Tag: buffet

Dad’s Ultimate Buffet

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 23, 2010

Kamayan Dads Saisaki Restaurant

I had a great time celebrating my post birthday with BFF Christina. We came from way way back, we were classmates since elementary & have been close since then.  We make it a point to go out every now & then.  The last time was actually a pig out session at Circles Buffet.  And yesterday, our bonding session was another buffet! hahaha!  This time, we tried Dad’s Ultimate Buffet (Php 620 per person).

Dad’s Ultimate Buffet has been there for the longest time.  I remember dining there with mom when I was studying.  Until now, a lot of people still go there to sample dishes from 3 renowned restaurants.  I believe its the 1st of its kind.  You can enjoy the dishes from 3 restaurants namely:

  • Dad’s – Continental
  • Kamayan – Filipino
  • Saisaki – Japanese

dads ultimate buffet

Dad’s most popular dishes in the buffet are the ham, turkey & roast beef.  Salads, pasta & other dishes were available too.  As I wanted to budget the way I eat because I can only indulge so much, I opted for the ham & turkey.  yum! 🙂

turkey dads buffet

ham dads buffet

Kamayan, on the other hand, showcases lots & lots of filipino dishes.  I tried their lechon, crablets, squid but there were like more than 10 dishes on display.  My favorite though are their desserts namely: halo halo, puto bumbong, palitaw & bibingka!  Delicious!! 😀

lechon kamayan

My favorite from the 3 though is Saisaki’s dishes.  Their tempuras are just something to crave for.  I requested a whole plate of Tempura shrimps but I removed the skin because I was trying to be healthy.  Another great dish that I always look for at Dad’s ultimate buffet is the Kani Bacon (it’s crab stick wrapped in bacon w/ Saisaki’s special sauce).  I wish I requested for more early on.

japanese saisaki

My last trip at the buffet, I went for the desserts.  They have like all kinds of desserts we can think of.  Crepes, ice cream, halo halo, cakes, chocolate fondue, bibingka, puto bumbong & a lot more.

dads ultimate buffet desserts

I wasn’t even half done but the restaurant already was closing at 2PM.  The buffet runs from 11AM to 2PM.  I really eat slow and I felt bad that I wanted to eat more but was not given a chance coz I lost track of time 🙁  Anyhow, I’ll be smarter next time & go there at exactly 11AM to enjoy the experience fully hehehe! 😛

This is us and as you can see, we were the only customers left.  Pretty obvious that we ate a lot right?  I believe Php 620 for a full buffet of 3 restaurants in one is well worth it.  You might wanna try it out with your family 🙂

roch christina at dads buffet

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Dad’s Ultimate Buffet
Level 4 Bridgeway, SM Megamall EDSA, Mandaluyong City
(02) 636-3785

Circles Event Café

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 8, 2010

circles event cafe

One of my weaknesses is definitely good food.  I can’t seem to resist any opportunity of eating at a good restaurant & having delicious yummy food.  Explains the reason why I gained 5 kilos (11 pounds) in the past few months.  No regrets whatsoever though.  I do know however that I need to cut down on my pig-out events hehehe.

A few weeks back, Christina & I went to Circles Event Cafe for lunch, which is located at the lobby of Shangrila Hotel Makati.  Christina had a free buffet voucher so we only needed to pay for 1 person (Php 1,424.48).  Boy, the place was packed.  No matter how expensive this is, people still make it a point to go to Circles Event Cafe to dine.  I must agree, that with such good food and a pleasing ambiance, I guess dining once in a while here is well worth it.

circles buffet dining

I really liked how the buffet was done, open theater style.  Different stations specializing on a certain cuisine.  Circles Buffet has a salad bar, Japanese sushi bar, cold dishes, Asian dishes (dimsum, Mongolian, Indian) & western dishes (pizza, roast beef-YUM!).  I love their complete selection of breads too!

circles buffet 1

circles buffet 2

Whenever I go to a pricey buffet like Circle Event Cafe, I make it a point to prioritize the more expensive food items, particularly items like roast beef.  You can see in the picture below, me enjoying a serving of Roast Beef, it’s really good, however I wouldn’t go for a 2nd serving on that one!  I have to watch my cholesterol intake 😛

circles roast beef

Another favorite station of mine was the dessert bar!  My golly!  I just loved it!!!  I especially loved the enormous variety of fruits available for us!  Wow!  I had to go back like 3 times, I couldn’t get enough of it!! 😀

circles buffet fruits

Who would forget the ever-famous chocolate fondue fountain & other desserts available at Circles Buffet.  The Tiramisu cups, creme brulee, cakes & the yummy ice cream w/ awesome sidings.  The experience was truly heaven, you can check the pictures in my online photo album for Circle Event Cafe.

circles buffet desserts

One thing I also noticed was the display of the different smileys at the place as well as the good selection of wines in one corner.  Let me share some information because I did read the posters beside them:

circles buffet extras

  • Emoti Cake – Very cute smiley cakes where you can choose a certain emotion to put in your cake (chocolate or cheese flavored) then provide the message you wanna put in (I miss you, I love you, I’m sorry, congratulations, etc).  Pretty cute, a very nice offering by Circles Event Cafe.  The cakes are offered in 2 sizes, Petite (14cm) & Regular (19cm).  Prices ranging from Php 380 to Php 780.
  • Wine Rendezvous – available from 6-11pm.  Guests can choose & drink unlimited wines from Argentina, Australia, South Africa & France for just Php 795++.  There are a lot of wine drinkers out there, unfortunately, I’m not one of them hehehe 😛

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Circles Event Café
Lobby, Makati Shangri-La, Ayala Ave. cor. Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 840-0884

Tong Yang Hot Pot

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 8, 2010

Tong Yang Hot Pot

If you want to try out a shabu-shabu hot pot then it’s best to go to Tong Yang Hot Pot.  Tong Yang offers a buffet with a decent price of Php 560 per person (cheaper when you go during weekday lunch time).  It has a great variety of ingredients for diners to choose from.  You can get as much as you want as long as you can finish everything on your table.  If you happen to have leftovers, you’ll be charged additional Php 500 on top of the buffet price.

