For the whole second anniversary month of Marriott Hotel Manila this October 2011, Marriott Cafe is promoting their Lunch Buffet at 50% off until October 31!

Grilled Prawns

Feast on Marriott Café’s stuffed turkey, butter fried prawn on a bed of asparagus, blue marlin with tomato coulis, and Arabic chicken. All that even from appetizer, soup, salad, and dessert!

Together with some foodies, we got to try once more Marriott Cafe‘s international dishes last weekend.

I usually go around the buffet and pick only those that I liked. But this time around, I tried them by areas. 🙂

My first plate was Chinese-inspired with oriental dishes.

Oriental Dishes: (Japanese - left; Chinese - right)

The second plate was a Japanese special with maki, sushi, and one of my favorites – tempura, among others.

My third plate was from the Middle-East with beef skewers and grilled meat. 🙂

Middel Eastern & Western Plates (L-R)

The fourth plate has a western theme filled with steaks and some seafood.

Here are the other luscious photos I got during our lunch buffet at Marriott Cafe.

Salads

Steak

Marriott Cafe Dimsum

Chicken Dishes in various preparations

Roast Duck

Prawns prepared in a different away and served in singles

Desserts!

Marriot Cafe Desserts: Sweets, Cream Puffs, and Ice Cream!

Tiramisu Cream and Tarts!

Marriott Hotel's Marriott Cafe Buffet Lunch Promo

Visit Marriott Hotel and avail of this opportunity from October 1 to October 31, 2011 (Mondays-Saturdays) at the Marriott Cafe Lunch Buffet promo and get to enjoy a 5-star hotel dining experience with flowing ice tea at only half the price – P875 . 🙂

It’s Dad’s turn! After Mother’s Day last month, wives, children, and families are thinking of places this weekend where to spend time with their Dads on Father’s Day!

Aside from home, you may choose to catch the special offers by these restaurants specially for Father’s Day:

Corniche (in Diamond Hotel)

Corniche in Diamond Hotel will serve a Father’s Day special buffet called “Celebration of Filipino Flavors” by Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico of Bistro Filipino at P1,588 net per person or P1,888 with unlimited beer, house wine or any standard drink of your choice.

22 Prime

Father’s Day brunch at 22 Prime will be a feast on cold appetizers, salads and soups, entrees, and Prime Rib Carving at P1,295+ per person, available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Dads get special souvenir items like men’s fragrances from Hayden Paris Fragrances, gifts, products from Belo For Men, and selected men’s wear from Gold Toe.

Café d’Asie (The Bellevue Hotel)

Marriott Café (Marriott Hotel Manila)

Brunch or dinner seafood buffet with Asian and Western favorites, fresh seafood, carving station, and desserts at P2,000 net per person.

Dine at Marriott Café, Cru Steakhouse or The Lounge on Father’s Day and get a chance to take home a mini cooper and drive it to anywhere for three days.

 

Bizu Chocolate Cigars

Astralis (by Diamond Hotel)

Astralis in Power Plant Mall offers brunch buffet for P758 net per person featuring one signature dish plus salad and dessert buffets.

Dine in a group of 5 and Dad dines for free plus a surprise giveaway!

Bizu Chess Cake

Bizu Patisserie

Get free items upon purchase of Sugar-free Chocolate Cigars and Checkmate Cake in Bizu. The former is a premium handmade gourmet chocolate cigars made with sugar-free milk chocolate and croquantine wafers in a piano finished cigar box. The latter are made of layers of Almond Dacquoise, Italian Gianduja Ganache, Feulletine Wafer and Lime White Chocolate Mousseline.

Serye’s Cafe

Free gift for Dad when you dine in. You can also get a special Serye mug & Barako Coffee with P2,500 purchase

CAV

Free set menu for dads with a reservation for 6 or more persons in CAV.

Father's Day at CAV

Agave Mexican Cantina

Get a chance to win a free dinner for two or a bottle of wine in Agave Mexican Cantina. Father’s Day coloring pages for kids will also be given away.

Café d’Asie (The Bellevue Hotel)

Fathers get special gifts (Men’s Health and Top Gear magazines) from The Bellevue Hotel and Summit Media

What a huge set of choices, and there are more as restaurants take the opportunity in this family affair. Happy Father’s Day to your Dad wherever he may be!

