“ Better than Globe Lumpia at Gil Puyat Ave. Yummy! ”

“ As our friends from Binondo will attest, New Po Heng Lumpia House serves as a good introduction to Chinese cuisine as it is found in Manila's own Chinatown. For centuries, immigrants from the Chinese province of Fujian have been coming to the Philippines and settling down in Binondo; although specialties from Canton (Guangdong), Sichuan, and maybe even Beijing can be found in different restaurant menus, Binondo cuisine is predominantly Fujianese. In New Po Heng, the humble aspects of Fujian cuisine are evident in the simple filling breakfast and snack food consumed, historically at first, by Chinatowners; today we get a glimpse of that in dishes such as their fresh lumpia, flavored with stewed vegetables, ground peanut sweetened with a little sugar, and crunchy fried vermicelli bits; misua soup; and fish or pork dumplings in a thick soup called maki mi, made heartier with the addition of thin yellow wheat noodles. New Po Heng serves this food in 'turo-turo' kitchenette surroundings. The staff assembles mounds of lumpia filling into substantial logs, which I think are good for a hungry man, but also good for sharing by 2 or 3 people. Fluffy dumplings will be found in both the pork and fish maki mi, while the noodles remind me of Cantonese style noodles. Like I said, it is cheap and filling: P50 will get you one big lumpia, and P55 is the price of their noodles. Come by early on Saturdays, and you might bump into Ivan Man Dy, who makes this little restaurant a landmark on his Binondo Wok food tour. ”

“ When I was a kid, I was afraid to enter this place because you have to go through a dark alley to reach a beautiful garden. New Po Heng looks like a worn-down carinderia, but don't let it fool you as they served the best and cheapest chinese food in town. That's right! Best and cheapest is still possible. New Po Heng only serves a few dishes daily: pork or fish maki/maki mi, misuaco, fresh lumpia, chinese adobo, and green beans. Maki is a thick soup filled with egg and fluffy pork. "Ma", in chinese means meat, and "ki" means thick soup. They make their lumpoa fresh. It is big too. ”

“ When I first brought my friends to New Po Heng, they stared at me oddly, doubt creeping into their voices as I led them down a darkly lit hallway (even though it was in the middle of a sunny afternoon). They only relaxed when they saw the lone, yellowing sign of New Po Heng at the end of the corridor. (Man, what kind of friends, right? Can't even trust me not to sell them on the black market... Geez.) Anyway, New Po Heng is simple enough. They just serve lumpia (along with a small variety of soup, but everyone just goes there for the lumpia). i For those unfamiliar with a lumpia: its a rice roll / spring roll or popiah in other SE Asian countries.) The lumpia they serve is the fresh kind: no deep frying happening here. On a thin wrapper (so thin you can see light pass through it) they expertly tuck in a heaping serving of vegetables, with a light flavoring of sugar, seaweed, but not much else. If you're eating there, you're also offered some tea, free of charge. Each serving of lumpia is 50 PHP, and I am honestly unable to finish one serving (although that may have something more to do with the past four restaurants that I've been to before ambling along to New Po Heng). Though it may be a few blocks away from where all the action happens (Ongpin street) and is a bit hard to find, New Po Heng is worth it! Afterall, isn't finding a true hole-in-the-wall restaurant part of its charm? :) ”

“ I can secretly tell you - I don't think I'll ever get sick of Chinese food. There are just so many varieties to choose from! What's good about different Chinese restaurants is that they specialise on different dishes! If you're craving for lumpia (fresh lumpia for that matter) you HAVE to go to New Po Heng Lumpia House. It's definitely one of the best fresh lumpias I've tried in Manila! For me, you really need to drizzle the lumpia with this really awesome sweet sauce! For other people though they even prefer eating it without the sauce. I promise you, you ordering one will make you feel like it's not enough. You really have to listen to your tummy and order another lumpia! People consider this as a light snack but for me, it's actually good for lunch! You may get hungry after a while because it's all veggies but its good alternative to salad! ”

“ I've been to New Po Heng only once in my entire life, most likely 15 years ago, but let's not even count how many times I have had it on my plate at home. It was an easy choice for any family member to take home as pasalubing from Chinatown as it was easy to handle, tasty, and healthier than most other options that we had. Their lumpia is simply a must try, and although it would almost be impossible to put into words how different they are from other lumpia houses, like I say, the smallest of differences make the biggest impact. But the most evident of all differences is their lumpia topping, the Ho Ti, which is kind of a crispy vermicelli slash seaweed topping that adds texture and another layer of flavor that only NPH (no, not Neil Patrick Harris) ever offers. Add to that their sweet lumpia sauce and you definitely have lumpia heaven! Do consume immediately though as it spoils quite quickly. ”

“ \Talk about a hole-in-the-wall in the old part of town and one has to place New Po Heng Lumpia House at the top of the list. Somewhere between the foot of Jones Bridge and the Binondo Church in Chinatown is a nondescript entrance to what must be one of the best kept secrets in the area. At first glance, it isn't the kind of place that "nice" people go to. Yet that's exactly the kind of place New Po Heng Lumpia House is that has a steady clientele of office workers, entrepreneurs, and surprisingly foreign tourists. All come for the one main dish of the house - Chinese lumpia. An order goes for P50 and can be a complete meal in itself. But it goes very well with rice, thank you. Forget ambiance, there isn't any. At best, it is a karihan or carinderia, but its signature dish has become legend. The place also has several types of thick soup and regular dishes like fried fish or sautéed pork on regular days, but their best seller is what brings everyone in. One time when I went there, I was half surprised to see that a tour group of Europeans were listening to a tour guide extolling the merits of the lumpia. I later learned that many a tour group is brought in, especially foodies looking for a taste of genuine Chinese lumpia. Yes, the wrapped vegetable dish is spectacular. And it comes with free tea, which makes a quick meal here a bargain. Don't ask about the facilities. They're non-existent. The rest room is old but surprisingly the toilets still flush. Still, it can be unnerving for the first timer to dine in an area that doubles as a warehouse. And don't look for parking because this is Binondo. There isn't any, at least in the immediate area. As for the service, the owner who mans the cashier can be moody. She can be talkative one day, and surly the next. Her mood rubs off on her staff. One good thing though. Although they raised their price of lumpia to P55 quite recently, I gave the usual P50 the last time I was there. No one complained. Not even the owner who just stared at me blankly. Tight-fisted Filipinos are still welcome there, it seems. The best way to find it is to look for the bright yellow-green Eastwest Bank sign of the Uysubin building at 531 Quintin Paredes St., Binondo, Manila. The entrance is right beside the bank's ground floor branch. ”