Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Vikings: Luxury Buffet?

San Miguel By the Bay
SM Mall of Asia Seaside Blvd
Manila Bay reclamation area, Pasay
02-846-3888



I love buffets!! I find it more sulit that eating in a fine dining restaurant and we Filipinos truly have an eye for All-you-can-eat, belly buster and mouth watering treats served unlimited! Turn left or right and you'll find different establishments around the corner that offers buffet, from restaurants to five star hotels, it's a competition!

Vikings is said to be a luxury buffet that you can compare to other hotels in terms of ambiance, variety of dishes and service but, with a lower rate. Well, if you can get pretty much the same thing that's cheaper, where else can you be? ^_^

I've heard a lot of buzz about it and finally, I've got the chance to try it last Saturday, it's one of those special days of Kiks and I so we decided to have a feast from the sea the vikings way!!! 

Here's a photo blog of our Vikings experience:



The Salad Station

The Grilled Station

Sushi Station

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi Carving Station

The Sushi Boat

Seafood Station

Dimsum

Meat Carving Station

Pasta Station

 
Hotpot

The Dessert Station

The Drinks Station

Some of the menu for the day:




















According to buffet 101 techniques: Roam around.. try to taste everything first and get as many as you can of the ones you like.. avoid the fillers and the ordinary.. AND, consume those that are expensive! Sadly, I don't think I remembered those as most of what I got did not actually went with it... 

 If I started my meal with something that's not good, I might lose my appetite. So, to make it safe, Sushi and Nachos are the front liners. Sushis good but not great...I love their nachos, the toppings were complete and the meat was really tasty. The salmon was fresh and kiko managed to finish 1 whole plate of it (10pcs i think). Dimsum's just ok.

They have Pizza! Yey! And it's good! The Angus Rib eye steak was a bit tough, I'd say casa filipino's angus beef tasted way better than this... Baked oyster was ok, but I like mine to have butter and garlic together with the cheese and cream.

Who would not love tempura?? But then, I want Yakimix's tempura than this one. The batter wasn't that good... The carbonara on the other hand was creamyummy! Lol

For the love of ice cream... who would have thought that I would go twice on a bubblegum flavored ice cream?? Isn't that color blue appealing to your eyes? Well it is right? It's actually not bad, you're like chewing your bubblegum without losing it's flavor. It's good I promise you, though kiko was giving me the face saying "you're weird"... Am I??

What did I say about fillers? Marshmallow is one of them, but why would I care, I love fondue!!! The froyo's another story, it isn't my thing.. not at all.. I don't like it's sour taste but Kiko does... Now about the drinks, here's my warning, stay away from "fresh strawberry juice" ok?... the ice coffee was good though, it tasted like iced machiatto of Starbucks and I had 2 glasses of it! And of course, it's not vikings without their famous unlimited draft beer! hick!



We had this meal for a price of 1088++ each since it's a Saturday. Is it sulit? Of course it is, but not for me I guess.. Aside from the fact that I was expecting more from it, I wasn't able to eat that much =( ... But Kiks said he was happy about it cause he managed to have a taste of everything! I'll be back again to have my revenge that's for sure but maybe I'll do it during weekdays when it's much cheaper.. LOL! The ambiance is great, the service is good, and the food is ok... overwhelmingly lots to choose from! We left the place full and with smiles on our faces because we got to spend the day together regardless of what we have to share with each other... =)


Operating hours:
Lunch 11am - 2:30pm
Dinner 6pm - 10pm
*For sure seats, make a reservation since they're always fully booked
*For walk-in, arrive 1hour before the opening for the waiting list

Friday, September 14, 2012

WooRi Jib

Kalayaan Ave, Quezon City


It's been a long time since I've spent a day with my aunt and cousins who I grew up with. It's the day when all of us  went to LTO and applied for a student driver's license which costs us 317 pesos each. LTO is near Kalayaan Ave. and my aunt remembered the Korean restaurant that I was raving about her around that area. Knowing my aunt who loves watching "Koreanovelas", she asked me if we can have our lunch there and I agreed to her request...

WooRi Jib offers delicious and authentic Korean cuisine that's very affordable. If you love Korean foods then this place is a must try! Aside from the fact that many of us are 'into' the Korean world of fashion and lifestyle, their food is really something. From the colorful presentation, to the distinct flavorful treats, Korean cuisine will definitely give you a different dining experience.

Upon entering the place, it won't give you the impression that you are in a Korean restaurant. But, when they started serving us with the little dishes of appetizers which were unlimited, we forgot about the ambiance and started digging on them! We ordered for the Samgyeopsal that comes with a free Tofu Soup. As seen in many Korean drama, it is eaten by wrapping the grilled pork in a lettuce together with your choice of accompaniments like aged kimchi, shredded green onions, etc. Then you're going to dip it in two kinds of dipping sauces. One is the ssamjang or chili paste and gireumjang that is basically sesame oil with salt and pepper. One thing that's good about this besides the burst of combined flavors, you get to enjoy eating vegies!

Samgyeopsal 500Php ( Minimum of 2 orders)

Free Tofu Soup

Cha-Jang-Myun ( Black bean paste and vegetable noodle) 200Php

I asked the server if this is good for sharing and he told me that it's just for one person only. However, I still ordered this since my aunt wanted to try it. When it came in our table, we're surprised on how big it was! It's actually good for 3-4 persons. About the taste, I didn't like it that much. It tasted light though it has a rich black color which I equate to something with strong flavors. Funny, it tasted like cucumber, only to find out that it actually has cucumber in it.

Kimbap 200Php/2R

This is the Korean style sushi served with kikoman and wasabi. It's good and 'Jon' my cousin, liked it so much that he had finished half of it! After eating, I asked for our complimentary green tea to continue our bonding. 

WooRi Jib provided us a satisfying dining experience with good food, generous amount of serving, value for money, and very polite servers. For this, Thank You! Or should I say, Kamsahamnida! =)

Friday, September 7, 2012

Marina Breakfast Buffet

Sky Garden
SM North Edsa


Breakfast Buffet at Marina is now at 169Php with free flowing coffee and juice. It starts at 6AM until 10AM only.

The menu includes: Garden Salad, Pancakes and toasts, fresh fruits, champorado, molo soup, pansit, omelette, chicken balls, tocino, fried bangus, garlic rice and unlimited drinks.



I thought this Breakfast buffet was like "Something Fishy" with similar rate, only to be disappointed... I was expecting a vast selection of food but to my dismay, it was sooo limited. Coming from night duty, I was kinda hoping for a satisfying Brunch knowing that my next meal would be dinner, yet the food was just sooo ordinary. True, it's only 169Php, but then there are others with the same price but with much better buffet service. I'm not eating here again, though Kik's said their coffee was good..