As you know it some people say that the world is gonna to end tomorrow. And honestly, I really couldn't care less to those people and to the Mayan prophecy. I'm a person who believes today is more important than yesterday, than tomorrow and probably than ever!

Yesterday has gone. Let's all move on because contemplating about it would serve no purpose how so ever. Tomorrow is unpredictable. But if you start working on it TODAY, by expressing yourself, doing the things you like and going for the things you love, then you will likely have a better tomorrow. Chos!


So let me tell you what I did today because today is more important like I said. lol

Given that I may or may not put the Mayan Prophecy in consideration. I had an awesome Pre-apocalypse lunch today at West Empire Chinese Restaurant and Sea Food Garden. I was so full that I didn't even eat dinner. And I think I'm good until the end of the world. By the way, as of writing this, the world's end is 1 and a half hours away!


So, the lunch was very intimate for a group of very diverse bloggers. Arguably though you'd always feel comfortable just by being surrounded with people you share common interests with, in this case it's food and of course blogging. More so, there's nothing like meeting the restaurant owners, Ms. Belinda Suaco and Jong Tan, who in the first place invited us over to experience Davao City's newest foodie wonderland.

Before taking our lunch we had a little tour around the recently opened West JBT Plaza located just along Lanang Street across Waterfront Hotel. The JBT plaza has an international fusion cuisine buffet called "Jaime's Restaurant", an authentic Japanese Restaurant called "Chiyo Authentic Japanese Restaurant and Yakiniku House", a coffe shop called "Perfect Cup Cafe and Bar" and lastly, the truly resplendent West Empire Chinese Restaurant and Seafood Garden.

Top Half: Chiyo, Bottom Half: Jaime's Restaurant

These 4 distinct food establishments in one building, I must say, gives exactly the kind the kind of ambiance you would expect. Chiyo being authentic especially with two Japanese vip rooms; Jaime's perfect for binge eating with its elegant fine dining ambiance; Perfect Cup Cafe being cozy and West Empire being an empire where you don't only get to eat good food but feel like an old hungry Chinese emperor!

I think I'll start calling the restaurant 'West Empire' so its quite lengthy name won't disrupt my flow. Heh. Now I'm about to talk about the food but before that I need to tell you I want to keep this post short. Perhaps, I'll start by presenting to you the foooooooooooooooood! Count the o's and that's exactly the number of dishes served to us. Imagine that!?

Siomai , Hakao, Assorted Cold Cuts and Xiao Long Bao <3

For appetizer we had the Assorted Cold Cuts, Siomai and Hakao. And for soup we had the Eight Treasure soup which had 8 different chunky ingredients in a rich tasty soup. Also they served us their best seller! An instant favorite after I first tried it at Crystal Jade in Greenhills - the Xiao Long Bao! Oh dear God, their Xiao Long Bao tastes better than the former. And Thank you Lord! I don't have to fly to Manila to kill my cravings! Most importantly my quest of finding a Xiao Long Bao in Davao is finally over.

Fried Crabs with Salted Egg

The first main course to arrive the table was the Fried Crabs with Salted Egg. This is a must-try because the salted egg gives a pungent sweet and salty taste that well complements a generous serving of crab meat. Ironically though, the fried crabs was the last to be eaten because we were too shy to show the incredible hulk within us! You know crabs!! Next time I'm gonna get my hands real dirty for crabs. *Grrrr! Crush that puny shell!*

Warm Prawn Salad / West Empire Special Seafood Noodle / Spareribs Salt and Pepper Steamed Lapu-Lapu in Soy Sauce / Taro Puff with Assorted Meat / West Empire Special Fried Rice French Beans / Lemon Chicken Fillet / Sizzling Beef Tenderloin (Chinese Style) Two-way Bamboo Lobster (Sashimi and Sotanghon in pot) / Chilled Mango Sago / Fried Crabs with Salted Egg

Lobsters were also served but it was easier to eat than the crabs. I still like the crabs better though until came a dozen plates of shell-less food which we all ate, of course, after taking pictures of them. We talked about a lot of stuff over lunch. We talked about blogging, about the food, the restaurant, Ms. Joyce shared to us some food trivias where I learned Xiao Long Bao literally means Little Dragon Bun, and some more random stuff while submitting to the tenderness of the sizzling beef tenderloin, the freshness of the steamed lapu-lapu, the palatableness of the lemon chicken fillet and others with each having ridiculously good food adjectives.

And OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! If Aliens were to invade our planet during the end of the world this would easily come off as a peace offering to them. It's gonna send them away from Milky Way because of its creamy goodness! If Zombocalypse were to happen then this is going to be the cure for its sweetness. And if it is indeed the end of the world I don't care for as long as I'm very happy to discover the existence of warm prawn salad.


It was so good that we almost forgot to take happy photos of ourselves! lol





Lunch ended at around 3'oclock with a cool cup of Mango Sago and Buchi for desserts.

Almost three hours of eating, taking of food photos and intimate talk equals awesome Pre-apocalypse lunch that I will never forget even if the world ends tomorrow. And I don't even care. :-)

West Empire Chinese Restaurant and Seafood Garden is located on the second floor of West JBT Plaza along Lanang St.,The Insular Village, Davao City.