Buffet Dinner at Seasons (Manila Pavilion Hotel)

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We arrived at Seasons at the Manila Pavilion Hotel at around 6:45pm. There were only a few diners then.

Following are some of the food that we ate (* = food that bf ate but I didn't taste):

soup (cream of veggie of some sort)
another soup*
pickled mushrooms
embutido
a variety of cheeses
a variety of breads*
squid salad*
Caesar's salad*
shake sashimi
squid tempura
sushi
siomai & dumplings
lechon kawali
roast beef with lemon butter sauce
roast pig (lechon goodness!)
strawberry pudding
durian cake
mango ice cream
ube ice cream
blueberry jam
paella
2 kinds of fish fillet
chilled orange juice
chilled pineapple juice*


Now, for some food porn...

Bf is a big fan of salads, so he had to try the salads.

Caesar salad, squid salad

He also has a love affair with cheeses and breads, thus this:

breads, cheeses, dried fruit

For this plate, the caption says it all...

I don't even remember this plate. Bf probably wolfed down all the food quickly.

More food:

embutido and lechon kawali

more embutido and lechon kawali...plus pickled mushrooms and shake (salmon) sashimi

Taste

On the whole, the food was good. There were tons of choices and I especially enjoyed being able to satisfy my love for salmon sashimi and lechon. I also liked the roast beef and fish fillet.

However, there were some not-so-good things that stood out for me.

1. The food didn't have labels. Some of the food in the meat section had small animal drawings such as cow, pig and chicken. I'm not sure if this is a common practice among hotel buffets since the food in the infrequent hotel buffets I've had attended in the past all had labels. It would have been nice to know the name of the food, especially the cheeses.
2. We arrived early, so we were expecting all the food to be hot and fresh. We were surprised to find the soup lukewarm. Same thing with the lechon kawali.
3. The paella was very dry and the mussels have shriveled up. It was as if the paella had been reheated several times. Some of the dumplings were a bit dry too.
4. Some of the cheeses were already a bit crusty (like what happens when you've left cheese exposed for some time) which affected their taste. At least one cheese was there as a small block, with no knife to cut a slice.
5. The desserts available had a local twist. It would have been nice if there were also regular desserts (e.g. non-durian cake)

Some of the food were an acquired taste. I love mushrooms but hated the pickled mushroom dish. I didn't like the durian cake (I got it because I thought it was just a regular cake) but bf had no problem with it. He, however, did not like the strawberry pudding though I found the pudding okay.

Affordability

We were able to secure vouchers from CashCashPinoy so we only paid P699 instead of the regular price of P1398. I think their regular rate was reasonable, given that the restaurant was located in a popular hotel and the selection of food was wide.

Interiors

The restaurant was classy and spacious. Even when a lot of other customers arrived, the place didn't feel cramped and moving around was a breeze. The chairs were comfy and the place was well-lit. I also liked their walls.

Cleanliness

Clean. No problem here.

Service

Although I criticized some of the food at Seasons, we found their service excellent. We used vouchers but the staff were courteous, cheerful, and attentive throughout our stay. We didn't feel any difference in their service compared to those who paid the full price. Every now and then, a staff would stop by our table to ask us if we needed any help or to remind us of some food we might have missed. The staff manning the lechon section graciously accommodated our request for (what else!) more skin. The staff behind the desserts section were also nice and efficient. There was a bit of a backlog during my first attempt to get desserts, though. The staff there were fast and efficient, it just so happened that several customers were approaching the area all at once and assistance was required to get desserts. I would suggest adding one or two people in the desserts section or they could just place the cake slices and puddings in an open, self-service area.

Seasons
Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel
United Nations Avenue cor. Maria Orosa St.
Ermita, Manila
Manila Pavilion Hotel Web site