Sambokojin

My latest photo haul from my phone. Unlike these & these, this set is not as vintage-y as those. It has a date, yes. It was this month, the day after my birthday.



My date_ my bff who never missed my birthday but just this one. Feeling guilty I guess, haha, the following day she had  nailed me to have lunch with her.




Both of us had commitments after lunch so we decided not to go far. Good thing Southmall with the Food Street,  has now some decent resto to offer. Not so many options thu'. I frequent most of them_ Mesa, Almon Marina, Black Canyon Coffee, Burgoo..




.. but it was my first at Sambokojin. It's the only buffet resto in this mall and always with the longest q ever. I arrived first and when I saw Sambokojin q less that day, I got a table and call my friend who was on the way, to proceed to this yakiniku place. It's not even expensive. It's very YakiMix-y.

It was a Tuesday and had just opened for lunch which made this favorite buffet in the South less crowded than usual that day. But after a while the whole resto got full as usual anyway.

So here were our first servings. Mine is the one near you. I know, my plate here is already big compared to my past buffet plates. But that was all I got plus my big dessert plate ofcourse. It's my date who is big on buffet. That's her fist plate and I lost count how much more she refilled her plate, haha.




Our shared sushi plate. Idk if I was just extra hungry then, but I love their sushi here.

Then buffet was over for me and I started with my big dessert portion with a cup of fruits..

.. and pastries. But these you can skip cos as usual in buffet like this, they are the over the counter bakeshop type that are just eye candy but nothing special in taste. I actually got them only for photo cos it was my birthday! haha.




Buffet was not over for my friend thu'. She's just had begun, haha. The watermelon? It's like her sorbet in between dishes to wash the previous, before her next plate, get it? I super envy her mega active metabolism. She really eats huge and never gets fat, ever! Makes her at ease on buffet without any effort of control. Lucky girl. While I and the rest of motherhood I guess,  have to activate to the strongest power the discipline/control button, so just  not to overeat. Not easy, I tell you.




While bestfriend was loading up, I was enjoying myself nibbling cup after cup of spicy dilis (dried anchovy), I dipped them in the special Sanbokojin sauce I found on the dining table. Love it!

While on the dilis trip, I also enjoyed the sweet fresh pineapple cuts on the side. Chitchats with bestfriend going and going..




..still goin', until we realized we were the only lighted table left and literally the only ones in the resto. The buffet had already closed for lunch and preparing/waiting for dinner buffet. haha.

Time to go. We really enjoyed this buffet. We both agreed that it's way better than Yakimix in all aspect.

And since no one's around except us, I could now have my shameless photo op with Sambo Kojin ( I guess? ), the Kitchen God.

Buffet @ Vikings

Bestfriend who is Sydney based cut a day from her hectic Ph holiday for me and other bff. After shopping around the metro, dinner was at the Vikings. My first time here. I heard a lot about Vikings yet the extent of the queue of patrons waiting to be seated had surprised me. It was not even a weekend. Imagine Yakimix ( @MOA or Macapagal ) 's queue, double or triple that, it was that crowded. Just like at Yakimix, there are waiting seats outside the store, but I figure Vikings is more clever. Why? It does serve candies/mixnuts/juice to the waiting patrons outside. That could fill you up, already even before you start the buffet inside, haha.



After the long wait ( I think more but not less than an hour ), finally we were seated. See how we looked so disastrous+oiliness.  I gathered that Vikings is accepting reservations. I'll definitely do that next time. I tried once with Yakimix , I called-up to book a table 5 hours before our target dinner time but was informed that they only accept minimum a month pre-booking. At Vikings, we vied for the 52nd slot which possibility was dependent on the non-show of the booked party. We accepted the challenge of waiting cos after we were dropped off by my friend's hubby, the rain poured so hard, we didn't have choice but to stay.

bff at the Asian fusion station

I immediately stopped counting the buffet stations and started to fill-up my first plate. There were too many stations to mention. 



