Majestic Restaurant is probably one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Cebu City that continues to successfully satisfy appetites for almost four decades now. Savvy businessman/restaurateur Winglip Chang founded the Asian Cuisine Corporation that owns the Majestic Restaurant Group in 1985, one of the many businesses that he has established. The biggest and most prominent to date is the formidable 101 Restaurant City, Incorporated that owns and manages the Grand Convention Center and its three restaurants: Grand Majestic, Seafood City and Tsay Cheng.
Executive Chef Tsang Wing Tong and 101 Restaurant City Inc. President Winglip Chang.
Winglip, which means “forever independent” in Chinese, strikes a debonair stance. A graduate of Silliman University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he was recognized by his alma mater as one of its distinguished alumnae in the field of business in 2009. His entrepreneurial skills coupled with his banking/investment corporate experience has made the original Majestic Restaurant and his other related businesses to what it is now—a giant in the restaurant industry. Family man Winglip is married to Pinky of the Pink Flora Flowers fame. Their only son Anthony has given Winglip and Pinky the bliss of grandparenthood.
The buffet concept of Chinese cuisine was actually popularized by Grand Majestic with the opening of the Grand Convention Center along Archbishop Reyes in Cebu City in 1995. The buffet layout was so sumptuous that the huge hall was always packed with diners. The culinary magnet for diners then was the Peking Duck, a very expensive dish, that was served in the buffet carving station. This was such a big treat for Chinese cuisine lovers so they’d make an effort to be in the buffet table early to get a big slice of the Peking Duck.
Peking Duck
Sushi and Sashimi
With its recent reopening (after a major renovation), the Grand Convention Center continues its tradition of buffet lunches and dinners at Grand Majestic. And to ensure the authenticity of its Chinese menu, Winglip introduced the new Executive Chef, Tsang Wing Tong, who has been cooking up exquisite Cantonese dishes in his native Hong Kong since 1980. I was amused when Chef Tong spoke to me in Tagalog, a skill he claims he acquired when he worked in Clark Field in Pampanga and in Manila for a few years. Chef Tong’s Dimsum offerings are one of the best sellers—a variety of siomai, siopao or pork buns, Shrimp Taro, and more. The menu has expanded to include Japanese sushi and sashimi. The different stations include assortment of breads, soups, salads and cold dishes, hot entrees, rice and noodles and desserts. Lunch offers the succulent Roast Beef while dinner features the Peking Duck. And for weekdays, there’s the “throw-back-lunch” surprise promo where lucky diners get to pay the original buffet rate of P195 when the random announcement is made. The regular buffet lunch is at P499 while dinner is P599.
Roast Beef
Fried Taro Shrimp
Japanese Siomai
