One Evening At Corniche

When you have foodie friends, they are sure to "spread the word" whenever a too-good-to-pass-up deal is known, and that is exactly what happened when I came across the Facebook Wall of a good friend who "hung" a poster for Corniche (in Diamond Hotel Philippines) announcing a fantastic deal offered by the hotel restaurant.

(Courtesy of gopacmanila2013.com)

It has been probably years (a decade, even) since I set foot in Diamond Hotel so I thought this was a chance for me to revisit them. The poster announced that they were offering their lunch and dinner buffet for PhP 999.00 nett (Philippine Pesos, inclusive of all charges) which also included free flowing sodas or lemonade - a practically unheard of deal in the bigger hotels, so the question that remained was "When do we go?"

Arthur told me that we did not need to worry about parking because as he recalls, they have a large parking space underground, which was the case when we got there. The stairway from the basement parking leading to the hotel will take you right to the doorstep of Corniche - a useful point since after dinner, you will probably have to gulong (roll) your way back to the parking area.

The decor was decidedly modern, very clean lines and lots of spaces. There were several "stations" set up all over the place which I thought was a better placement than having all the stations side by side and having people "bunch up" in line waiting for those undecided as to what to put on their plates.

I started off with appetizers. I was attracted by the way they presented their lumpiang ubod, and had to sample it along with other goodies.

Lumpiang ubod was almost too much of an eye candy to eat.

After that, it was a free-for-all: Arthur commented that I would never have a future as a food stylist because I would place odd things together in one plate. I replied, "Mind your own beeswax."

Here are some of the featured items in the buffet. I have to emphasize that because I think I was able to sample only a little more than half of the things that were being offered.

Lechon Macao was just OK, everything else was good.

"It's all seafood naman, eh." (To make one feel better.)

United Nations...of food. Sage flavored cheese was a surprise.

Salmon, 3 Ways: Sashimi, in Ginger Broth, and Baked.

Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern...and Lamb Kaldereta. Yum.

Do not miss out on the Green Tea Brulee - if you can catch it.

This was a better spread than we expected. Everyone in our party agreed that for the variety on display, and given the price, this was a hard act to beat. We were (luckily) seated near the roasting station, and I used that advantage to take on the baked salmon. (Not to be passed up, if you like salmon as much as I do. It's just a big plus that nutritionists are pretty unanimous in declaring it a "top food".)

For carnivores, a beautiful sight.

The wait staff was also a delight, very courteous without being cloying, although they noticeably weren't as attentive when the crowd swelled up - some of our plates piled up on the table, and I even saw one table returning their plates to the place where they stacked up the used dishes. But they were nice and apologetic about not being able to service tables faster, which pretty much smooths things always. (I guess they didn't anticipate as large a crowd as the one we were part of that night.)

Read the fine print for exclusions. Then enjoy.

(Courtesy of the Facebook page of Diamond Hotel Philippines.)

This promotion only runs until September 4, 2012.

Go. Now.



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