Tong Yang Unlimited Grill and Shabu Shabu

Tong Yang Unlimited Grill & Shabu Shabu Buffet opened in Robinsons Antipolo last year and as with most buffet restaurants, there's always long lines. That one particular Saturday though, we're at the mall so early we decided to walk in and see if they can accommodate us. Luck's on our side, we were seated in no time. 

We were probably the second customer to be seated and after several minutes, the place was already jam packed with diners. Unlimited food, buffet, and eat-all-you can offering despite high price and inflation still has its charm. 

As per usual, I was with my father and my nephew. This is my nephew's first time at Tong Yang. He's not very fond of grilled food but surprisingly, he enjoyed this one. My father on the other hand enjoyed the hot pot, creating his own bowl of hearty soup with lots of veggies and very few meat. I, well, I enjoyed the seafood, specifically the tuna tail. 

Islas Pinas Buffet: A Food and Heritage Village [Blog Review + YouTube Video]

I recently went to Islas Pinas Buffet Restaurant which was tagged as a Food and Heritage Village under the famed chef Margarita Fores to check out the place and try out the buffet offerings. Islas Pinas opened last year and originally started as a food hall. Come February of this year, Islas Pinas transformed into a buffet showcasing different Filipino food from all over the county. 

While I am confident that the food would be food since it's under the wing of chef Margarita Fores after all, what I was excited about prior to my visit was the aesthetic of the entire place. And it didn't disappoint. Islas Pinas as a heritage village has a charm of its own. 

Located at Double Dragon Plaza in Pasay City, Islas Pinas is a good destination if you want decent Filipino food while feasting your eyes to the wonders of its decors that mimics different parts of the country and echoes Filipino heritage. Aside from that, they do have a Pasalubong Center that offers local goodies which makes it a perfect destination for people who wants some souvenir edible or not, from the Philippines.

Seafood Sunday Brunch Buffet at Spectrum, Fairmont Hotel Makati

Seafood lovers, such as myself shall rejoice as Spectrum of Fairmont Hotel in Makati City curates a Sunday Brunch meant to showcase delightful seafood dishes of wide variety. Spectrum's Seafood Sunday Brunch Buffet which started on June 5 will run up until August of this year only.

I have been to quite a few seafood-themed buffets because I just cannot say no to seafood (Case in point: Remember the book I co-written? Yes, my part of that book was all about seafood. I love seafood so much the Little Mermaid got nothin' on me.) Judging from the variety of seafood dishes laid on the buffet spread at Spectrum - man, they mean serious business, I tell you.

Now, the thing about some seafood-themed buffets I have been to, as I observed, was that they only allocate a portion of their buffet spread to showcase certain numbers of seafood dishes. We are talking about those buffets that changes theme occasionally here and not those which are hardcore seafood buffet restaurants which feature seafood through and through.  

Breakfast Buffet at Fab Restaurant, Holiday Inn Galleria Manila

I stayed at Holiday Inn Hotel Galleria Manila with my family weeks ago to celebrate my sister's birthday. Part of our accommodation was complimentary breakfast buffet at Fab Restaurant. It was not my first encounter with Fab Restaurant since my parent's default hotel choice for family bonding has always been Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Hotel because of some Priority Club membership they are part of. 

Photos I took whenever we're dinning at Fab Restaurant were all tad too personal to be posted here on the blog, hence it is only now that I get to write about my dining experience at Fab.

Fab is the in-house restaurant of Holiday Inn Galleria Manila that offers breakfast buffet and all-day dining menu. Although Seven Corners Restaurant located at the connecting hotel Crowne Plaza is more famous, Fab Restaurant also offers impressive International food choices.

NIU by Vikings Buffet, SM Aura

A lot has been said about NIU by Vikings Luxury Buffet located in SM Aura. A simple Google search yields numbers of food blogs and media write ups about what is tagged to be the fine dining version of Vikings Buffet. And it can't be helped since being recognized as The Best Buffet Restaurant in Manila, one cannot really expect nothing less when it comes to the Vikings Buffet Group.

I have written about several Vikings Buffet branches here on the blog including another on of its sister restaurant, Four Seasons Hot Pot. Dining experiences at these buffets always bring delight to my heart. Now the spotlight is at NIU.

During the early days of its opening a hefty price tag of over Php1,000 will secure you a spot to this fine dining luxurious buffet. During my visit however, the price has been slashed to Php888 for lunch and Php1,388+ for dinner. Now the question still lingers, why is NIU more expensive than other Vikings Buffet?

