new restaurant as well. It offers Cantonese Style Cuisines. If ever you've heard of Binondo Food Crawl, you should probably add The Great Buddha Cafe on list of restaurant that you'll visit. It aims to boost the tourism in Binondo. With that aim in mind, they added souvenir shop inside their restaurant too.
Speaking of Buddha, they named it that way because they want customers to feel happy, plenty and content which symbolizes Buddha. Aside from that they used quality ingredients to their food which is a really great value for money. Speaking of food they have solo and group orders.
Among the must try are:
Claypot Rice - Beef Tendon
Claypot Rice - Chicken Mushroom
Hainanese Chicken
HK Style Asado
Pork Ribs Glazed with Honey Garlic Sauce
The Great Buddhe Congee
Cream Cheese Nai Cha
Pork and Shrimp Siomai
Xiao Long Bao
Pan Friend Dumpling
Those are the foods that really made a mark for me. Very tasty plus good serving size. I really can't wait to be back and bring along my friends and family too. Quick trivia, did you know that Eng Bee Tin stands for, Eng - Forever; Bee - Beautiful; and Tin - Precious. Pretty much it transcends as to how The Great Buddha Cafe is now. It can be a place where you'll let the most beautiful and precious people in your life to dine in and experience Cantonese Style cuisines.
When I think of Binondo, it’s a must that I take home some Eng Bee Tin Hopia with me. What’s exciting is that Eng Bee Tin recently built a 3 story building that sells all their pastries. Not only that but they also have some souvenir items and cafe in it. I really got excited when I received an invitation from The Great Buddha Café as their the makers of these classic and crazy-delicious Hopia that we all love.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
This is my first Big FMU event that I’ve been and honestly I got overwhelmed how the event is so organised. Plus super excited too cause I love chinese food! We were entertained by The Sibs of Eng Bee Tins and they are very welcoming talaga. Im amazed about their mission and vision on why they decided to put up this cafe, a One stop shop to enhance the tourism in chinatown galing right?
About their food, well I dont know who says no to chinese comfort food but definitely their food is so easy to judge! Ang sarap eh! I super love their version of Milktea with creamcheese and the Tendon rice topping! One of the very reason that Ill be coming back.
Their service was of course extra cause its an event but you know I observe that the staffs are really accommodating. Its like they are working from their heart talaga.
The ambiance is big, located on the second floor and of course very chinese with the giant buddha in the middle. They have souvenir shop that cost fairly and soon they will have a mini museum on how they make their famous hopia.
My only take is, Hopefully they will have enough parking space soon.
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as of 08Sept2018. Delicious food with fair price. Great customer service. Good ambiance. They don't accept cards as of this writing. Beef tendon claypot is highly recommended. Will dine again.
The Great Buddha is a newly-opened cafe by the famous Eng Bee Tin group. Located at Binondo, this resto offers a variety of chinese cuisines. We tried a lot of their courses and I must say, sobrang sarap!! Favorite ko yung pork ribs glazed with honey garlic sauce (320php) (yah, can eat that all day!!) and yung cream cheese nai cha!! Yan ang i-order niyo friends, i swear!! Try niyo din Chicken Mushroom Sausage ( 240php) ad their Xiao Long Bao ( 248php) ❤️💯💯
Also, after niyo mag eat, may market sa baba na sobrang mag- enjoy ka magshopping 🤗
—
Thank you @foodiengr and @chuaroche for the invite!!
My sister and I discovered our love for Chinese foods since eating at The Great Buddha Cafe. We love the restaurant's interior design. The place is brightly lit and very spacious. Moreover, there is a section where you can buy souvenirs before going home. You can also shop from the Engbeetin store from the first floor. How awesome is that?
As for the food, we've tried lots of their dishes but our favorites would be the following:
- Pork Ribs Glazed with Honey Garlic Sauce
- Hainanese Chicken
- Xiao Long Bao
- Golden Custard Buchi
- Cream Cheese Nai Cha
We would definitely come back for more and bring our parents with us because they love Authentic Chinese foods.
The @iloveengbeetin (on instagram) group recently opened their new restaurant, @greatbuddhacafe (on instagram)! A perfect place to enjoy authentic chinese food! 💯 It is located on the 2nd floor of Eng Bee Tin in Binondo, Manila. It has a great interiors! The place is big, bright and beautiful!
You guys must try the Pork Ribs Glazed with Honey Garlic Sauce (my favorite), HK Style Crispy Noodle, Hainanese Chicken, Xiao Long Bao, Golden Custard Buchi and Cream Cheese Nai Cha!
Giving it a 5/5! Definitely be back! ❤️
The Great Buddha Café is on the second floor of The Eng Bee Tin flagship store. They serve a variety of chinese favorite dishes, we recommend the soy chicken with ginger sauce, their dimsum, and their asado. Pair it with their nai cha.
The wait staff are very friendly and accommodating.
Photos by Hilary Hao for HungryTravelDuo.
Whenever I get a craving for Chinese food, I always find myself wandering aimlessly in Manila’s very own Chinatown. Being one of the world’s oldest Chinatowns, I trust that I can always find something here that suits what I’m looking for–from dumplings to spring rolls, from noodles to roasts, and even to souvenirs I can carry with me home to share with the rest of the house.
