When your reality as of late has always been about control and the inevitable avoidance of things that has the potential to screw over your will to strike a balance health-wise, you would long for the good old days. You would long for the time when you can just throw caution to the wind and indulge on whatever the hell that can make you happy.
No, I am not trying to specifically shed off the unwanted pounds. But these days, I am doing my best to be healthy. Novice that I am in this league, I tell you, the beginning of this journey is hard AF.
On a good day, I could say yes to one dining engagement. One, being the operative word. (Note to self: Cheat Days are so 1980s, let's go for Cheat Hours. Let's stick to our guns, go for Cheat Hours, and go over those goddamn choices you made with your life while in the process, Yedy.)
Going on a protein feast to fuel a work out may be a valid excuse, but in reality, it's wagyu freaking beef rubbing off my Achilles Heel, people. Not gonna lie here. On top of that, it was The KTG's Christmas Party. Well, more like a year-end party since it happened right after the Christmas day itself.
So basically, MAD FOR WAGYU at Heat Buffet, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel is the newest themed buffet promo at Heat this 2016 happening every Saturday during dinner hours. Priced at Php2,415 net., this buffet is a feast like no other.
You know the feeling of coming out of a buffet as if missing pieces of your soul because you feel - no, you are sure that it wasn't worth it? The price, the calories, the works - you know what I mean? Then came the bill that sucker punches you right in the gut. Excruciating, eh?
It isn't like that at Heat.
You know how Wagyu Beef is priced at restaurants, right? Rough estimate averages for not less than a thousand peso per serving. That is depending on the grams. Rightfully so, since as cliche goes, it is a cut above the rest.
If you have an affinity for good choice of beef, you would know that the Php2,415 net. price is a freaking steal especially that the offers focuses on Wagyu American Style Kobe Beef and Australian Wagyu Grade 4-5. Something that you shouldn't let go without taking advantage of.
Playing the main star of the show, wagyu beef are peppered in every food station on the buffet. And Heat, being one of the Best Buffets in Manila, you are guaranteed that everything is of high quality - whether the grub is freshly prepared and cooked as requested or those which are readily available on the buffet spread.
As with any other buffets, one of the spots hovered with people is the
carving station where a gigantic Roast Wagyu Beef and Wagyu Tomahawk. Side dishes are spread alongside so you can pretty much create a feast of your own in this station alone.
But then again, would you dare miss all the other Wagyu offerings? Nope, so you move right along.
Sauces which can accompany the Wagyu Beef dishes are readily available alongside for easy access. But do not miss out on the wall where various sauces are located because there are tons which aren't available by the stations. One particular sauce that captures my attention was the Honey Truffle Mustard sauce. It was good - a mustard perched several notch higher than usual.
Dishes are tagged accordingly with its respective names and the names of the chefs who created the recipe. So navigating the buffet spreads in haunt for those you wanted to try from the get-go wouldn't be that hard.
Some of the dishes we spotted and some which came as highly recommended are the Wagyu Beef Pepper, Executive Chef Tobias Unger’s Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek, and Executive Chinese Chef Tony Sum’s own version of Stewed Wagyu Beef Brisket with Radish dipped on homemade sauce.
I am mad crazy about Beef Brisket and Chef Tony's version of it is something that rocked my world. It was so amazing I almost burst into an applaud upon first bite.
There's also Wagyu Steak Tartare for those who fancy its rawness in all its glory. Condiments which are all great accompaniment to this grub are available by its counter so feel free to concoct your own creation and revel on the awesomeness of your creativity.
Executive Italian Chef Marco Ghezzi's Wagyu Beef Cheek Cannelloni shouldn't also go unnoticed. Rolled pasta filled with amazing Wagyu beef cheek isn't something you would normally come across with in any other restaurant, you might as well indulge.
Beef Wagyu Skewers are one of those I've enjoyed, but equally worth ones attention are Chef Yusuke Hino’s Wagyu Yakiniku Beef and Dimsum Chef Andy Liew dim sum creations, Wagyu Beef Ball Pao Bun and Wagyu Xiao Long Bao.
And a Mexican food lover that I am, the Beef Wagyu Tacos just hit the right spot for me.
Now, granted that all the Wagyu Beef dishes I have tried were all nothing short of amazing, the one that I must say well worth to write home about is the Wagyu Beef Jerky. During our dinner, it was such a runway winner.
Its thinness can be liken to that of a bacon, while the crisp texture reminded me a downright good crisp pork rinds. The taste leans on the savory sweet side of the spectrum so it was just pure bliss.
Mad props to my seatmates who do not throw a fit as I hoard a plateful of this jerky.
There is also this amazing looking steak, which isn't really a steak but a red velvet cake. See the play on creativity? Amazing, isn't?
One of Heat's strongest suits in my opinion is their dessert station. I mean, they are so goddamn good at it, it's driving me crazy every freaking time. But keeping with the Wagyu theme, it is only reasonable that we got to feat on another creative dessert available, the Wagyu Crepe.
it isn't mead of beef, so do not panic. It is just shaped patterned into the Mad For Wagyu logo of Heat. So, there.
While the readily prepared dishes already sent us to blissful Wagyu beefy experience, there are some of us who tickled their creativity and concoct their own happy plates.
Crating your own happy plates is a possibility given the numbers of Wagyu Beef dishes available on the buffet spread. Anton even wrote about creating your own 10 Course Wagyu Beef Degustacion at Heat's Mad For Wagyu on his famous blog. So, you can pretty much do the same thing.
Or you can also focus on just creating a single dish that will knock everyone's socks off just like what Eugene of the Hefty Foodie did.
Steak Rice + Beef Jerky + Fried Egg. If this plate isn't what you call amazing, then I don't know what is.
Of course, other non-Wagyu Beef items are still available on the buffet spread. Seafood choices are specifically aplenty, so for those who cannot last a day without eating seafood just like me, we still got another reason to smile.
Now, on to the paparazzi snapshots during The KTG dinner party.
Heat at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel
Lobby Level, Tower Wing
Edsa Shangri-La Hotel
Contact No.: +632-633-8888 ext. 2740
Lobby Level, Tower Wing
Edsa Shangri-La Hotel
Contact No.: +632-633-8888 ext. 2740
Mad For Wagyu Buffet
Every Saturday dinner Php2,415 net
Every Saturday dinner Php2,415 net
Add Php750.00 for unlimited wine
Add Php700.00 for Stella Artois on Tap