My friend, Marnie, dragged my jologs ass last Saturday to have buffet lunch with him at the swanky Circles Event Cafe at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. I’ve read reviews that Circles has one of the best buffets in the city and so despite being in a drunken state till the wee hours of morning, I could not pass this opportunity to satisfy the budding connoisseur in me. I skipped breakfast to make the most of my three hour stay and to give in to one of the seven deadly sins.

When I entered the restaurant, the amount of food struck me. There was so much of it! I mean a roomful of bread, cheese, greens, roasted meat, seafood, curry, dimsum and chocolates. For a moment there, I kinda forgot that I was actually living in a third world country and that we currently have a food crisis. But then again, Circles is definitely not the place to ponder on such things.

Marnie and I attacked the salad bar first. Growing up in Baguio, I would die for salads and if you love greens as much as I do, Circles is the place for you. You can create your own version of a scrumptious salad by adding on from a variety of greens, cheese, smoked fish, chicken, fruits and dressings. If only the buffet lasted longer and there were no other entrees to try, I would have stuffed myself to death with different salad combinations

After having our salad, Marnie and I went straight to sample the sushi and seafood bar. Well, after having a rather satisfying plate of salad, you can’t blame me for having high expectations. Unfortunately, though, the seafood, sushi and sashimi were such a disappointment. I’ve tasted better sushi and sashimi and there was no uni (sea urchin) so it was really such a let down. Granted that maybe, seafood is just not Circle’s forte but crabs and prawns having flavor next to nothing is just unforgivable. Fancy sauces and dressings can never compensate for lack of natural flavors. The only saving grace of the seafood bar were the mussels. Yes, that’s how mussels should be.

Before we knew it 2 hours went by so quickly and our tummies were almost full. We just grabbed some more dimsum, veggies, risotto and buttered fish, stuffed them into our mouths and went straight for the dessert. And I can say, Circle’s desserts are something they could be proud of. Everything was just sublime. The dessert bar was overflowing with dark chocolate, fruits, pudding, cakes, ice cream and have I already mentioned chocolate? Chocolates galore! I had tiramisu, blueberry and cheese pudding, creme brulee, pudding, leche flan, chocolate flakes filled with ganache, strawberry ice cream, white wine jelly with blueberries, fresh fruits and fruits dipped in chocolate. I loved everything! Too bad we had limited time. Next time I would go to Circles, I would sample everything! For dessert lovers, don’t forget to try their white wine jelly with blueberries. It truly is something

Many thanks to Marnie for bringing me to Circles Event Cafe Next year ulit pag-uwi ko galing Japan

I love food and I love checking out new restaurants. People have been goading me to write about my food experiences but I have been unable to due to my deadly sickness called sloth.

But then, I’ve changed! First jogging then my very first food review! I must really be inspired. Hehehe.

First stop, Gumbo! The two branches I know are in the The Block and SM Mall of Asia. I’ve also recently found out that there’s a branch at Robinson’s Place Manila. Jenny-sensei and I went to Gumbo, the Block last night betraying our jogging mates of our sacred pact of eating healthy, low fat foods until Sir Tibo’s wedding (I’m very sorry, guys!). Babawi na lang kami mamaya. hehehe

We had their best-seller, Jambalaya, Buffalo Wings and Hurricane (and because I wasn’t listening closely enough, I didn’t quite get it if this was a rum-based drink or something else ). The Buffalo Wings was good especially if you are particularly fond of the moldy aftertaste some cheese have (the dressing was made of some cheese concoction and I hope the moldy aftertaste was really how it should be. hehe). The Jambalaya however, did not meet my expectation. I mean what’s all the hype? The flavor was good enough and the seafood was cooked the way it should be but I guess I’m just not a big fan of mushy rice. The texture reminds me of a lot of disgusting things. Hehehe. The Hurricane was sooo sweet, Jenny-sensei and I weren’t able to finish our glasses.

But Gumbo isn’t really all that bad. That’s why I came back. The first time I visited Gumbo was with my siblings last December. We had putanesca, some sort of marinara pizza, which I forgot the name (Sorry, walang kwentang food blogger. Ang tagal na kasi nun eh, hehe) and the complimentary Buffalo Wings. The putanesca and pizza was great! You can distinctly taste the different ingredients and they all blend perfectly. The servings were huge, too. This gives Gumbo a big + in my book. The food would have been sublime if we were able to wash them down with some white wine. But unfortunately, Gumbo does not serve white wine by the glass and we can’t finish a whole bottle so we just had to content ourselves with some beer. I should also give it to Gumbo for its excellent service. Our service charge was not wasted. Hehehe.

Overall, I give Gumbo an A- rating. Good food, great ambiance, excellent service

(By the way, since I didn’t bring a camera with me, the picture above was just shameless taken from this site. I would like to extend my thanks to the author and photographer )