Now coming from the South, my Binondo trip would not be that sulit if I don't drop by any Eng Bee Tin kiosk, but finding The Great Buddha Cafe' sitting just beside Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, I'm in luck! The first floor is the grocery store for Eng Bee Tin products which suprised my btw! The Great Buddha Cafe' is located on the 2nd floor. You will singlehandedly notice how clean, spacious and well designed the resto is to cater to different kinds of guests. I honestly loved the design of the bar or cashier area!! Very modern!! More than that, I loved how attentive, polite and accommodating the staff is of The Great Buddha Cafe.
Now, the best part, their food1. Stir-fried Radish Cake with Pork Floss - 220.00 (this I super duper love!!!!!)2. The Great Buddha Congee -240.003. Xiao Long Bao - 248.004. Shrimp Hakaw - 158.005. Cream Cheese Nai Cha - 130.00 (THIS I CAN DRINK FOREVER AND EVER!!!!!)
Kim & James || Oh My Food PH
+5
New noteworthy place to visit when you drop by Chinatown Binondo! 👲
From the traditional dishes (HK Asado, Soy/White Chicken) to Dimsum and Xiaolongbao! Name it, they got it! You might think this is just another typical Chinese restaurant that offers so many choices. But a lot of dishes were truly remarkable and unique! 👌
Here are some of our favorites:
1. Beef Tendon Claypot Rice 🍲
- Super big portion, the sauce mixes so well with the meat, traditional Chinese taste that will surely please auntie and uncle (meaning it's that good it will pass their standard)
2. Pan Fried Dumplings 🥟
- Super malaman and the base is super crispy. Very comparable to the local dumplings we had back in Shanghai
3. Cream Cheese Naicha🥤
- Super loaded with cream cheese topping. 😍 Can't get enough of it!!
4. Peanut Balls 🍡🥜
- SOLID. SIKSIK. CRUNCH IN EVERY BITE. A MUST TRY FOR DESSERT
5. Ham Sui Kok 🍞
- Savoury deep fried dumpling crisp to perfection. Think of it as empanada but Chinese style. Surely you'd love this for a snack. 🥢
YOUR ONE STOP SHOP/LATEST TOURIST DESTINATION IN BINONDO IS FINALLY HERE! An establishment that absolutely STOOD OUT among the other stores around in Binondo! Here you will experience a brand new look for their ENG BEE TIN store! It is more bigger and spacious! Perfect to cater to more customers! What’s new in their business is that on the second floor, you will find THE GREAT BUDDHA CAFE! A perfect place to enjoy AUTHENTIC CHINESE FOOD! This time, you know it’s CLEAN and IN QUALITY! Dining in there feels very safe! You guys MUST TRY their BEEF TENDON and their CREAM CHEESE NAI CHA! THE BEST! Here, you will also find a Filipino-Chinese souveneir shop! What’s good about this is that THE PRICES ARE FIXED! Lastly, on the 3rd floor, which is still under construction, you will find........(SECRET! SURPRISE!) Overall, IT WAS AWESOME! Can’t wait to come back once the third floor is done! 😍
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
The Great Buddha Cafe is a restaurant owned by Eng Bee Tin (Chinese deli chain based in Binondo, Manila, innovator of the Hopia industry). It is located on the second floor of Eng Bee Tin building. The place is spacious and has a bright lighting, yet it maintains the traditional Chinese theme and interiors. The place is air-conditioned and well-ventilated. I must say, their comfort room is pleasant and big! Service is good. The managers are welcoming. The servers were very assisting.
They also aim to revive the tourism in Binondo, Manila. The restaurant comes with a souvenir shop promoting and supporting our local handicraft makers. They are now building a mini museum/showroom on the 3rd floor (this is exciting!).
If authentic Hong Kong cuisines are what you're looking for, they all have it here. It is prepared by a well-experienced Cantonese chef. Among the dishes that we tried, thsee are my favorites:
Pork and Shrimp Siomai (4 pcs / P128.00), each serving is big. It was meaty and filled with larger servings of shrimp (than pork).
Ham Sui Kok (P148.00) - crispy and toasted on the outside, while javing a savory meaty filling inside. This is a good one.
Beef Tendon Claypot Rice (P260.00) - a serious bestseller. The tendon was so soft. Don't feel guilty eating this, this isn't the fatty part, it's a TENDON.
Pork Ribs Glazed with Honey Garlic Sauce - it was too tasty. The honey garlic sauce gave it a sweet touch. Seriously after eating this, I forgot the taste of other dishes. It marked my taste buds.
Cream Cheese Nai Cha (P130.00) - according to them, the best way to drink it is to drink it as it is, no need to mix the cream cheese on the milk tea. It was milky sweet with a hint of bitterness. I enjoyed scraping the cream cheese haha.
Golden Custard Buchi (P98.00) - it was an authentic buchi. It was so soft. They use custard as its filling and it was tasty.
Overall experience is excellent. Price is reasonable. It's a must-visit restaurant/store in Binondo.
Foodventures By FraPao
+5
Great Buddha Cafe is a newly opened resto in Ongpin. It’s located at the second floor of the Eng Bee Tin Building. Their resto is big and has lots of tables and chairs. They also have a souvenir shop inside their resto. Ambience is nice, it’s well lighted and ventilated too. All the food we tasted are delicious. My personal fave are Pan-fried Dumplings (a must try), Beef tendon Claypot Rice (their best seller), and Soy Chicken. I recommend that you try dining here too.
We’ll definitely go back here but I just wish they’ll have a branch in QC too. :)
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