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One More Time: Midas Hotel’s Lunch Buffet

In a recent DTC Mobile event, the pregnant explorer was fortunate to have once again savored Midas Hotel’s lunch buffet. As in the first time, Midas’ filling spread didn’t disappoint.



On the carving station: Lamb

One of the best things about Midas Cafe is that unlike most buffet restaurants, you won’t find ridiculously long lines in buffet stations where people hog food franctically like they’ve spent 3 days on hunger strike. Here, people eat in slow bites, savoring the soul in each spoonful of food. There are no time limits. Guests can stay as long as they can, so they can still make room for dessert.


 Fiber optic chandelier and classy designer boxes adorn 
Midas Hotel’s lobby



And they should. At P1,980 net, Midas’ lunch and dinner buffet is pretty much as expensive as other five-star hotel buffet restaurants’.


Lapu Lapu with lime zest

Curry, bechamel and tomato-based dishes seemed to be the theme du jour, with dishes such as Shrimp Curry, Lamb Curry, Caldereta Ox tripe Stew, Seafood Normande and Emince of Pork Swiss Style comprising the menu.



Seafood Normande. Creamy but not nakaka-umay.

Malavari shrimp curry

What one would notice is how subtle and light the flavors are in each gastronomic piece, be it the Chicken macaroni salad or the main course. It’s as  if each was cooked with as little salt as possible, so that the base ingredients speak for the meal itself – a rather delightful break from the usual Magic Sarap and Nam-Nam-laced meals we Filipinos consume everyday.

Hongkong fried chicken. Yummy 🙂


Ox tripe and ox tail stew – another winner! 
One of my favorites 🙂


What I love about Midas’ buffet is that it presents different food variations. The cafe features an extensive line up of  food choices: from pastas to meats, to salads, to desserts, and breads. 

Cold station: salads, cold cuts, fresh seafood, sushi and sashimi

And although the entrees are mostly patterned according to Filipino cuisine, Midas injects an interesting fusion of world flavors in each meal to cater to all taste buds and nationalities. 

Emince of Pork Swiss style

Pork tenderloin ala-pobre

Food stations are replenished frequently and you will not find an unrefilled plate even in hectic periods. 



Pastries and breads

Fruit station

A nice addition to the lunch buffet is the grill station, where guests can request for any meat of choice (tuna, pork BBQ, querter chicken, chicken satay, liempo) and have them freshly grilled by the chefs.We tried everything except for tuna (No can do for preggies due to high mercury content), and while all of them were delicious, we give their liempo a double thumbs up for its tenderness, juicyness and delicioso-ness 🙂

Grill station

Perhaps my favorite part of the buffet was the dessert station. Unlike my first buffet lunch out at Midas, the presentations during the press launch allowed my tummy to fully digest the main course before moving on to dessert. 

Desserts

Being a dessert and chocolate monster, I was so happy that I  was able to try almost everything in the dessert station. I grew fond of everything in my platter: the blueberry cheesecake, the parfaits and mini cakes. My favorite though, has got to be the Chocolate mousse, egg custard and the yummy choco parfait in a jigger. The desserts particularly the mousse, had that heartwarming chocolate sweetness, but not too much that it makes your tooth ache.

And more desserts!

Note: Always leave space for dessert! I assure you, at Midas, you won’t regret doing so 🙂

If anything, my only grunt was that some of the meats were still tough, particularly the lamb. I sampled both the lamb curry in the hot station and roasted lamb on the carving station and both weren’t that tender. Also, the strong lamb flavor was a bit too overpowering. But well, I’m not a fan of lamb to begin with. 

Lamb yellow curry

 
Spicy beef caldereta: Average
The tough beef meat was a bit disappointing.

To ensure you get the most out of the buffet, you might want to take it easy on carbs like breads, pasta and rice. Although with Midas’ delicious Risi Bisi rice, I’m not sure if you can stick to that rule. Ika nga sa Tagalog, kanin pa lang, ulam na!

The peas and white onions gave the Risi Bisi rice 
a slightly sweet, delicious flavor

With a spread this big, you definitely won’t be able to eat everything at once. Some people base their choices on favorites and the price of the items. As for me, I take those that I am not usually able to find during eat-outs elsewhere.

Happy tummy!

About the Author

Gretchen Filart

Gretchen Filart is a writer from the Philippines, where she weaves poems and creative nonfiction about motherhood, love, healing, nature, and intersectionalities. Her works have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, received distinction from phoebe’s Spring Poetry Contest and Navigator’s Travel Writing Competition, and share space in local and foreign publications. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky @gretchenfilart. She’s usually friendly.

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Comments

  1. disqus_LQyUTejjXD says

    how much will i spend if i will have my luncH at Midas . . . i want the best shashimi, sushi and maki…

    Reply

  2. Filipina Explorer says

    The last time I went there it was P1,980 net. Not sure if the rate has changed now though. They do have fresh meats at the cold station, that I could assure you.

    Reply

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