Good Friday Trippin at Cafe Ilang Ilang

April 22, 2011
When we heard that the famed Cafe Ilang Ilang at the Manila Hotel had  undergone a much needed make-over and that some friends were giving the  thumbs-up sign on their food, we knew we had to try it out. And it just  so happended that Good Fridays is our family's annual tradition of  dining in Hotel Buffet Restaurants.



Interiors now are simple and yet the colors are bright.



Much like most other hotels, they have set up open-kitchen type  stations. This one is the somewhat raw section where you can get the  fresh oysters, shrimps and mussels.



The salad station



Here is what I like to call the smoked and appetizers section where most of the smoked  proteins are. (It's also here where I got some nicely plated tasting  portions of salads, but we'll get to that later.



Some stations are represented by the cuisine of particular countries or regions. This one is where most of the chinese fare are.



They even have a korean station (with a real korean chef/cook manning the station)

I didn't get the pictures from all stations, but there is also italian,  japanese, mediterranean, filipino and indian-arabic. Also not included  in the pic is the grilling station where you can get your grilled  proteins like beef, lamb and sausages.



And of course musn't forget the dessert station



They even have a station offering sugar-free treats.

In no particular order, here is what I got for my 3 hour lunch. Please  pardon me if I cannot remember all the names of the food items. But I'm  guessing the menu will be changing every now and then so you might be  getting a different experience once you visit.



The large soup cauldron was placed somewhat in-between the chinese and  filipino station. In the absence of a sign or label telling us what kind  of soup it is, I'm just guessing that its some kind of a pumpkin soup  mixed in with potatoes. It's somewhat creamy but not hevy on the stomach  and it has that light sweetness coming from the pumpkins.



I got this from the korean section, though I forgot whats it called.  It's basically a mixture of long bean sprouts (which from afar looks  like noodles), tofu, thinly sliced radishes and a piece of (what i think  is) cartillage from pork swimming in clear broth. Flavors are somewhat  subtle which is a delightful surprise for me considering that most other  korean food have very pronounced flavors.



A buffet spread these days is almost never complete without some raw  sashimi. And I was so happy that they also have some lapu-lapu sashimi.  Most of the raw fishes have a nice firm bite to it (which is just the  way I like it)



Fresh oysters are plentiful i the spread. And if you do not like them raw, the chef/cook willl have them baked for you.



From the chinese station, I got me some chicken and beef shu mai as well  as a shrimp dumpling. It's too bad that the dimsum were a little on the  cold side already since most of them have been resting in the spread  for quite a time already. The result is that the skin of the dumplings  had become somewhat gummy.



I  was  quite impressed that they have these nice looking  tasting  portion  salads placed in cute bowls or cups. It just a bite or  two for  each  serving so you don't get filled-up easily. Here I got  the Squid  Salad  and its basically some semi raw squid mixed with  kimchi.



The  Arabic  Pickled Salad had some components which I am not that  familiar  with. I  only recognize the beets and the chili peppers and let  me  caution  that the sourness coming from the vinegar and the "heat"  from  the  chili peppers is quite intense. Much as the flavors were a  little  on  the extreme side, I suprisingly enjoyed this one.



I  wasn't  sure what this was when I saw it in the spread, even some  of  the  people manning the station weren't sure but I tasted  it  nonetheless.  Its just a Kilawin Salad, too bad the fish was  little  overcooked by the  vinegar so it had a somewhat flakey texture.



This is a Mediterranean Bean Salad mixed with (what I think are) tomato salsa. It's a nice salad (for people who like beans)



Asian Green Bean Salad. I like the subtle sweet adobo flavor of the vinegarette.



The Lobster Salad was a bit on the sweet side.



The  Scallop  Salad, its a nicely cooked piece of scallop sitting on top  of  some  pickled papaya (atsara) and finely diced tomatoes. I could  eat  this  all day if only there weren't that many choices for me to try.



I  got  this from the Italian section, the one at the lower left  is  air-dried  beef which I initially thought to be tough to chew, but it  was  tender  enough though a little on the salty side. I guess it would  be  best  taken with a piece of bread. On the upper right is some  shrimps  and  lobster tossed in a light mayo dressing.



After  going  thru so many of those appetizers and salads, I was nearly  full  so the  Grilled Lamb, Sausages and Zucchinis served as my only  main  course.  The lamb was nicely grilled, still tender but a little on  the  bland  side. Good thing there some sauces available. Sausages I  think  were of  the hungarian variety because of the subtle peppery  flavor.



I  was  nearly stuffed but decided for one more dish (and  some  desserts)  before calling it a day. I went back to the Italian  section  and got me  some slices of thin crust pizzas. There were  several kinds  laid out on  the spread, but since I don't know the other  flavors, I  just went for  the shrimp and the cheese.



I'm  not  really a dessert person but I still got me some Coconut  Mango  Sago  (not included in the picture, but I also got a scoop of  chocolate  ice  cream and a small serving of Leche Flan to finally cap  off my  wonderful  lunch here)


On a personal sidenote:  While  the food here is good (in terms of quality  and variety), which  in my  opinion can rival that of Spiral. Their  service still needs work.  From  the start of our lunch, I had been  requesting for some paper  napkins  (though they did provide us with linen  napkins) which never cam  even  after 3 follow-ups. I don't know if its  because we were seated at  the  farther end (facing the swimming pool)  away from the sight of  most  servers. As a result, most of our used  plates were never picked  up and  we had to constantly call their  attention for them to clear the  table.  We also had to wait for more than  30 minutes before our bill  came out.

Price for the Lunch Buffet is around 1,550 pesos++ while dinner is around (I think) 2,000 to 2,200 pesos++

Cafe Ilang Ilang is located inside the Manila Hotel
at One Rizal Park Manila, Philippines.
You can contact them at 5270011 for reservations