We were seated in this section.

With the dessert buffet most near to us. Look how elaborate the fondue buffet spread.






Sharing the table was the local halo-halo buffet.



Also near us, was the beverage bar. It was an open bar, I think. I'm not sure, hadn't tried.



I was particularly happy that there were live/open kitchens for steaks and seafood. Choose your meat and wait for it to be cooked. That fresh!



Sorry I wasn't able to produce nice food photos here, not even the ones on our table. Had no appetite on working the right settings for food shots. I decided to submerge myself into the feast around me, enjoy the company of my best friends and took the lens aside.



We were the last ones who checked-out with happy tummies protruding, haha. Happy time with my bestfriends.

Breakfast Buffet @ Bellevue

goodmorning. Omg, it's only 15 before 7 am and it felt like 3 pm already. Today is a "back to school day". It's the opening of classes of my girls for this school year. I just had  a very busy morning in the kitchen and well this mom is proud to say that_ I survived! ..

big breakfast : done

recess boxes : done

lunch boxes :  done

. .with flying colors!! I was awake as early as 4:15 am and at 5:30 was done with my daily jog with hubby around our village. At 6:30 am, the girls and dad had breakfast already and out on the road to school and office ( with individual "baon" ofcourse :) at 6:40 am.

Don't worry I won't bore you with the contents of their take out boxes, instead I'd like to share with you a breakfast buffet I had at Bellevue Hotel, Manila recently.

can you spot me there? Daughter and I were part of the early birds at Cafe d'Asie that morning.



That's where the buffet is being served. It's at the 2nd floor of the main wing.



The buffet spreads were massive but much as I'm a buffet lover, that morning it took me a number of rounds before I begun filling-up my plate. It wasn't the selections, It was me cos I had coffee and sandwich with hubby earlier that morning after we had our fitness at the gym.




 It's typical of me to start the day with fruits. So my initial stop was at the fruit bar.

 I passed by the cereal section and just grabbed a yogurt and ignored the rest which given other day, cereal with fresh or dried fruits would be my choice to energize the day.

There_ were my first serving.

My daughter with her ever "eyes appetite bigger than her tummy"  ( tagalog : takaw mata ), had filled up her first plate with her favorite breakfast dishes, from the selections below :

:

:

V

crispy bacon

Filipino longanisa and beef tapa

boiled eggs, other egg cooking variants were available too, like sunny side up, omelet or however you want it to be cooked. 

It was with difficulty to ignore the salad bar. .

Greens never failed to entice me on the table but this was a rare occasion that I made a pass on them, I had it resolved with the mental calculation that I had enough  veggies that week at home anyway. 

Old and new kimchi caught my attention. I don't eat kimchi and didn't try it then even. Yet it made me wonder why two versions? I'll make a wild guess _ is old kimchi more than a day marinated and new kimchi is freshly prepared? Answer please, kimchi lovers :)

oreo muffins

ensaimada

macapuno? muffin

                                                                    blueberry muffin

                                                         danish - peach,strawberry,blueberry

french breads

 

pancakes

Flooded with muffins, the pastry section was eye candy which I guess made me feel full already so I just get a single danish from there.



The lonely sushi in my plate above was the only one I tried from the Japanese section. I felt pain, why now, why me full? I love sushi!! The tomato something? I forgot where from but I didn't like it.

This one I couldn't place. Looks like some sashimi yet too thick the slice. What? _ ham, beef ?, help!

I love lychee.

Had a cupful of it.

I also love prunes but I don't remember having it that morning.

The following are easy thu' as they are commonly found at the Filipino breakfast tables, best paired with fried rice and garlic-vinegar dip and please add eggs on the side :

:

:

V

bangus (milk fish)

dilis (dried anchovies)

dried danggit

It was a hearty breakfast buffet but I felt cheated cos I ate so little.. huhu. wish I can come back now. . I'm hungry as a wolf seeing those foods >#<. haha.