Marriott Café comes up with another deliciously themed buffet – the Ocean’s Surf! It’s a seafood buffet with a wide spread of ocean treasures that’s sure to fill your Friday and Saturday nights at Marriott Hotel Manila.

Drunken Shrimp

At a conservative estimate, I think I had about 8 different shrimp dishes in that single night last weekend.

This seafood buffet included the classic drunken shrimp, fried drunken shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp skewers, Thai-style Shrimp kebab, shrimp salad, ‘Suahe‘, Shrimp & Oyster, and Seafood Risotto – whew! (I think I missed one) 🙂

They also had a drink called ‘Ocean Deep‘ which is a combination of blue lemonade with soda.

Crabs

Ocean's Surf Shrimp

Salmon & Shrimp Salad

The Drunken Shrimp was courtesy of Chef Brammer who hand-picked the live shrimps direct from the aquarium into the cooking pan, added the liquor, shook the mongkok, and added the spices.

Chef Brammer of Marriott Cafe

Of course there were other seafood dishes including a gigantic Fried Lapu-lapu, Rock Lobsters, Tempura, Salmon, and other fish dishes.

Sinigang na Salmon

Recommendations

Aside from the fresh and delectable shrimps, the Sinigang na Salmon caught my palate’s fancy.

I suggest you grill the lobster against eating it as it is. This could remove possible unlikely aftertaste.

The Shrimp & Seafood Risotto is also highly recommended that night. The sticky risotto mixes well with the creatures of the sea. 🙂

Rock Lobsters

Thai-style Shrimp Skewers

Salmon & Crabs

Seafood Risotto

You could also have a seafood-break once in a while with other preparations such as Roast Beef, pasta, pizza (which had seafood flavors as well), fruits, and desserts among others.

Roast Beef & Fruits Buffet

My 4-servings of plates excluding dessert

More Seafood...Giant Fried Lapu-Lapu & Tempura

finally... desserts 🙂

Lastly, buffet dining is always better as a group activity. 🙂 It’s always better to indulge with your relatives, friends, or loved ones. It’s something you don’t do alone or just in a pair.

Enjoying Marriott's Seafood Buffet - Ocean's Surf!

Marriott Cafe in Marriott Hotel Manila is open everyday from 6:30am to 11:00 pm. The Ocean’s Surf Seafood Buffet is available Fridays and Saturdays at P1,750 nett (adults) and Php875 (children). Children 12 years and below get in half the price, 6 years old and below get in for free.

For inquiries and reservations on Marriott‘s Ocean’s Surf Seafood Buffet, check out their website at http://mariott.com/mnlap or call (632) 988-999.

Marriott Hotel Manila brings your Halloween fantasy to life with the hippest spooky party season whether you are in for a day of dining or trick or treating with the kids.

Velocity Bar

Halloween at Marriott Hotel Manila

A Halloween surprise awaits at Marriott‘s Velocity Bar on October 30, 2:00PM, where the little ones are in to experience a  delightfully creepy wizard and witches party for only P500 nett.

An afternoon filled with spectacular party activity traditions such as a magic show, artsy face painting, and flashy glimmer tattoo. Dress them up with their dream character for a truly enchanting moment while they get a chance to win a thrilling gift for their cutest and most unique costume. The kids are also put in the spotlight at the interactive pizza making corner where they will have a great time embellishing their own pizza creations with premium toppings.

Lusciously prepared candy apple, choco banana, scary cup cake, marsh mellow, and pumpkin pie, among others, are toothsome savories of the day. These also include mini burgers, mini hotdogs, fried chicken, lasagna, bolognese, and mash potato. To partner with these delicious Halloween food line up, Californiaberry Non-Fat Frozen Yogurt and Fruit Magic ends the meal with their signature Halloween dessert contenders.

Plus Trick or Treat

Halloween Trick or Treat!

Of course the traditional “trick or treat” will always be there. Up for grabs are dainty and decadent take home goodies courtesy of Nestle Chuckie, Yakult, Universal Robina Corporation, Grand Alpatech Corporation, Leslie’s Corporation, and Liwayway Marketing Corporation. While Enchanted Kingdom, the country’s premiere amusement park brings a truly fascinating experience to all kids and to those truly child at heart with their take home souvenirs to all participants. Moreover, take home a photo souvenir courtesy of Baicapture.