Php 444 Buffet Rate at DADS World Buffet 38th Anniversary Promo! 50% Discount Madness

In celebration of its 38th year Anniversary, Dads World Buffet will give a 50% off promo that spans in all of its branches in EDSA, SM Megamall, Glorietta, West Ave., and Manila.  This one-day-only promo which will happen on August 26, 2015 is Dads way of thanking their loyal guests for continued support.

As the pioneer restaurant buffet concept in the Philippines, Dads World Buffet’s strongest suit is its staying power which proved to be unshakable after all these years. Its goal to lead its diners into a great world of gastronomical journey is mirrored in different cuisines served at Dads everyday.

And if you fancy a delightful journey such as this, Dads World Buffet is encouraging you to take advantage of their 38th Anniversary promo. You may avail of the 50% discount by following the mechanics.

KFC Unlimited Breakfast & Waffle Buffet #KFCWaffleBuffet

KFC Unlimited Breakfast is back, but this time, a Waffle Buffet is included to make our mornings even brighter. Happening every weekend since June 13 to July 5, 2015 from 7:30am to 10am on selected KFC branches nationwide, KFC Unlimited Breakfast & Waffle Buffet is one good reason to wake up early and celebrate beautiful weekend mornings with your loved ones. I know I did.

While KFC Unlimited Breakfast Buffet isn't really a new promo since they had it previously, the addition of unlimited waffle in unlimited ways sure brought delight to KFC breakfast lovers out there such as myself.

Waffles, as you may have known always go perfectly well with chicken - a product that KFC is known for. Hence, throwing waffle into the mix to make the KFC Breakfast Buffet all the more exciting really made sense. Another great thing about the promo is the fact that diners may customized their waffles in unlimited ways.

Sambo Kojin SM Megamall: Eat-All-You-Can Smokeless Grill Buffet

Sambo Kojin at SM Megamall is one of the newest restaurants to join the band of foodie places in the area that offers eat-all-you-can feast. Known as the sister company of the famous buffet restaurant in Manila Dads Ultimate Buffet, Sambo Kojin offers unlimited Japanese Yakiniku and Korean Barbecue alongside other Japanese and Korean Dishes. 

Their newest branch in SM Megamall is said to be their biggest branch yet.

Although it was my first time to visit Sambo Kojin at SM Megamall, the concept isn't really foreign to me as I have experience dining at their EDSA and Eastwood branch. Other Sambo Kojin branches are located at West Avenue and SM Southmall. 

The Round Table in Kapitolyo Pasig: An Affordable Eat-All-You-Can Tasting Session

The Round Table is one of the newest restaurants in Kapitolyo Pasig City that specializes in serving what they called an Eat-All-You-Can Tasting Session. If you love affordable buffet restaurants and have penchant for trying out variety of high quality dishes, I must say The Round Table can be a place for you. With the current promo price of Php199 and a regular price of Php295 per person, what else could we ask for?

With the burgeoning foodie scene in Kapitolyo, The Round Table aims to offer something different and fresh by offering daily themed buffet - something no business in the area has offered before as far as I know.

Trailing a bit down the memory lane, The Round Table started as Q Bistro located at Malayan Plaza in Ortigas back in June of 2006 which band of creative minds in the kitchen headed by Chef Mia K. Capay, a product of Professional Culinary Institute in California now known as the French Culinary Institute. 

Four Seasons HotPot City, SM MOA

Four Seasons HotPot City is the newest buffet concept that opened recently along SM By The Bay at SM Mall of Asia. This newest buffet restaurant in Manila specializes in hotpot / shabu-shabu creations which diners can customized by themselves with fresh and healthy ingredients. Being under the umbrella of the famous buffet chain, Vikings Group, Four Seasons HotPot City holds the promise of providing luxurious feast of unlimited proportion. 

In a nutshell, Four Seasons HotPot City concept spring forth from the cook-your-own-food idea which is not really new in the food scene and the noble idea of farm-to-table, a fairly new practice in Manila restaurant scene but not at all a foreign concept. But as expected of any Vikings Group restaurants, it goes beyond that. 

"From the source, to your table" as indicated on Four Seasons HotPot City Facebook page, may very well be apt for a description since the concept is not really boxed in solely at the more known "farm-to-table" idea. The selections of food in a set up reminiscent of a big and really clean market involves great selection of meat (ranch-to-table) and seafood (sea-to-table). There are also notable selections of cooked dishes, delectable desserts, and unlimited drinks including beer (heaven-to-table -- okay, I made this one up.)

Vikings Buffet SM City BF Parañaque

The recent opening of Vikings Luxury Buffet at SM City BF Parañaque, the 7th branch of what is tagged as the Philippines' largest and widely patronized buffet, proves that despite few unsavory commentaries, they are still on top of their game. Growing in numbers in terms of branches, continuing to make people happy, and being part of some of Filipino's special moments shared over variety of spreads unparalleled to any other; Vikings Buffet is a celebrated feast many patrons pray to stay.

