The Parklane Hotel Lunch Buffet

After the disappointment at a buffet (see previous entry), I was slightly a bit more cautious when I went to Parklane Hotel to eat at their buffet for lunch.  The experience made me realize why I loved eating at buffets: various food!

I had some salad, soup and some sashimi for my appetizer, coupled with some hors d'oeuvre (shrimp!).  I had a lot of fun with these entrees since they were not only quite fun to look at, but also quite scrumptious! Oooops! No pics for these, it sorta slipped my mind since I was having fun eating.  The soup was quite rich, a lot more than your average cream soup.

 Now for the main meal.  Here's a slight preview of the dishes I ate:

Oho! I see I had a picture of the soup.  I think I had a taste of various dishes, which included pork, beef, chicken and fish.  Honestly speaking, the food was good, but they reminded me of various Filipino dishes, given only different names.  I wonder, does the name of the dish relate to the whetting of the appetite, whether its a common dish or an exotic one?  (Side note: If you noticed I didn't have rice on my place.  That's because I don't eat rice whenever I eat at a buffet.  I try not to eat too much carbs in a buffet setting since I know they're a lot more filling than sampling various other dishes)

I guess this is my favorite part: dessert!

I so loved the desserts especially the creme brulee.  I sampled all of the desserts seen here, and yes, I finished all of them.  They were all so yummy!  I think you could also have crepes made as well as halo halo but I preferred eating these creations.  Mouth watering, aren't they?

I guess the best part about this is the price.  It costs 500 something pesos!  For the quality of the food and the ambiance, the price is very reasonable.  I'd probably take my friends there if I had a chance!

Parklane Hotel
Cebu City

The Buffet at Marco Café

I’ve been to a couple of buffets in some hotels in Manila, and I have to say that despite steep price of these places, I’ve never felt disappointed with any of them.  This made me think that all hotel buffets would satisfy me.  Unfortunately I was proven to be wrong.

I had a lunch buffet with a cousin earlier at the Marco Polo Plaza, and I was really looking forward to it since my sister who had eaten there before raved about it.   She really made me think that the place was worth visiting, and I was excited.  When I entered the place, it was large and very classy.  The staff was very accommodating throughout the meal.  The place was also very neat, not even a single fly dared show its’ head.  The food I sampled was excellent, from the appetizers to the desserts.

So what was the problem?  I have to say it was with the mediocre selection of food.  I’m not sure if they had a theme or something they had to follow for today, and if that was the case, I’m apologizing in advance, but I really thought there was nothing very special in the food they served.  True, the selection of the appetizers from the bread, cheese, salad and sauces were very much varied, but the main course and the dessert fell short, most especially the main course.  Most of the food presented in the main course was something you tended to eat casually.  There was no sense of excitement in the food, nothing that would make you want to try it since it was something that seemed different from what you usually saw.  As for the desserts, there was not really that much of a variety in the cakes and sweets, I guess I just expected more from them.

The food is excellent in taste, no doubt about that.  I was actually quite fascinated with the various types of cheese I got to try.  The thing is, with food I enjoy an adventure, and unfortunately the visit did not quite live up to my standards.    I had hoped for more, and I found the place a bit lacking for my needs.

My verdict: Marco Café would be an excellent place to dine in if you’re looking for an excellent buffet with scrumptious food which are familiar to you. 

The Marco Polo Hotel

Cebu City