Java+ Halloween Delicacies

When it comes to Halloween delicacies, the best cookies and cakes are those that reflect the chilling traditions of this spooky holiday. That’s why at Java+, the hotel’s grab and go outlet astounds everyone with these thoughtful gift  selections, available for sale from October 30 to November 1, 2010.

Chef Meik Brammer

Halloween Costumes & Parties

Join a culinary adventure with Executive Chef Meik Brammer’s specially selected Halloween brunch menu at Marriott Café on October 30. For only P1,850 net, let the dining episode begin with the succulent nuggets of the sea– lobster, king prawns, green mussel, red crab, fresh shrimp, poached clam, and oyster. At the hot station, look forward loading your plate with classic and international dishes such as roulade of sole fish with green asparagus, pork tenderloin medallions with thyme juice, grilled sea bream on saffron sauce, or chicken sweet and sour.

Tempting grilled meats are also the star of the buffet with its delectable choices of salmon steaks, chicken sate, beef tenderloin steaks, shi-I-taki /shrimp skewer, and lamb chops. Carving, pizza, Asian, barbeque, and other heaps of delectable delights will surely keep anyone blissfully satisfied. End the fiercely, flavorsome feast with heavenly homemade ice cream concoctions and creamy, velvety soft chocolate fondue with pineapple, strawberry, watermelon, and scary cookies to dip away.  The 1 person buffet also entitles the guest to one entrance ticket to the Wizards and Witches party.

Indeed, Halloween becomes truly bewitching with these treats and Halloween costume parties.

Thai cuisine gets highlighted as Marriott Hotel Manila brings the Flavors of Thailand to Manila.

Marriott Cafe features one of the South East Asia’s favorite cuisines – the Thai food – in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Embassy of Thailand and Thai Airways. From August 1 to 31, satisfy your taste buds with a delicious showcase of authentic Thai dishes from Thai chef Thanathorn Krobsuay.

Chef Krobsuay, as Marriott’s official Thai food ambassador, shares his sophisticated style and expertise in Thai cooking flown all the way from the JW Marriott Bangkok.

Marriott Cafe

My experience of the Thai dinner buffet at the Marriott started with the famous Tom Yam Goong soup. It’s a spicy prawn soup with lemongrass and galangal. Although there are a number of variants of this soup including their color which is usually red, this one is white.:) It was a good prep-up appetizer.

Next in line was the Som Tum, a spicy green papaya salad. This time, it meant the word ‘spicy‘ in its flavor. 🙂

Other dishes I tried out were Thod Mun Pla, Spicy Wok Fried Seafood, and Larb Gai. Thod Mun Pla are Thai fish cakes (marinated and fried) with pickled cucumber, green beans and sweet and sour sauce while Larb Gai is a minced chicken salad with mint and ground rice plus lime juice and fish sauce.

As common as it is in Thai buffets, I give my thumbs up that night goes to the Pad Thai. I found the stir fried noodle and seafood perfectly cooked and taste that’s not too overpowering.

Pad Thais are considered their national dish which consists of fried noodles, eggs, been sprouts, shrimp, chicken, and tofu combined with other oriental ingredients including tamarind juice, hot chili, and fish sauce.

Ending the buffet was a Kanom Thai Ruam (selections of Thai royal desserts) which are usually made of coconut milk based or sweet sticky rice. Thai desserts are generally not as sweet as those from the Philippines which we are accustomed too. So if you are one of the latter I have mentioned, you might consider Thai desserts a little lacking.

By the way, I also got to try a Thai pizza which was conservative with the toppings. Interestingly, it had a basil leaf on top of each slice.

Too bad i lost all my photos in this food escapade. The photos here are care of Marriott Manila. Top photo by Alex Dizon.

Promotion

Moreover, diners who avail of the Flavors of Thailand buffet also get a chance to win a pair of round trip tickets to Thailand courtesy of the Thai Airways and Tourism Authority of Thailand. The prize trip includes a three-night stay with breakfast at the Rennaisance Koh Samui Resort and Spa Thailand.

Flavors of Thailand Buffet

Flavors of Thailand

The Flavors of Thailand buffet is available during lunch and dinner at P1,350 nett for adults and P675 nett for children.

Sunday Brunch is a little more expensive at P1,650. Children below 12 get in for half the price and children below 6 get in for free!

Marriott Café is located at the Ground Floor of Marriott Hotel Manila in Newport City, Pasay. For information and reservations, call (632)988-9999 or visit www.marriott.com/mnlap.