Regular price of Lunch Buffet is at P1250 net, Dinner Buffet at P1399 net.

For June 1 to 20, the highlight of Dusit Thani’s Buffet was Pinoy Street Delights. The theme was in lieu of celebrating the 113 years of Philippine Independence. It showcases, along with other delectable cuisines, everyone’s favorite local street food, delicacies and regional cuisines prepared by Dusit Thani Manila’s own “Mamang Kusineros”.

The set-up is just overflowing with too much food selection. It’s a feast to one’s eyes.

In their Salad Station, there are a lot of fresh ingredients and dressings to choose from.

The greens are really fresh. You can’t find bruises in it. Also, I like how plump and fresh the cherry tomatoes are.

I, however, chose not to take some from this station as I’d like to reserve my stomach to some other selections.

For starters, I had these on my plate instead. Top of the list would be the Insalata Caprese (Mozzarella with Tomatoes and Basil). Simple yet delicious.

Among all these samplers, I didn’t like the scallops at all. It tasted like frozen-but-not-thawed-properly scallops.

Add to that, I had a bowl of their cream of spinach soup. It was just okay. Stomach-warming, tough.

The Seafood Station has shrimps, green shells and oysters. Having grown up in Iloilo, I am fond of eating oysters and green shells (I am not a shrimp eater though. Sounds weird, but true), thus, I know a good kind of oyster and green shell when I see and taste one. Yes, they are really good — fat and fresh!

I had a plate of delish Rockfeller Oysters paired with a glass of chardonnay. Just take a look at those lovely oysters! I was so tempted to ask for more but there are still a lot of food to taste.

I really need to learn how to make Rockefeller Oysters. This is a dish best eaten with a group of friends.

There are a number of interesting main dishes, representing different provinces in the Philippines, in the buffet spread as well. There were Chicken Bicol Express from Naga, Fried Alimango from Iloilo, Pata with Kadios from Cebu, etc.

However, it is the Roast Beef station where the queue is piling up. The roast beef is perfectly cooked according to my liking – tender, moist and succulent. If you want it well-done though, you can request and they’d gladly prepare it.

The Tandoor Section has several protein options to choose from. They have fish, chicken, beef, squid and shrimps. They have the right level of spiciness and packed with so much flavor.

I tried their chicken tandoori and it was just heaven-sent. If only my stomach can still accommodate, I would have eaten it with an ice-cold beer.

They also prepare Naan Bread in the station. The naan bread was the first to go among guests who are patiently waiting for their protein.

The Sinigang sa Miso and Seafood Noodles have ample selection of add-on ingredients to make your own bowl of soup even more tasty. I just wished they’d always follow on fixing the bowl of ingredients so that it wouldn’t look messy.

Their serving of Lumpiang Sariwa is very generous. They should look into serving smaller pieces instead. With the enormous buffet set-up, some would rather take bite pieces from each station.

Of course, a Pinoy Street Food themed meal wouldn’t be complete without the famous Kikiam, Squid Balls, Quek-quek, etc. They also have steaming Balut in the cart.

Aside from those, there’s the barbecue we are familiar with, pork, isaw, gizzard, etc. It would have been better if they really made it authentic by having a charcoal-grilled set-up in the station. I don’t know if that’s possible but that would have enhanced the dining experience better.

Now, here goes a stretch of Sweets. The selection has steamed Puto and Cuchinta, which tasted okay. Nothing too fancy about it.

They also have Bananacue and Camotecue, along with their cart for Crepes. Here you can choose different fruits and sweet fillings to prepare your own serving of crepe.

I got a small bowl of their fresh fruit slices, in this station, to “somehow” clean my palate.

There’s a wide array of Assorted French Pastries. I’m so thankful I took a picture right before I started eating. By the time I went back for dessert, more than half of the pastries were gone!

The pastries were delicately prepared and adorned. They are just too pretty to eat. More than that, they were yummy!  

The Halo-halo station has more than a dozen of ingredients to choose from. They also have Sorbetes to top your creation. Mind you, I sampled with strawberry and mango sorbetes and they were one of the best that I ever tasted. Even my friend agreed as to how delish they were.

There are still a lot of appetizing desserts in the buffet. Remember the adage that “there is always room for desserts”. Yes, there “is”. I need two stomachs to accommodate everything.

Yes, the best that I had was their Puto Bumbong topped with a heap of grated coconut, muscovado and cheese. Just imagine how scrumptious this is. Just even looking at the picture makes me crave to have this again. I even ordered a cup of coffee to better enjoy this sweet ending to my amazing meal.

Overall, it was a good dining experience. The abundant, delightful banquet is a feast to one’s senses. I gorged more plates of food than I expected my tummy can accommodate. Just imagine all the calories! I don’t even want to begin counting. Good thing I scheduled to attend a Zumba class after.

If there’s one thing they need to really improve on, that would be the uniforms of their waitresses. They should invest on their uniforms to improve the guests’ dining experience. I credit them though for the waitresses’ attentiveness and efficiency.

Dusit Thani Manila is at A.S. Arnaiz Avenue, Corner Edsa Ayala Center Makati City. For inquiries / reservations, call (02) 867-3333