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The boyfriend and I had been so caught up with work (he in game development, me in both part-time teaching and game development) that finding a nice place for our 2nd year anniversary dinner was sort of a last minute thing. In fact, I had only drawn up Holiday Inn’s Flavors restaurant on the internet when I got home last night, just before dinner.

Mind you, he was very insistent on us celebrating during the day itself. I was thinking we could celebrate on a weekend, when the work load was not that bad, but no. It had to be on the day itself. He was adamant about it.

Our table, facing nifty decor

The boyfie likes buffets and we like celebrating in places with virtually no people (that’s why Yakimix and Dad’s are out of the question). Last year we celebrated at Manila Peninsula’s Escolta. This year, new hotels have already sprung up in Makati and one of the places that came out from Googling the search term “makati buffet” was Flavors.

Cute bush-like teddy bear as centerpiece

I read up about it and found out that it’s a lot less expensive than most hotel buffets (at approximately P1.1K per head), has a nice view of the city, and has beautiful interiors. Of course, for that price, you can’t expect a variety of selections that can rival Sofitel’s Spiral. But then I remembered, I could only explore 1/4th of Spiral buffet before I’d start to feel like I’d explode from overeating.

The interiors are clean and welcoming. Best of all, hardly any people!

Ok, so my title for this blog entry starts with the word “lucky.” Well, when we walked in, we were asked if we wanted to avail of their promo. I said, “You have a promo?”

And the girl attending to us said that for the entire month of April 2014, if two people are dining together, the second person would only have to pay P1. She said that it’s because it’s Holiday Inn Makati’s anniversary. OMZ! What are the chances that our anniversary would coincide with this??? Of course, we took the offer!

Anyway, here are their selections:

Some starters. I didn’t get this one, though. Behind that were various soups, and I love their creamy potato soup (argh, forgot to take a photo) because it didn’t have an overwhelming flavor. Some creamy soups make you full almost immediately. Theirs had just enough flavor to get you started.

Various kid-friendly dishes on display. I love the golden fried crab cakes best from this table. They’re soft (I think I can safely call them elderly-friendly, too).

Desserts. Not pictured here are the halo-halo and ice cream bar, which I did not sample.

Some healthy Middle Eastern salad that usually go with pita.

Lovely bread selection.

All right, the first things I put on my plate were various types of maki. This is how I usually start with buffets. The california maki was soft and chewy enough but the ones wrapped in seaweed…well, I didn’t quite like the texture of the rice. It’s like they hardened a bit.

I had the creamy potato soup afterward then moved on to this:

Breads!!

I had been looking forward to the pretzel and it did not disappoint. I savored every buttered bite. It was a bit salty on the outside but had a wonderfully chewy texture on the inside. Also had flat bread with fatoush, hummus and feta cheese. Delicious!

From left: breaded chicken fingers, golden fried crab cake, and stewed chicken. Not pictured here was the best meat of all: the lamb meatball. I was only able to taste half of it, after the boyfie realized that he had the last piece (and only half was left).

From this photo, though, I love the crab cake best because it isn’t too filling but at the same time, it was flavorful. The stewed chicken looked like it would taste like adobo but it actually had a very mild, pleasant flavor. The breaded chicken fingers were kid’s stuff so it was nothing special.

Grilled mahi-mahi. Oh, my! This has got to be the best thing I’ve eaten that night. The chef at the grilling station (where raw meats were laid out) told me that she’d just deliver it personally because it would take a while. What can I say: melts in your mouth!

Cannot not have dessert. I wasn’t able to get the name of the dessert in the martini glass, but I’m guessing it’s strawberry panna cotta. Too sweet!!! I ended up leaving a lot out of the outer layer and ate much of the inside, so it kinda looked like a red disk hanging on top of an empty glass after I was done with it.

Below that was caramel eclair, which I loved because the pastry crust broke its sweetness. I also loved the white chocolate mousse, which I suspect was supported by a coconut crust at the bottom.

Honestly, I think it was value for money because many of the selections were really good. To think, because of the promo, it ended up being less expensive than dining in Yakimix or Dad’s. The staff were well-trained, courteous and very attentive so that adds to the experience.

Here’s a photo of our receipt, haha!

I actually would like to come back, but hopefully when it’s daytime. The view from this floor is breathtaking.

Oh, but we were so full, we both agreed to walk home from Holiday Inn Makati (which is attached to New Glorietta) to our respective condos near Buendia. Hahaha!

Holiday Inn Makati Flavors is located at
Palm Drive Ayala Center
1224 Makati
Phone (02) 909 0888
Email hism.fb@ihg.com
Website http://www.holidayinn.com/makati

Oh, and they have a Facebook page!