Five-star Sunday lunch buffet in a mall

The Araneta Center in Quezon City is the last place in Metro Manila where you would find a gourmet Sunday lunch buffet. Sure, you will enjoy delicious treats at a number of the casual dining establishments within the complex, but to enjoy Sunday lunch that is at par with what is offered at some of the metro’s popular restaurants, you will have to enter a hotel.

However, this changed a few months ago when the Mandarin Oriental Café & Deli at the Gateway Mall started offering Sunday lunch buffet, available from 12 to 2:30 p.m..

The Mandarin Oriental Café & Deli is the first and only restaurant in a mall operated by a deluxe hotel, which is the Mandarin Oriental. Foodies who frequent this side of town know that the café offers the same five-star service and ambience they would expect if they were dining at the Mandarin in Makati City.

That’s why the café’s Sunday lunch, priced at P780++, is a steal. Not only do you enjoy a buffet of appetizers that includes fresh oysters, you also get a choice of 250 grams of US Choice roast rib eye or darne of salmon, and a choice of dessert. The price may be a bargain, but believe me, the offerings are truly five-star.

The moment you are seated at your table, a waitstaff asks you your choice of entrée. A quick glance at the appetizer buffet, and it was steak for me. Make that medium rare for me, please.

The choices at the appetizer buffet are enough to fill you up. Choices include smoked salmon and smoked tuna platter with horseradish cream; Parma ham with rock melon; duck embotido with atchara; assorted California rolls with wasabi; wok-fried squid salad with grilled peppers and balsamico dressing; tomato mozzarella salad with basil; green asparagus and crab meat salad with shallot vinaigrette; chilled oysters on ice; potted chicken liver parfait with port aspic and lavosh; Thai glass noodles salad with seafood in spicy dressing; and assorted leaf lettuce with dressings and condiments.

I love oysters, especially if they are fresh. And freshness is surely not an issue here. There are a number of dips and sauces available for the oysters, but I like them with just a squeeze of lemon. The tart lemon juice and the sea-salty flavor of the oysters were just perfect. The oysters went quickly, as I downed them one after the other.

I had some potted chicken liver parfait (yummy!), Thai glass noodles salad (a bit limp for my taste), and platters of lavosh and bread sticks, and I was ready for my steak.

What can I say? When served a platter of juicy steak (still warm and pink), I forget myself and reach out for fork and knife and start slicing off the fat part of the steak. If the steak has been grilled nicely, the fat should be luscious. Forget about cholesterol! I only have steak once a month.

In minutes, I was quiet as a mouse, slicing my way through my steak, absentmindedly listening to what my lunchmates were telling me. When I was done, there was a greasy smile on my lips.

The waitstaff came back a few minutes later with a tray of desserts — cakes, pies and other sweets. With a cup of really hot coffee, the chocolate cake I had — the Mandarin’s signature Sachertorte — was gone in just a few forkfuls. And truly, I felt like a millionaire.

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For reservations and inquiries, call Mandarin Oriental Café and Deli at 913-5505 or the Gateway Mall Concierge at 911-3101 local 8395.

For more dining options, log on to www.gatewaymall.com.ph.