THE BUFFET International Cuisine, Quezon City

I have to admit, I am one of those who is in constant search for the best and affordable buffets in Manila. So, when the chance to try The Buffet International Cuisine along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City presented itself, it became a persistent call that I couldn't bend my conscience quite enough to ignore. A handful of Manila food bloggers have shared their experience about The Buffet so, I figured it was high time to try it myself.

The Buffet specializes in international dishes with emphasis in interactive approach to dining experience brought about by several buffet sections. This interactive spin on the buffet encourages diners to create their own food based on their liking and have the friendly chefs prepared it for them. There is also a buffet section wherein diners can cook their own food on their respective tables.

Feast at The Buffet International Cuisine Quezon City

The location of The Buffet is hard to miss. Standing along the busy street of Commonwealth Avenue, right beside Nissan Commonwealth. It's facade holds big signage of its name visible even if you are situated right across the location or even in a moving vehicle.

The interior features a classy ambiance suggestive of bygone era. There are chandeliers, long curtain/drapes, and a grand staircase that will make one feel as if they were inside a big mansion if not a palace. I went there during lunch time and I could just imagine how good it would look during night time when beautiful lighting could just make everything more romantic.

The grand staircase that welcomes guests upon entering the restaurant leads to the function rooms on the second floor of The Buffet. The function rooms have impressive floor area and designs hence, it is only fitting that The Buffet offers their venue services alongside catering for different occasions. The function rooms available for rent are; The Grand Ballroom (200 guests), Platinum Room (100 guests), Diamond Room (80 guests), and Conference Room (perfect for corporate and business meetings).

Venue and Catering Services at The Buffet Quezon City

Underneath the rand staircase is where the buffet spread and the main dining hall are located. The Buffet serves international cuisine that ranges from Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Western, and Korean cuisine which in my opinion is their best suit since the owners are Korean nationality.

THE BUFFET STATIONS:

Entering the buffet area, you will be prompted with the variety of buffet spreads located in the middle that extends until the back side of the area. The left and ride side however serve as the dining area for guests.

Shabu-Shabu Station

This station boasts of wide variety of ingredients known to comprise a decent shabu-shabu meal. Diners can get unlimited serving of these ingredients and are encouraged to cook it on their table where a stove top and other cooking utensils are provided upon request.

There are variety of kinds of vegetables, seafood, meat, and balls.

Diners can also create their own shabu-shabu sauce/dips with the use of sauces provided alongside the shabu-shabu ingredients. There are only two kinds of shabu-shabu soup available; beef (spicy) and chicken soup. Hence, the creat-your-own-sauce spin can come handy if one desire more flavor on their shabu-shabu. I love adding satay sauce to my beef broth, perhaps you might want to try that too.

Pasta Station

The pasta station boasts of different kinds of pasta noodles and variety of choices for sauce alongside other ingredients which can make a pasta dish all the more hearty and filling. A chef manning this station is more than happy to assist diners with their pasta choices, all you have to do is pick and then wait for it to cooked.

Main Dishes Station

The main dishes section has variety of prepared dishes of different variants. Some items are mainstays while the others are included on scheduled rotation to present variations for diners.

I tried several dishes on this section and ended up having Bak Mi Goreng and Seafood Hot Pot as my two favorites. The Kare-Kare was equally good but the previously mentioned two dishes were the ones I consider the stars.

Bread and Pizza Station

Different kinds of bread were plenty, although I hope that they cold add more cheese variants to the choices. The pizza was also decent enough and I appreciate how quick the staff were to replenish when it's running out.

Steak and Barbecue Section

Since The Buffet boasts of its interactive approach, there are several stations that calls for diners choosing the food they want to feast on and having the chefs manning the stations preparing it for them. That includes the steak and barbecue station.

The steak station features pork steak every weekdays and roasted beef every weekends. Different accompanying side dishes are also available all through out the week. During my visit, there were cajun potato and steamed vegetables available.

The barbecue station on the other hand features different meats and seafood perfect when served grilled. Just like all the other station, these were quick to run out and also quick to be replenished.

Yakiniku and Teppanyaki Station

This I must say is my favorite station among the impressive choices at The Buffet. This station features Korean meat goodies, something The Buffet is extremely good at, hence, worth raving about.

There are variety of marinated meat available such as meat loaf, sliced assorted vegetables, pork mascara with barbecue sauce, pork belly fillet, milk fish in vinegar, fish fillet in lemon grass, squid barbecue, and squid curry.

There were also pork bulgogi, beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, and spicy chicken bulgogi. These four are my favorite among the choices that I could not count how many servings of this have I finished. These alone are enough reason for me to come back at The Buffet, I must say.

Chefs at this station were very approachable and kind enough to accommodate special requests. Sauces that can go well with your choices of meats are located in front of this station. If confused and overwhelmed with the choices, fret not. The chefs and food attendants are always ready to assist and give out their recommendation on what goes best with what.

Korean Station

It is only fitting that the Korean Station is aptly located in front of the Yakiniku and Teppanyaki station because items here goes well with all the things that you can get at the station. I created my own Samgyupsal and I was a happy camper.

Monggolian Station

If noodles and rice are your thing, the Monggolian Station got you covered. There are plenty of choices in order to create a mean and filling bowl of Mongolian goodness.

Chinese and Mexican Station

This station boasts of different dimsum which most buffet lovers love. I was told that it is also one of the most visited section and I was not surprised at all because it carries decent dimsum which I enjoyed to the last bits.

There were also battered fried potatoes, sweet potatoes, and shrimps among many others. The Mexican section however boasts of make-your-own nachos and tacos.

Sushi and Sashimi Station

This is also one of my favorite stations. It features variety of sushi and sashimi which are all impressively hand crafted by well trained chefs at The Buffet.

Choices includes Katsuo Maki, Spicy Crab Maki, Green California Maki, California Maki, Ebi Ten Maki, Las Vegas Maki, Grilled Salmon Maki, Kani Ten Maki, and Futo Maki. There were also Tuna Sashimi, Ika (Squid), and Aburi Sashimi.

Dessert Station

The dessert station features different kinds of bite sized and one serving size cakes alongside different kinds of brownies, candies, and other sweets. The interactive part is covered through their crepe station wherein diners are given choices as to what goes to their crepe and that includes scoops after scoops of ice cream.

There were also some freshly cut fruits and halo-halo station for those who are not too big on sweet desserts.

The rate at The Buffet includes free flow of juice drinks, coffee, and tea. Wines are also available but is not included on the rate.

My Feast

Unlimited Samgyupsal y'all!

Pork Steak with Cajun Potato and Buttered Veggies.

Freshly grilled pork steak with veggies and potato

Shabu-Shabu goodness.

These alone were filling enough, so go easy on it because you would not want to miss other dishes on the buffet especially those yakiniku and teppanyaki goodness!

Desserts were impressive. Not your run-of-the-mill sweets. Kudos!

My experience at The Buffet International Cuisine was impressive enough for me to consider a return visit. There were plenty of choices but not overwhelmingly so, just enough for its rate of Php 538 for a weekday lunch. The place was also impressive in terms of space and design. The service was thoughtful and friendly but on a professional level. They have acoustic band playing every Friday night so it could also be a perfect venue to have a relaxing after-work night out with friends.

I rarely go to this side of Metro Manila but my experience at The Buffet I must say was worth the long drive.