Red Dynasty sets itself apart from other Chinese restaurants in the country.

Holed up in the space of what used to be Choi Garden, Winford Resort & Casino Manila’s restaurant caters to people who have a flair for authentic Chinese cuisine in a modern lauriat-style setting.

“What we wanted to do initially was to have a traditional Chinese restaurant. But we also want to differentiate ourselves from those other Chinese restaurants by adding a little bit of modernity to it like hot pot and, if you go South, they have Chinese pulutan. Chinese people like to drink beer and order stuff. That’s what we added to our menu. We’re about to launch the hot pot maybe this month,” owner Antonio How Jr. told DAILY TRIBUNE.

Siomai or dim sum, which are made from scratch in their kitchen, are the bestsellers. For those ordering the set menu, Peking Duck is the most requested.

Red Dynasty also prides itself for other sumptuous meals including the Crispy Roasted Pigeon, Hot Prawn Salad, Roasted Suckling Pig, Crispy Seafood Roll, Golden Seafood Soup, Steamed Lapu-Lapu, Steamed Crab with Glutinous Rice and desserts such as Mango Pudding.

At the helm is head chef Peter Lee, a Macau-born cook who has been around hotels and Chinese restaurants in the Philippines for quite a while.

“He’s pretty much our heart and soul,” How said.

The journey

Red Dynasty had quite an adventure to its inception — negotiations took a year to finish.

“One of my business partners met one of the people who owns the casino. His main business is kitchen equipment. As this used to be a vacant spot before. They were trying to sell the items because it had been vacant since the pandemic. My partner looked at the place and realized that instead of buying the stuff, he could be the one to operate the place na lang (instead),” How said, marking the start of the turnover.

“As the ball kept rolling, we eventually were able to form a team. It took quite awhile, most of 2023 we were negotiating to get this place. A year passed before we finally got the contract,” he recalled.

It took How and his business partners, some already managing other restaurants of different cuisines, all their might to drive Red Dynasty to where it is right now.

“It’s our first Chinese restaurant, but the plan is to have more. I know this is kind of huge pero gusto rin namin malaman (we want to know) if we could handle this because there’s a market for Chinese restaurants,” How said.

Family affair

A celebration is always welcome at Red Dynasty. Come Mother’s Day, take your family to dine at the restaurant’s VIP rooms.

Sans the divider, the four VIP rooms on the second floor can accommodate 60 people. The first floor has a seating capacity of 120 diners. The second floor, not counting the VIP rooms, can seat 70 guests.

VIP rooms 3, 4, 5 is valued at a minimum of P15,000 per table. For the VIP room 2, which is bigger, it is valued at P20,000 per table. VIP room 1, which has its own lavatory, is priced at P25,000 per table.

“We’re constantly adding options to the menu. Every month we’re adding new stuff. We also taste kung ano ‘yung feel namin, na kahit masarap siya pero hindi pumapatok sa customers (we taste what we like and even if it tastes good it does not become a hit with customers). This is the first branch, but hopefully we will have more,” How said.