Judging from the long lines in all of its branches and often fully booked advanced reservations, it seems like Vikings Buffet meant to do just that.

Recent roadtrip to the South prompted an opportunity to visit this newly opened Vikings SM BF. Having enjoyed some leisurely feasts in the past in some of their branches, I expected nothing less and I was not disappointed. It was worth the drive from the East to the South (Thank you Skyway, bumpy road in C6 can be hell at times).

Cravings Fresh Picks: Salad, Soup, and Mongolian Buffet

Buffet and Healthy are words that we do not frequently see together in one phrase nor sentence. When searching for best buffets in Manila, healthy is not really the first word that plays in our mind - well at least for me. But this blog post is all about buffet that allows people to indulge but not without total disregard to health. 

To be specific, as the title suggests, this blog post is about Cravings Restaurant's Fresh Picks Salad, Soup, and Mongolian Buffet.

Soup and Salad Buffet is not really a new concept at Cravings Restaurant. I remember having enjoyed it years ago when I frequent Cravings branch at EDSA Shangri-La Mall. Aside from their Coffee and Cakes Unlimited, this is one of the reason why Cravings is one of our family's go-to restaurant. But this time, Cravings takes a new spin to their promo.

Circles Buffet at Makati Shangri-La: Treasures of Turkey, a Feast of Turkish Cuisine

A feast of Turkish cuisine is what awaits buffet aficionados and eat-all-you-can lovers at Circles Events Cafe of Makati Shangri-La Hotel from August 1 to 10, 2014. This Turkish food festival at Circles features Treasures of Turkey in gastronomical form prepared by guest chefs from Shangri-La Hotel in Bosphorus, Istanbul, Chef Harun Imre and Chef Ramazan Edrem. These two talented chefs carried with them Turkish ingredients from Istanbul to make Treasures of Turkey Food Festival at Makati Shangri-La breaths authenticity.

Treasures of Turkey will last only for 10 days. Yet, it holds the promise that within that span of time, colorful spices and exquisite flavors of Turkish cuisine will surely transport guests to the Republic of Turkey. International dishes at the buffet spread of Circles Events Cafe will still be available for guests to feast on during the festival, but the spotlight belongs to the Treasures of Turkey this time.

Turkish Feast at Cirles, Makati Shangri-La

During the media preview, we sampled some of the traditional dishes from Turkey which will be included in the festival. Chefs Imre and Edrem graced the luncheon to welcome us and give some insight about the cuisine they re most proud of. There aren't many Turkish restaurants here in Manila, hence, this chance is perfect for those who wants to savor the goodness of Turkey's rich cuisine.

Tex-Mex Fiesta Grande Buffet at Oakroom Restaurant of Oakwood Manila + Buffet GIVEAWAY!

Days after I have tried the Tex-Mex Fiesta Grande Buffet at Oakroom Restaurant of Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg Center Manila I was still raving about the goodness of their Americanized Mexican offerings. Truth be told, theirs are the best Tex-Mex dishes I have had. The fact that this buffet includes unlimited servings of Margarita and non-alcoholic drink Shirley Temple only took my experience up a notch.

Although the buffet focuses mainly on specific cuisine, I wouldn’t mind saying that it was one of the best buffets in Manila that I have tried recently. Oakwood’s Executive Chef Jerome Catailler and his team really did a great job in creating feast of Tex-Mex dishes at Oakroom. Needless to say, they made a fan out of me.

Oakroom Restaurant is known to dish out themed buffets every quarter that makes them a good candidate for best hotel buffets you would come across with. Unlike other hotel buffets, Oakwood Manila’s wouldn’t overwhelm you with exaggerated choices that are too impossible for you to try in one go anyway.  Yet, it does not mean that you would be limited in terms of variants to choose from. As a matter of fact, their buffet spread is decent enough to get your money’s worth. Add to that, the fact that they focus more on the quality of their dishes assuring every diner that each and every food that they will get to enjoy is worth the calories.

Breakfast Buffet at Pan Pacific Manila Hotel

I have mentioned in my previous post about our stay at Pan Pacific Hotel Manila that the wonders of our experience weren’t just confined within the corners of our room.  While I had the grandest time relaxing in our room, the best thing that really left a mark on me was our dining experiences.

The morning after the night I spent sleeping like a baby in our room, we were greeted with an awesome breakfast buffet waiting for us at the Pan Pacific Lounge 21st floor of the hotel.  Wide variety of food which wasn’t just limited to the usual breakfast dishes was spread at the buffet table while guests were busy loading up to face a great day ahead.