We’ve grown to love the Café Marco buffet. Fortunately for us, we’ve shelled out the full price of the buffet only once since the other dining occasions were office team building and family events.
Café Marco was at the tail end of its Sabores de España (Flavors of Spain) culinary journey. Aside from the usual cuisine, Japanese, Chinese, etc., assorted Spanish dishes were available. I was excited to try these dishes out.
For appetizers, I had the Japanese sushi and sashimi dishes. The salmon sashimi is the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s very soft and very fresh and it left me craving for more. The California maki, while tasty, doesn’t really stand out when compared to California maki’s from other Japanese restaurants.
The tuna maki and the fish fillet in bacon, on the other hand, left me very disappointed.
For the main course, I tried out the Spanish dishes. I had the paella valenciana (mixed rice), tortillas de patata (potato omelette) , pescados en salsa verde (fish in green sauce), and callos (tripe).
bland Spanish dishes
Unfortunately, the high expectations I had of these Spanish dishes were drastically brought down to earth. Except for the callos, the rest of the dishes were bland. They lacked that distinct mix of flavors I’ve come to expect from Spanish cuisine.
Feeling full but not quite satisfied, I decided to have some of the Chinese dishes. I had the mixed vegetables, chicken in honey sauce, and siomai.
tasty Chinese except for the siomai
I greatly enjoyed the chicken in honey sauce. It was very tender and the honey sauce was delicious. Meanwhile, the mixed vegetables tasted just ok.
The siomai caught me by surprise. The texture of the dish was very different from the siomai in other restaurants. I think the Café Marco chefs made sure their siomai was extender free. Unfortunately, they forgot to make it taste good.
To end the Café Marco buffet, I had dessert and coffee. From the Spanish desserts, I opted for the brazo de mercedes (cream filled log cake) and churros with chocolate dip. I also filled my plate with mango charlotte, chocolate tart and chocolate fondue.
yummy desserts
The chocolate desserts were the highlights. The churros was very delicious. Its center was soft and the rich chocolate dip made it extraordinary. I’m sad that this will not be part of the Café Marco buffet anymore after their Spanish flavored theme ends.
The chocolate tart was also very rich. But I had difficulty finishing it because of this richness. My advice is to get just a very small slice of this tart for your consumption. The chocolate fondue did not disappoint as well.
While I enjoyed the mango charlotte, I greatly disliked the brazo de mercedes. I expected the brazo to be soft and sweet. Instead, the texture was difficult to chew and the filling lacked the sweetness I was looking for.
It’s the first time I’ve given any Café Marco dish poor feedback, most on the Spanish dishes. It’s good that these dishes are just temporary. But I’ll miss the churros though.
Ultimately, I’m still recommending Café Marco’s lunch or dinner buffet. Despite my less than stellar feedback on some dishes, I enjoyed the buffet as a whole. Who wouldn’t enjoy the seemingly unlimited choice of cuisine? Many dishes still remain to be tasted and I’m looking forward to trying them when I visit next time. And who doesn’t want to relish in Café Marco’s luxurious ambiance while enjoying a hearty and tasty buffet?
Café Marco is in the Marco Polo Hotel Cebu. Marco Polo Cebu is located at the Veteran’s Drive in Nivel Hills, Cebu City. You can also visit their website at http://www.marcopoloplazacebu.com/. To inquire about the prices of the lunch or dinner buffets, you can call the Marco Polo trunkline in the website and request to be connected to Café Marco.
Posts
