Une Table For Four

One of my personal favorite buffets in town is getting even better! For 10 days (Nov. 20-30, 2009), Marco Polo Hotel – Cebu will be bringing their customers on a magical journey with their annual French Food Festival. I was excited! Hmmm, I wondered, would I be feasting on Canard a L’orange, Bouillabaisse, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Coq au Vin? I was about to find out.

2009 Beaujolais Nouveau

Last Saturday, Hubby, Dad, Baby, and I made our way to Marco Polo Hotel for an unforgettable night of food. I was on high expectations! I’ve always been a big fan of their regular buffet and as I understood from their promotional poster, the French food would be alongside the food they usually serve.

the old school French band

But like a falling star vanishing into thin air, my expectations went crashing hard. Did we come at the right day? The poster did say from November 20-30 and today was the 21^st, I couldn’t have been wrong. Yeah, the regular food display looks great as usual, but where was the French food?

Was this woman as disappointed as I was?

Honestly, I could have counted the French food with one hand: a piece of Brie cheese, Steak au Poivre, Potage au Crecy, and Croquembouche (which was never refilled). That’s about all I can remember. Talk about major disappointment! I honestly felt like I was eating at their regular buffet. And instead of munching on French Onion Soup, Canard a L’orange, Ratatouille or even Chocolare Eclairs, I took pleasure in filling myself with sushi, sashimi, seafoods, and a very disappointing slice of the carving steak, which was way too hard despite being done at medium rare.

dancing....

Thank goodness for the lovely red bottle of wine we ordered: a Beaujolais. Very good and robust, but reasonably priced. It gave me great pleasure to down my sorrow with my glass of red wine, although I did have to order a cocktail after dinner.

...and more dancing!

But all was not bad. To clearly prove that this was French night and not any other night, Marco Polo Hotel hired an old-school band all the way from Paris. Composed of 2 singers, 2 accordeon players, and a pair of dancers, I closed my eyes and let the music take me back to Paris. Airs of La Vie En Rose and Frere Jacques gave me goose bumps on my arms and reminded me of my childhood. They were so old school French, just like my dad. Unfortunately, I opened my eyes and reality sank in. In front of me was a old-school French band awkwardly standing singing and dancing in the middle of the restaurant. They just seemed so out of place.

my dessert plate. no croquembouche!

Thankfully, after 2 sets, they were done.

this is the event being held tonight.

So I guess, this night did not turn out as planned. I still got to eat and drink well for about P4,500. So, if any of you guys want to try, you still have 4 more days to go. Perhaps, the food will be better or maybe you’ll be as disappointed as I was. It’s at your own risk. But tonight (Nov. 27), there will be an event held in the Grand Ballroom with a buffet and entertainment, which should be really good. We went there last year and it was great. Lots of food and lots of booze. Perfect way to celebrate the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. The only downfall? It’s a cocktail/standing up kind-of-event. And if you’re interested in watching French movies, El Viento (the restaurant by the pool) plays one French movie every night at 7:00pm.

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