Posts Tagged ‘cebu restaurant’
El Viento, Marco Polo Hotel Cebu
This is the only time we’ve ever been to Marco Polo and skipped the buffet at Cafe Marco to eat a simple dinner at El Viento. But either way, you’re guaranteed a pricey meal! For P1,000, our dinner was an Antipasti Platter and a Pizza Quatro Stagioni, 3 cooks at P200, and taxes at P500, for a grand total of a little over P1,500.
Banana Leaf
We just tried another new restaurant in Ayala Center: Banana Leaf. I’m always on the go when it comes to trying new stuff and flavors so I was really excited. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy. I hate to be this frank but I really did not like my first experience at Banana Leaf.
We went in the restaurant and were promptly seated at a four seat-table. I liked the interiors; furniture was comfortable. I was happy to see that there was enough space for the baby’s stroller (that’s always a plus-point for me).
As soon as we were seated, we were given complimentary prawn (not sure?) crackers. Nice gesture, unfortunately they were stale. They should probably check on that before serving it to their clients next time.
Hola España
I read about the Easter lunch buffet at Hola España by reading the newspaper during the week. Having eaten there once in the past, I was familiar with what kind of food they offered and specialties. I remembered reading somewhere that the restaurant’s chef was Spanish and they served authentic Spanish food. Anyways, the buffet was at P395++ per person, which included a glass of iced tea. I called a couple of days in advance to reserve our seats and also asked for a baby high chair.
On Easter Sunday, we made our way to this quaint restaurant. From outside, we saw that no one else was dining. We go in and I ask for our table. I guess we were just in time too because they were just done with setting the buffet table and placing the food. The set up was a little odd since they had the food placed at another room separated by an open sliding door from the dining tables. I went in to check the food, not too many selections, but they had most of their specialties. I looked at a table stationed just parallel to the buffet and saw that there are 3 places set and a high chair; that’s our table, I told myself. And I was right. We were seated and I couldn’t help feeling somewhat conscious about being at the only table stationed in the separate room with the buffet. Hubby reassured me and said jokingly that we had an easy access to the food.
Soup and Breads
The food selection included a Cream of Chicken for the soup with varieties of bread (French bread, crostini, buns, and etc.). For starters, there was a rice and pea salad, green salad with green pepper and tomatoes with 3 choices of dressing (Italian Dressing, Thousand Islands, and French Dressing), croquetas (one of the house’s specialties), Pasta Salad (with small shrimps mixed in), cold cuts with cheese cubes, a Tortilla de Patatas. The entrees were Paella Valenciana (the house’s specialty), Pollo al Ajillo (again, a house specialty), cream dory, egg curry, and Baby Back Ribs. Finally, for desserts, there was a selection of fresh fruits, arroz con Leche, Cream Puffs, and Churros with chocolate. The meal also came with a free glass of iced tea.
I started with a bowl of cream of chicken soup and liked it so much that I went back to a second and a third helping! With each spoonful, there were bits of chicken and fresh vegetables. This made all the difference for me. I had my soup with a slice of French bread and unfortunately, the bread was so hard that I just broke it up into small pieces and dunked it in my soup. The starters did not look enticing to me. Aside from the green salad, there was not much I liked. I did try the Croquetas but unfortunately, they were cold and made me recall the delicious ones I used to order in Sol y Luna when the restaurant was still open. I skipped the rice and pesto salad and pasta salad because of the carbo-overload. I decided to have my carbo fix with the paella instead. The Cold Cuts Platter was just bits of ham and I got myself a couple of pieces to put on my salad. I stayed away from the Tortilla de Papatas as well because it looked too heavy but hubby got a slice and I tried a little piece. Again, too cold to judge its taste, same as the croquetas. They had a small table set up on the side with two beautiful pieces of Jamon Serrano, but as the placard subtly suggested, it was exclusive to the buffet and had to be charged separately. I was sitting right in front of it and boy was it an eye-candy to me.
Appetizers
I moved on to the entrees. Thankfully, they were served in hot platters. The Paella Valenciana was very good. Meats and seafood were generously stirred in the rice. I had half-full plate and savored every bite. I love saffron. The Pollo al Ajillo was very good too. At first glance, I thought they used chicken breast meat and I thought it might be too dry. But I was wrong. They used boneless thigh meat. The combination of the oil, garlic, and chicken was simply divine. I skipped on the egg curry but had a little piece of cream dory. It was alright, nothing much else to say about it. I wanted to taste the baby back ribs since we are big on baby back ribs in our family, but the cuts were huge. I hesitated to take one and instead forced hubby to get a slice. Of course, he didn’t need much coaxing since he wanted to taste it too and compare the sauce to his. There was a lot of fat in the cuts and little meat. The sauce was good, typical actually. I didn’t see how it made it more Spanish than other kinds of baby back ribs.
When it came time for the desserts, I could barely fit in anything else. Hubby got a little bit of Arroz con Leche. He said it was ok. Dad convinced me to eat a churro and I did. Luckily, a server came with hot pieces of churros fresh from the kitchen and I quickly got up and got myself a hot piece with little chocolate drippings on top. Dad thought his churro had hardened because it was cold, but even the hot piece I got was hard. Churros are not supposed to break your teeth while chewing.
Two of the Entrees
In the middle of the buffet, there was a display of Easter eggs carrying a prize. Hearing two tables getting their prizes (10% off their bill), Hubby asked the waiter if Baby could pick one egg too. The waiter said sure and we did win something, a glass of red wine. Of course, it was most probably a glass house wine but don’t you love it when you win something, especially when all you did was eating to get it. Haha.
Overall, I thought the buffet had its ups and downs. But for the price of P395, I thought it was quite worth it considering the amount each dish costs by itself normally. And now I know where I can get a bowl of cream of chicken when I crave for it. Overall, we paid a total of P1,512.50 for 3 buffets (P1, 185.00), a mineral water (P30.00), a coke (P35.00), a sprite (P35.00), a soda water (P90.00), and service charge (P137.50).
Jambon Serrano - Exclusive from the buffet
Sadly, I think the Easter buffet did poorly. I couldn’t help but notice that only 3 tables were occupied. They obviously did not make as much profit as they probably wanted to. But then again, it was Holy Week and most people were probably out of town, out of the country, or having picnics at the beach. Holy Week is after all the longest holiday we have in a year. But I think it’s great that they tried to do something special. I wonder if it will still be on next year though.
(Hola España is located at The Maria Luisa Road in Banilad, telephone number is 344-6149. There is also another branch in Mactan near Shangri-la Hotel)
