Victim: Vikings Luxury-Buffet
According to their facebook page:
Vikings luxury-buffet restaurant is stylish, relaxed and fun; it overlooks the majestic Manila Bay through vast conservatory-like windows. The first of its kind in the Philippines, the tasteful 600-seater dining room, possess well appointed details, comfortable dining nooks while incorporating several live-action-cooking stations and a level of food quality beyond buffet expectations; from prime seafood to prime rib, gourmet pizzas to local favorites and freshly made stir-fried options thrown in; truly an epicurean epiphany.For those who have not been there, in short, Vikings is just like any other hotel buffets sans the hotel -- and so much cheaper! Weekday lunch is at 688++, Weekday Dinner and Weekends is 888++. It is really cheap for the amount of food they serve. It is actually very impressive because it is not only eat-all-you-can, it's also drink-all-you-can! Not just soda or juice, even beer! What a treat!
Vikings redefines the whole notion of buffets, with sumptuous feasts of delectable European, American, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino dishes. Vikings focuses on freshness, high-quality ingredients, comforting-unique choices and providing an impeccable dining experience worth coming back for. Vikings is the perfect place for tourists, special occasions, family gatherings and corporate events. Open for breakfast, (Saturdays & Sundays) lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
Vikings redefines the whole notion of buffets, with sumptuous feasts of delectable European, American, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino dishes. Vikings focuses on freshness, high-quality ingredients, comforting-unique choices and providing an impeccable dining experience worth coming back for. Vikings is the perfect place for tourists, special occasions, family gatherings and corporate events. Open for breakfast, (Saturdays & Sundays) lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
I was with a couple of friends last night and we were saying that if you just came to Vikings to get drunk, 888++ isn't actually too expensive, and it's as though you have free food! What great deal!
Ambiance
The ambiance of the place is impressive. They really wanted to establish that they are a luxury buffet. It's like taking the hotel out of a hotel restaurant equation. The cutlery were classy, the heavy kind. The plates were simple but elegant. The interior was lavish and grand, I don't think they spared anything to make sure it looks class.
After just opening a few months, the outdoor area is already under construction to make it airconditioned to accommodate more guests! Speaking of more guests, getting in there is a bit difficult. You would have to call in advance to reserve for seats and we did. My sister called their trunklines: 846-3888 / 846-4888 / 846-5888. The lady on the phone was nice and all, even reminded us that we should be there before 7PM because the reserved seats will be automatically cancelled and given priority to walk in's.
Come 6:50PM we were there, and they couldn't find our reservation. They said wouldn't have accepted any reservation that morning because they were already full a week ago. We couldn't argue with them because we did not ask for the name of the person we talked to on the phone. Realizing it was going to be a useless argument, we stopped forcing and placed our name on the waiting list. At exactly 7PM, we were told that we might get a table after an hour-- but thankfully, we didn't have to wait that long, we were showed to our table by 720PM.
What pissed me off a little bit was the somewhat arrogant demeanor that the ladies in the front desk possessed, which is very typical way for people to act when they become popular -- not just in terms of restaurants, but anyway, they weren't totally nasty but you can definitely smell the arrogance.
The next bad thing that happened to us in Vikings, while my sister and I were waiting for 2 of our friends to come, a waiter came and just took one of the empty chairs away, as if we weren't there! wtf?! No permission, no glance, no nothing! We immediately called his attention and complained! They said sorry thinking we were mad because they didn't ask permission, then took the chair away again! and we had to say again that we're waiting for people to come! gawd.
Wanting to accommodate more people, they squeezed in a group of like 12 people into the booth beside us! For them to be able to get food, they all had to stand up as though they're all in the movie theater so that the person in the middle can leave the table. What a hassle.
Food
We found out from a friend who works as a chef in Vikings that this was owned by the owners of President Tea House in Chinatown!
It was no wonder that the food I most enjoyed were the Chinese cuisine! Normally, when I go eat at Circles, Spiral, Heat or wherever, I ignore the Chinese section, because Chinese food is very difficult to cook-- or at least cook well.
Japanese sushi bar is good, their salmon sashimi is wonderful! My sister had the Sukiyaki, the soup was-- not good, and the beef was tough.
I tried their Paella Negra -- not so good, the paella wasn't black enough with the squid ink, I think it has too much nutmeg in it.
I also had the Cheese Beer Soup -- I know!!! cheese--good, beer--good, cheese beer soup? interesting! I can't say I hate it, can't say I like it too.
Their steak counter, they limit to giving you 4 slices of meat per person to control the portion of the food. After cooking the 4 small slices of meat, it comes out from the grill as if it's beef tapa or something, it becomes really small and the size seems a bit ridiculous if you wanted to eat steak; but I guess it's ok because the steak was over cooked anyway, I would've just wasted a lot of meat.
For dessert I had a slice of black forest-- it was ok, it was generous with cherries and the cake was moist. I also chose the red velvet cake-- I plan to try all red velvet cakes I encounter upon! It was like made out of a mixture of flour and rubber, i don't even know how they got the consistency. Their vanilla yogurt was delicious, it could be too sweet for some people, but I liked it -- they also had crushed grahams! yum. They did have an abundance of fresh fruits also which was good.
Basically, that's it, that's how I judge a restaurant, the service, ambiance and food of course. Don't take my word for it though, try it out, you might like it! I'd probably go back if I plan to get drunk and have all the draft beer that I want but to go back for food? No thank you.
The place looks wonderful, although a fancy ambience can be quite misleading.It doesn't always guarantee that the food or the service will be as good.It's a good thing food bloggers like you can give an unbiased review of restaurants like this.
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