Tong Yang Shabu Shabu

There are like over 100 items to choose from like lapu-lapu, oysters, cooked crabs (limited supply), gindara, fish fillet (the best!), meat tender cuts, fresh vegetables, squid balls, fish balls, hotdogs, kikiam, luncheon meat, intestines, squid, tofu, shrimps and a whole lot more!

Rice, bread & cooked noodles are available too for consumption.  Beverages, which is all you can drink, are also included in the buffet package [softdrinks, pineapple juice, iced tea, dalandan juice, coffee & even San Miguel Beer! (hahaha!)].

tong yang menu 3

tong yang menu 1

tong yang menu 2

tong yang menu 4

There are 2 ways for us to cook the food:

  • simmer the ingredients with the soup
  • fry it using butter in the metallic plate

We can choose from 8 soups to go well with Shabu-Shabu: Chicken, Sate, Sinigang, Vegetarian, Kimchi, White Soup (Pork), Taiwan Mala and Seafood Soup.

The soup literally is perfect with many of the seafood items at the buffet. We tried the shrimp which was very tasty, fresh, and tender. The tofu, which is by far always a favorite of mine, also went well with the soup. With a whole lot of taste infused in their soups, great seasoning, yet never overpowering the great natural taste of the fresh seafood or any of the meats, it was just simply delicious.

I liked the spicy sate soup the best, but of course it really depends on your taste 🙂  I especially enjoyed the fish fillet being cooked in butter, oh that was soo yummy, can’t get enough of it.  Also enjoyed the meat tender cuts cooked either way too! The meat, you must make sure to keep an eye on since they are thin cuts.

Tong Yang Shabu Shabu Hot Pot

Special sauces are also available for us to complement the food that we’re eating.  Sauces like teriyaki sauce, egg sauce, native sauce & soy sauce.  My favorite is the egg sauce, it already has everything in it (sate, egg, chili, onions & garlic).  If you want to just dig in and not worry about seasoning the food perfectly, then the egg sauce is the way to go.  A good close second would probably be the native sauce.

Tong Yang Sauce

I was already too full by then but the meal just isn’t complete without taking some desserts.  Tong Yang has great choices for desserts.  They offer fresh fruits, Halo Halo (a Filipino dessert favorite) & ice cream (Big Scoop brand)!   Have Halo halo with as much ube as you want, that’s the great thing about this buffet, even the desserts can be made with just the proportion that you want.   Definitely can’t do that at most other restaurants.

Tong Yang Dessert Area

Tong Yang Ice Tea

Whew!  Even just reliving the Tong Yang experience makes me feel so full already hahahaha!  I can even remember that I didn’t even have enough appetite to eat dinner (we had lunch at Tong Yang).  So if you’re really really hungry & craving for something hot, filling, and fresh, then Tong Yang Hot Pot is the way to go.

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Tong Yang Hot Pot
1498 Quezon Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02)373-3860

Breakfast Buffet at UNO Restaurant

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 12, 2010

cooking station waterfront

UNO Restaurant
Waterfront Mactan Airport Hotel & Casino
1 Airport Road, Lapu-Lapu City, 6015 Cebu, Philippines
(32) 340-4888

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The most memorable breakfast I had during my holy week vacation in Cebu was at UNO restaurant. UNO is located inside the Waterfront Mactan Hotel & Casino which is very near the Cebu domestic airport.

The buffet is open from 6:00-10:30AM.  I really wished I didn’t have a hard time waking up that day coz I could have used those precious minutes eating more food at the buffet.

The design of UNO restaurant is astounding!  They have this multi-colored small rectangles beneath the buffet tables.  It complements the wooden floors of the restaurant plus the overall feel of the place.  They have great service too (well except for one lady who obviously had a very bad morning hehehe!).

The breakfast buffet is included in the room rates but if you’re not checked in, the fee is at Php 684.75 net per person.

My favorite of all the food items offered in the restaurant is their… CHICKEN!  My golly!  Believe me when I say that it was perfect!  It was marinated & cooked perfectly.  I wonder how they did it!  I really just wished we had more time to spare because the chicken was too good… Even after a week, I can still feel my enthusiasm as I was eating the dish.

waterfront chicken

Another favorite of mine was the omelette.  Well, basically because it was cooked right on the spot.  I also love the chef at the cooking station.  They were so accommodating and even delivered the omelette to us.  There were a variety of omelettes to choose from — mushroom omelette, ham & cheese omelette and omelettes with a variety of ingredients to choose from.  Might as well request for a sunny side up or scrambled eggs if you want to.  They also have hard boiled eggs for consumption.

omelette waterfront

Just like most hotel buffets, they serve breads..

breads waterfront

Dimsum was also part of the buffet since UNO restaurant serves international buffet…

dimsum waterfront

Orange & Pineapple juice (fresh!)… they also serve coffee & tea at your table..

juice waterfront

Pancakes!!  They have generous servings of ingredients/condiments to go with it too..

pancakes waterfront

Other food items in the buffet are sausages, rice, bacon (another fav!), donuts (yes, they had them too!), noodles, vegetables, cereals, fruits, desserts, etc..

waterfront buffet

It was truly a great dining experience.  UNO restaurant is really an eye candy.  They serve mouth-watering dishes and service is great!  It’s cheap too at Php 684.75.  I took pictures of each dish & can be found in this Flickr album.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

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