Kapampangan Dinner Buffet with Chef Del Rosario @ Diamond Hotel

Corniche @ Diamond Hotel

Corniche @ Diamond Hotel

As I was heading to Diamond Hotel last night, I got a message on my mobile phone saying “mequeni, mangan na tamu manyaman!” which when translated means “welcome, let’s eat flavorful dishes!” It was the teasing SMS from a friend who invited me to a special dinner buffet inspired from Kapampangan cuisine with Chef Sau Del Rosario. It was an intimate gathering for Diamond Hotel Philippines’ Filipino Food Festival featuring ‘Culinaria Capampangan‘ at Corniche Cafe.

Chef Sau Del Rosario

Chef Sau Del Rosario

Hailing from the “Culinary Capital of the Philippines“, Chef Sau of Villa Cafe brings to Diamond Hotel the genuine flavors of Pampanga at the buffet from May 10 to 19, 2012. As featured chef, he creatively infused local dishes from Pampanga in the Corniche lunch and dinner buffet.

Main Dishes

Some of the dishes include Aligue Fried Rice, Lamb Shanks, Pinakbet with Shrimp & Crispy Pata, Fresh Lumpia Ubod, Steamed Lapu-Lapu, Adobo-Quesong Puti & Salted Egg Pizza, and Ceviche with Pomelo, among others.

(L-R; T-B) Aligue Fried Rice, Fresh Lumpiang Ubod; Steamed Lapu-Lapu; Adobo,Quesong Puti & Salted Egg Pizza

(L-R; T-B) Aligue Fried Rice, Fresh Lumpiang Ubod; Steamed Lapu-Lapu; Adobo,Quesong Puti & Salted Egg Pizza

Camaru  Spring Roll

Camaru Spring Roll

Recommendations

Of particular interest to me were the Camaru Spring Rolls, Crispy Pata Kare-Kare, Young Lechon with ‘Bringhe‘ and Pork Sisig Foie Gras with Organic Egg.

Camaru is actually a cricket delicacy in Pampanga but had a twist this time where it was put inside a spring roll with some vegetables; perhaps to  mitigate the thought of eating insects for the uninitiated. 🙂

The Crispy Pata Kare-Kare was already a visual feast by itself; and the taste did not disappoint (TOP PHOTO).

Pork Sisig with Foie Gras

Pork Sisig with Foie Gras

As if having a young crispy lechon was not awesome enough, they made it more interesting with ‘Bringhe‘  or the rich Capampangan paella. To describe it as moist curry rice is an understatement. (no photo)

With all that said,  I think the highlight of the night is the Pork Sisig Foie Gras with Organic Egg. You don’t come across authentic pork sisig quite often outside of Pampanga, and adding foie gras just placed an exclamation point to the dish.

Don’t miss this one when you visit the Culinaria Capampangan feast. It somehow constitutes 50% of your Capampangan culinarya experience. 🙂

Other almost similarly good dishes include Bistik with Shitali Confits, Ox Tongue Cream of Mushroom & Corn, Fried Catfish Fillet with Buru Fermented Rice and Vegetables, and Chicken Galantina Roulade.

Bistik with Shitali Confits

Bistik with Shitali Confits

Pinakbet with Shrimp & Crispy Pata

Pinakbet with Shrimp & Crispy Pata

Ceviche with Pomelo

Ceviche with Pomelo

Chicken Galantina Roulade

Chicken Galantina Roulade

Fried Catfish Fillet with Buru Fermented Rice and Vegetables

Fried Catfish Fillet with Buru Fermented Rice and Vegetables

Ox Tongue Cream of Mushroom & Corn

Ox Tongue Cream of Mushroom & Corn

Dessert

Culinaria Capampangan Desserts

Culinaria Capampangan Desserts

It doesn’t end there. Dinner buffets are not complete without desserts and since this should be Pampanga-inspired, we also have our line up of Kapampangan desserts in the form of Ube Halaya, Brazo De Maiz, and Tibok Tibok (which is from Fresh Cows MIlk) to name a few. Check them out at Taste of Manila blog.

Guests availing of the buffet also get a chance to win roundtrip airline tickets for two to Bohol with accommodations. The Culinaria Capampangan food festival is in partnership with Philippine Airlines, Crossover 105.1 and Avis Rent-A-Car.

Visit Corniche at Diamond Hotel and get a taste of Capampangan cuisine for Php 1,600 nett per person. (Php 1,888 nett with unlimited tropical juices). For reservations check the contact info below.

  • Diamond Hotel Philippines
    Roxas Boulevard corner Dr. J. Quintos Street, Manila
    Tel no: (632) 528-3000 local 1121
    Email: bizcenter@diamondhotel.com
    Website: www.diamondhotel.com
    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/diamondhotelphilippines
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/DiamondHotelPh
Culinaria Capampangan @ Diamond Hotel's Corniche

Culinaria Capampangan @ Diamond Hotel's Corniche

If you are not the traveling kind of person, this is your chance to have a taste of the culinary capital of the Philippines that is Pampanga. Please do not miss this opportunity and catch Diamond Hotel PhilippinesCulinaria Capampangan at Corniche Cafe.

Ube Halaya Sundae @ P15.00 Only!

Mini Stops Ube Halaya Sundae

Mini Stop's Ube Halaya Sundae

While walking along the streets of Makati the other night, I passed-by Mini-Stop along Pasong Tamo to satisfy my usual craving for cheap soft serve ice cream.

The last one I had was when it was still the Hershey’s Chocolate sundae flavor (which is yummy by the way).

To my surprise, I saw an ube colored poster and asked details about it. It turned out that it’s a new flavor which just started last Dec 28 in all of their branches – it’s Ube Halaya Sundae!

However, it’s on a Limited offer basis and most probably would only last for a week or two. So hurry up!

It seems that Mini-Stop is just testing the market for the flavor. It may come back later on if it does well.

Ube Halaya or Halaya Ube is a rich dark lavender purple color of sweet yam-jams usually stored in bottles found in local grocery shelves. It is  made from a variety of sweet potato called purple yam (ube)

almost done :)

almost done 🙂

more Ube Halaya Sundae

more Ube Halaya Sundae

It almost tastes like its real ice cream counterpart.

At P15 (USD 0.33), Mini-Stop‘s Ube Halaya Sundae is love. 🙂

Just have it in moderation though; powder-based soft serve ice-cream/sundae are not exactly healthy food. One Ube Halaya Sundae per day would do. 🙂 (kidding!) Nomnomnom….