Comfort food for rainy-day blues

t rained, it rained
It poured, it stormed
It shuddered, it thundered
It whistled, it blew

Imprisoned at home
I ran to the phone
And found comfort
In dialing Su Zhou :-)

MANILA, Philippines – Like most Filipino city rats, my comfort foods of choice rotate among Pinoy home cooking, pizza and Chinese food. So when stormy weather forces us to stay home and watch bad TV and inebriated by the music of the rain, by force of habit I find myself dialling 73737 (that's North Park, by the way, not Su Zhou).

Residents of the Greenhills and Wilson areas are much luckier because their choices for Chinese take-out far outnumber those for residents of other locations, save for Ongpin. It was in the Greenhills-Wilson area that I found a great neighborhood restaurant called Su Zhou.

Like a real Chinese resto, Su Zhou is a no-frills, no-nonsense joint. So for those who are after frills—ambience, coziness, dim lights—it would be wise to skip over to Fu instead at Serendra, The Fort; Su Zhou would not be the restaurant for you. The walls here are painted a simple flat white and green, they don't even have the same chairs and the lights are simple Chinese-themed lanterns.

But if you are a real foodie and can delight in a meal amid an austere setting, by all means visit this restaurant. Like the residents of San Juan and contiguous neighborhoods who fill the restaurant at different hours of the day, you'll grow accustomed to the place