I had the pleasure of experiencing a wonderful sunday eat-all-you-can buffet lunch with my relatives at the Dusit Thani Hotel Makati, Philippines. What can I say? I was stuffed. The food are absolutely gourmet and authentic to its country’s dishes.

The Dusit Thani is a 5-star hotel and is formerly known as Dusit Nikko. When you enter the lobby you’ll be greeted by wonderful and tasteful ambiance. On a Sunday, they have costumed people (Italian circus people) that delights the patron. This hotel has several restaurants. We went to 4: the Japanese Restaurant, Benjarong Royal Thai Restaurant, Tosca (Italian Restaurant), and the Cafe. Patrons can avail of the buffet tables from all 4 different restaurants during sundays. If you’re a member, you have 50% discount while a nonmember pays P1200-P1400 (USD25-30).

We started with the Japanese Restaurant. The interior of the place had a very elegant Japanese design. Wooden tablets with kanji characters filled the entire wall. They had private rooms for groups with windows overlooking a peaceful garden. Diners can remove their shoes and sit on a kneeling-position just how Japanese people eat. The food was delicious. The green tea was a must try – not your usual bitter-tasting tea but was actually refreshing. The sushi and sashimi were fresh and well-made. There were new interesting food that I’ve tried and were wonderful. You must circulate throughout the restaurant’s perimeter because the tempura, grilled shrimp, and beef teppanyaki were at the back of the restaurant. I didn’t eat desserts there because I was pacing myself but from what I’ve seen they were not Japanese at all.

Then we transferred to Tosca which serves Italian dishes. I didn’t find anything exceptional with the ambiance. However there is a skillful piano player serenading the diners. My aunt mentioned that while Josh Groban was here for a concert, this was where he ate. Tip: If you’re going to eat a buffet and you’re only halfway done, don’t eat the pasta dishes because it will fill you up real quick. But of course we tried the pasta – I had the spinach cacciatore, the eggplant ravioli. They were really good. The best food in Tosca is their dessert! Gelato ice cream, panacotta with fruit drizzles, mango and chocolate mousse, cream brulee, etc. The winning dessert was the hot chocolate fudge with vanilla gelato on top. It’s a must try – the chocolate was so divine!

We didn’t eat inside the Benjarong Royal Thai Restaurant. We just brought our food from that restaurant to Tosca since we wanted to listen more to the piano player’s serenade. However from the quick glimpse I had of the restaurant, the atmosphere was authentic Thai. They had Thai antique dishes on the wall of the entryway. The ambiance felt dark and exotic. Because I was already full by this time, I wasn’t able to sample a lot of their dishes. I still didn’t pass up the Thai fried rice although they were lacking. I wish I had room for the Tom Yum Shrimp soup. The had this shrimp covered with bread and bread crumbs – it was really delicious. I tried some of the Thai’s delicacy – this white pudding with green jelly on the botton was delicious, not too sweet. Their pandan drink was unrefreshing – I think it lacked mint or julep. I didn’t like their “halo halo” dessert – too viscous and not cool enough.

By the end of our Thai experience, I had a hard time walking. We went to The Cafe and eat more food! The Cafe offered Chinese and Filipino dishes. I couldn’t make a review much about the food there since I didn’t eat a lot. The dalandan juice was delicious! I also tried the fruit crepe – the crepe was bland and you need to put a lot of syrup and fruits to make it yummy, also try topping it with ice cream. I tried their crab in oyster sauce, which was too salty for my taste; a medium rare grilled lamb chop – it was good but not tender. They said that the dumplings are really delicious.

All in all it’s a good experience to try this hotel’s restaurants. The dishes were delicious. Try sampling one cuisine at a time instead of doing all simultaneously because you’ll lose the enjoyment and taste of the food, just like I did. But their eat-all-you-can buffet is open from 12-3pm so you can pace yourself and take eating slow.

Happy dining!!!:)

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