An Unli Szechuan Seafood experience at Templo, Banawe

If you’ve ever heard of Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine, chances are, you already associate it with spicy food.

Szechuan food is characterized by bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness brought about by the liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, particularly the Szechuan pepper. These practices, as well as the use of ingredients associated with the Szechuan province, arose from the influx of culinary influences and crops from the Middle East and the new world to China since the Middle Ages.

In fact, Szechuan is known colloquially as “the heavenly country” due to its abundant food and natural resources, as a place where people “uphold good flavor” and are “fond of hot and spicy taste.”

Today, Templo Modern Szechuan Fusion brings those flavors to foodies in the metro with a newly opened flagship store at the Dapitan Lifestyle Complex. Together with my foodie friends from #WeLoveToEatPH and #SaanSaPH, I visited the store to sample the flavors of Szechuan.

Its premises may be small, but its decor bring to mind China’s grand temples, thanks to a red and gold color palette, as well as a display wall of Chinese artifacts and knick-knacks. Oh, and check out that dumbwaiter (the small elevator-like contraption) where food is sent down to the dining area from the kitchens upstars. Neat, huh?

Templo quickly established itself in the local food scene, thanks to its Unli Szechuan Experience. This enables diners to eat as much of its signature offerings as they can at these price points:

Php499: unli meat (Szechuan Sliced Pork, Szechuan Pork Intestine and Szechuan Duck Breast)
Php599: unli shrimp (Soy Garlic Shrimp, Sweet Chili Shrimp and Salted Egg Tempura) and meat
Php699: unli crab (Soy Garlic Crab and Salted Egg Crab), shrimp and meat

These options also include a side of crab rice which is basically fluffy steamed rice flavored with crab meat.

At first, I was a bit apprehensive that the dishes will be too spicy, but as explained by the wait staff, the spiciness factor of these dishes were tempered a bit to cater to the Filipino palate. (But if you’re really into spicy food, you can always request for your dishes to be at full-strength. Or you can accept the Templo Spicy Szechuan Challenge. More on that later. 😉)

I ended up really enjoying the complex flavors of the Szechuan dishes, particularly the Salted Egg Crab, the Sweet Chili Shrimp and the Szechuan Sliced Pork.

Dialed down in terms of spiciness as the dishes were, my Unli Szechuan Experience still worked up quite a thirst. Fortunately, Templo includes something special in its beverage menu: the Lick Iced Tea Island Mango. It’s the freshest natural mango juice drink that has no artificial colors or sweeteners. And it did soothe my thirst and tempered my craving for something sweet after all those savory and spicy dishes.

So if you have a hankering for those bold and intense flavors of Szechuan, head on to Templo today!

Many thanks to Midz of Gastronomida for extending the invitation and to the lovely folks at Templo for having us.

Templo is located at Dapitan Lifestyle Complex, 55 Dapitan Corner D. Tuazon Street, Lourdes, Banawe, Quezon City, open daily from 11am to 10pm. For reservations and inquiries, call +63 2 2447640.

Did you know that if you and a friend dined at Templo, you can get some dishes free via Zomato Gold? Zomato Gold provides members with 1+1 (Buy 1 Get 1) deals on food or 2+2 (Buy 2 Get 2) deals on drinks. All you have to do is sign up for a Zomato Gold membership here. Use my code JELLYB to get 20% off the membership fee.

If you’re feeling extra adventurous and you want to showcase your taste buds made of steel, take on the Templo Spicy Szechuan Challenge! Finish a whole serving of Templo’s 120g Double Hot Szechuan Spiced Pork including the peppercorns and chilis in three minutes, then endure another two minutes before digging into your (well-deserved) reward Butter Milk Coated Ice Cream. Succeed in this challenge and your Szechuan Sliced Pork Meal will be free of charge plus get bragging rights! Ready?

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I was invited to attend a food tasting held in this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Check out my reviews of other Chinese restaurants: