No, my wife isn’t ovulating now, lol.
Neither one of us has fever.
I’m so glad with our dinner last night, well, not quite.
The HAPPY PART :
My wife Tina, our 4-year-old son Gabby & I got a chance to dine with my sister-in-law Doc Bibs and her hubby Nurse/Chef Jun with their baby Raphael. We seldom see each other, blame our busy schedules. It was recharging after a long day at work seeing a 14-month-old kid eating adult foods with a big appetite. =)
The NOT-SO-HAPPY PART :
I was disappointed with the buffet stations at HEAT, Edsa Shagri-la Hotel.
Most of my favorites were not included in the menu.
I know it’s bad to compare open-kitchen-dining in hotels since they all have something special to offer but I can’t help it. =( Last February we got to try Circles Events Cafe Buffet in Makati Shangri-la Hotel and only last Sunday we were delighted in Dusit Thani’s Family Sunday Brunch (see my previous posts) and last night’s dinner in Heat just didn’t top my list, sorry.
is it ON or OFF ?
The CAST :
Gabby & I…
we had no choice but to smile for the cam =)
I & Tina…
the queen and I.
my in-laws
The PLOT :
enough reason to try dining at HEAT
The HORS D’OEUVRE :
cold cuts, anyone?
salad in waiting
another shot
a closer look
ANTIPASTI…
cheese, dips and lots of them
want some carbo-loading?
more of appetizers...
The JAPANESE STATION :
Although it looks good on photos, it actually lacked lots of things essential for it to be more interesting.
I asked the staff if there’s SUKIYAKI (read: 3 days ago I tasted the best Sukiyaki in Umu of Dusit Thani (refer to previous post) with the most tender beef & perfectly seasoned soup; there was none in Heat.
Next thing I looked for : TAMAGO ROLLS but for the second time I was unsuccessful.
Then I asked for TEPPANYAKI station and it didn’t surprise me to know that again there was none.
I was also craving for EBI & KANI TEMPURA but I only found MIXED TEMPURA which were mostly VEGGIES
at the ORIENTAL/CHINESE section where Peking Ducks are also served.
I asked the staffs at that station : “Sir, Do you have EBI and KANI TEMPURA?”
Two of them replied : “NAKAHALO NA PO DYAN”
where in the pile of those MIXED TEMPURA are EBI & KANI ?
Paging the management of HEAT :
There’s always room for improvement and I think your resto has lots of potentials,
in all fairness.
You would’nt want be SECOND BEST
to either Circles of Makati Shangri-la,
Umu, Tosca, Benjarong & Basix of Dusit Thani or
to our yet-to-be-experienced : SOFITEL’S SPIRAL, right?
At anyhow, we enjoyed each other’s company.
For now, feast your eyes on what Heat has to offer :
turning japanese!
jap station : take 2!
where are the tamago rolls? grrr...!!!
will you dip them in wasabi?
My ANTITHESIS to HEAT’S JAPANESE SPREAD…
eyeLOVEthoseCHOPSTICKS!!!
Tina had her share…
MINIMALISM
Near or part (?) of the japanese station are the seafoods.
Tina’s seafood plate :
there were different sauces to spice 'em up.
That plate was mine :
SURF and TURF, baby!
Those yummies came from these…
seafood calling
can anyone identify the other seafood beside those crabs? it looks like mussels but are not.
more of iodine & calcium-rich seafoods...
The CARVING STATION :
bovine pleasures
bloody hell, it's medium rare! i prefer well-done.
CHINESE FOODS:
one of Beijing's famous dish : PEKING DUCK
STEAMED DELIGHTS
Tina’s oriental choices…
my wife's dimsum & dumplings, peking duck & corn & crab soup
And my chinese food on a jap plate…wow, mali!
i intentionally did not match the colors of my chopsticks, aren't they an eye-candy?
oriental dishes : i want!
much needed break in betweet stations called for roughage
MOVING ON…
There was also a MEDITERRANEAN STATION
where curried beef, chicken etc were up for grabs but we resisted.
persian treats
instead, Tina opted to try the lamb chops, grilled fish, shrimp & veggies…
this plate looks delish!
while I went to queue at the NOODLE STATION…
The line was short and the people waiting were pleasant. =)
After the noodle-lady handed a bowl to me when I was the one next in line, I got to choose my noodle : from vermicelli, flat noodles, egg noodles etc.. then the add-ons from leafy veggies to chicken/pork/beef strips and ofcourse the soup-stock. I had a mixture of chicken broth and spicy shrimp with a little bit of everything and voila…
i had to say the noodle-lady was so efficient & friendly =)
choices of veggies and noodles (there's the canister of colored chopsticks again!)
This was the result of my select-all-that-apply-ingredients-to-my-noodles :
my own D-I-Y hot soup : not bad!
AND NOW, PRESENTING…
HEAT’S OWN VERSION OF
“SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE…”
sweet treats
The selection of desserts was a sight to behold. However, in my own opinion, the tastes were not that impressive as they look like. Some were bland and most have the same gustatory stimuli…
they're wow for the sight but not for my taste buds, sorry
more than meets the eye? err, taste buds?
But I found mango pastries/tarts delicious…
i admit i liked those yellow ones...
My sweet tooth called for these…
i tasted 'em all ! =)
Never to miss the two chocolate fountains…
do you prefer it white ?
or do you like it dark ?
Tina only had few of them…
few were chosen
want some churros or creme brulee perhaps?
I was looking for MUSCOVADO or at least the usual brown or white sugar to couple my bibingka but again there was none! Sayang!
bibingka a.k.a. rice cakes
my bibingka tasted odd without sugar (muscovado) =(
Halo-halo station for those up with “heat”…
summer won't be complete without these
There was no teppanyaki station at the japanese section but the teppan was seen for frying ice cream…
fried ice cream
A wooden canister of TAHO was near the churros and creme brulee station…
doc bibs tried some taho...=)
peculiar combination : taho & churros =)
Gabby's sweeter than those treats =)
Nevertheless, that dinner was memorable only because we had fun eating together
one for the books
but I still do wish that there would be great improvements in HEAT.
There should always be value-for-money!
Oh, I forgot, we ordered HEAT ICED TEA JAR
unknowingly (because we did not ask and did not check the menu)
for a whopping price of PhP600 !
We paid PhP 1,210 per pax plus service charge PhP 544
plus VAT 12% PhP 652.80
plus L.tax Food PhP 53.24
plus L.Tax Bev PhP 18
These made me insomniac that night!
tsk tsk tsk =(
It’s very unlikely with other HOTELS that offer OPEN-KITCHEN DINING BUFFET
on a NETT CHARGE! (Dusit Thani’s Sunday Brunch offers buffet inclusive of drinks : iced cold green teas, lemon grass juice, 2 kinds of wines plus freebies for kids).
What was good with HEAT : Buffet comes with FREE COFFEE / HOT TEA.
Kids below 5 (?) also eat for free.
FYI HEAT stands for HEALTHY EATING AMAZING TASTE.
was it really amazing?
ugh, c’mom!
HEAT
Edsa Shangri-La, Manila
1 Garden Way, Ortigas Center
Mandaluyong 1650, Metro Manila
this post made me hungry!!! i am now waiting for dinner and i saw these feast
i have tried circles too and i agree with you that it is one of of the best. we had lunch then for 2 and 1/2 hours. we ate so much we decided to walk the 5 blocks from makati shang to the office. but the food photos you posted here looks equally good, too. maybe reason why your favorites were not in the menu was because they promote healthy eating
.. those pictures put me in a dizzy spell. that was a LOT!
love the painstaking detail. great post as usual!