Thursday, February 11, 2016

Lam Dynasty: Bringing Back the Classic Flavors of Marquina


At first glance, Lam Dynasty seems like a fairly new Chinese restaurant located at the second floor of the Pacific Centre. Little do people know, the owner of Lam Dysnasty is the son of the original founder of Marquina - a classic Binondo favorite been around since the 1950s but eventually closed down. It's located in a fairly new commercial building, offering a more modern feel compared to the classic hole-in-the-wall Binondo restaurants, but it attempts to bring back old flavors that has been around since the 1950s.

This was the second stop in our Binondo food crawl and it's not as popular as other Binondo mainstays. After trying out some of their bestsellers, I became very impressed with their food that I have been wanting to come back ever since.

Here's our Lam Dystansty experience...



The place looks modern but it still has a very Chinese-themed interior with predominantly brown, red, and gold colors. It's well airconditioned because of its location and is one of the more comfortable stops in the food crawl. If you have to use the washroom, there's a nice one nearby. 


We were served with this hot tea while waiting for the food to arrive. It's the typical Chinese hot tea but I really appreciated beings served a pot despite us only ordering 2 just dishes. 


The old Marquina drew people in because of their Original Crab Rice (Php 200) and Lam Dynasty claims to still use the old recipe. I have to admit, I haven't tried the original Marquina Crab Rice so I wouldn't be able to compare, but Lam Dynasty's version is pretty delicious! The flavor is well-balanced and you get a lot of that crab flavor with chunks of crab in the rice. Everything in the dish works together beautifully and I really like the fresh kick from the spring onions. I couldn't stop eating!  

The Crab Rice is so good that you don't need to order much else to enjoy a meal. 


The Soy Squid (Php 240) is the best one I've tried, with perfectly cooked squid and a nice burst of flavor in every bite. The dish has a strong soy flavor that isn't too overpowering and is balanced out by the garlic, ginger, onions, and spring onions that really give it a Chinese flavor.. 

Marquina is said to be a popular Chinese seafood restaurant, so I can't wait to try Lam Dynasty's other seafood dishes. 

Food Quality: 4.5
Service Quality: 3.5
Ambiance: 3.5

Overall Quality: 4.0

Lam Dynasty wants to give us a glimpse of the classic Marquina flavors. If these really were the exact flavors in Marquina, then I am very impressed. The dishes we tried were absolutely delicious and I am craving for more of them in our next Binondo visit. 

No wonder they were a hit back in the day! 

Further reading you might like:
Don't miss out! You can follow me on Facebook or subscribe to Chef Jay's Kitchen by email to get updates on new articles. To check out my restaurant reviews, follow me on Zomato.

Cheers,
Chef Jay

Lam Dynasty Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

2 comments:

  1. 4 rating is good enough. I love Chinese food, second to Italian dishes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I can attest to the taste pf the original crab rice of Marquina, this is the real thing. However, in the old Marquina the "take out" crab rice was wrapped in banana leaves, which gave an additions pleasant aroma. I remember just having that for lunch and was already satisfied even eating it directly from the banana leaves.

    ReplyDelete