Paseo Uno

November 29, 2010. Splurging and "pigging out" in hotel restaurants has been our yearly tradition. It all started in 2005 at Makati Shangri-La's Circles Event Cafe. From a small group of 6, we have grown into a bunch of 15 this year! This time, we had our annual indulgence at Paseo Uno in Mandarin Oriental.

The place was cozy. It has lots of partitions that give us (diners) a sense of partial secludedness which I think is ideal for intimate rendevous. But for the price I paid, I was a bit disappointed to see only a handful of food selections. Then I thought this must be quality over quantity.

And so the quest for my "zen" begun...

I started with the appetizer. I got a piece of cracker and a small portion of blue cheese, salami, mixed veggies with ranch dressing, and chicken teriyaki salad. I must say that the last one was great! I also enjoyed my cream of cauliflower soup. Meanwhile, there was a big chunk of focaccia bread with butter that was served to us which also tasted good.

For my main course, I gathered small servings of steamed lapu-lapu with white wine sauce, mahi-mahi with lemon capers, lamb chop with dijon mustard and mint jelly, blue marlin with cherry tomato, tempura, and ribeye steak with red wine sauce. I liked both the steamed lapu-lapu and blue marlin a lot but it was the ribeye steak that made my day! And with the amount of steak that Sai had, I think we've made a good deal for our money, haha! Anyway, the rest were just so-so!

Anyhow, I was hoping to find my zen yet in the dessert station! From a sea of fancy looking sweets, I managed to pick a few -- blueberry cheesecake (which I think should be renamed since it's not made of cheesecake but chiffon instead!), strawberry jelly (a so-so!), fruit provloda (yet another so-so) and green tea ice cream with chocolate sauce (if not for the chocolate sauce, I would have not enjoyed this one, you could hardly taste the green tea flavor!). Nonetheless, I guess Sai enjoyed his ice cream duo (banana caramel & honey) that he had to go for second serving!

By the way, complimentary tea and brewed coffee were available upon request.

Dinner buffet starts at 6:30 until 10:30 with rates as follow:

• Sunday - Thursday: PhP1600 (net)
• Friday - Saturday: PhP1990 (net)

Now, for my verdict. Was there indeed a quality over quantity rationale behind its steep price? Uhm, if for the ribeye steak alone, I would say "yes". So there you go, just read between the lines! ;-)

To my friends, see you all in our next hotel-food-trip destination... what about Seven Corners for 2011?