[CLOSED] The Food Club Manila + Giveaway!

Eat all you can buffets are so popular nowadays! The question is, which one to try? Well, I'm here to introduce to you the newest kid on the block: The Food Club, which is currently on its soft opening.

The Food Club is the most anticipated buffet restaurant for 2014. No need to go to expensive hotels just to experience the 5 star buffet dining, as The Food Club offers a wide selection of international cuisine.

The interiors of this buffet restaurant look really classy. The place can seat a lot of guests without the "too crowded" feeling.

Check out these comfy couch seats, perfect for smaller parties!

I'm also loving the chandeliers they've set up all over the restaurant. The overall feel is quite posh.

Now on to my favorite part, which is the food! ♥ I wasn't able to take pictures of EVERYTHING, but aside from what you'll see here, there's even more food waiting for you at the buffet table.

They have shrimp rolls that would go so well with their salads.

Fresh salads are here for the health conscious.

With a wide variety of dressings and toppings, my favorite being the fruit salad (with the grapes, honeydew melons, and sweet pineapple chunks).

They also have a wide variety of bread and spreads.

And different cheeses to go with it!

I was at awe with this big sushi boat! YUMMY! Everything tasted fresh and delightful.

There's also sashimi - fresh raw salmon and tuna slices. Too bad I don't eat raw food, but these seemed popular with the guests.

See the giant fish on display (beneath the ice). Here you'll see lobsters, crabs, clams, oysters and prawns. (Tip: You may ask them to bake the seafood with butter or cheese!)

A favorite of mine would be tempura. Always the tempura! Once the server sets the tempura on the buffet table spread, it's almost always gone in minutes. (Not entirely my fault. Haha!)

They also have a variety of Asian cuisine, which all look like Chinese food to me! I wasn't able to take photos, but they also serve dimsum.

Different types of pastas are available, and you can request them to cook it with your preferred (red or white) sauce.

They also have freshly-baked thin-crust pizzas!

My love for sweets has led me to hang out and linger by the desserts section. I am in love with this white chocolate fountain. They have different sweets you can use to dip into the fountain such as brownies, Oreo cookies, Stick-Os, and mallows, but my favorite are the fresh strawberry pieces.

The marshmallow bouquet and chocolate eclairs (with sprinkles!) are attractive to the kids (and kids at heart).

This one's really good - it's like a coffee cream dessert and it's not too sweet.

They also have cute creamy puddings in coffee, strawberry, and mango inside shot glasses (though these are a bit too sweet for my liking). I like the fruits in gelatin dessert more.

Meringues: Light, crisp, airy, and so sweet! ♥

They also have a wide variety of cake slices. Try them all!

Fans of Filipino desserts can rejoice since The Food Club has a wide range of kakanin (sticky rice cakes) and halo-halo ingredients.

They have fresh fruit slices as well. Aside from the fresh honeydew melons, pineapples, papayas, and watermelons, anyone care for some exotic dragonfruit?

They also have a crepe station with different toppings and syrups (mango, strawberry, chocolate, caramel, and raspberry) to go with it.

Of course, you can opt to stuff your crepe with lots of fresh fruits in it.

And even top if off with some Big Scoop ice cream. I spy Avocado and Bubblegum flavors!

This one is a delight for the kids - candies! Lots and lots of gummy candies for everyone.

While other buffets charge drinks separately, here in The Food Club you won't have that problem.

You can try drinks like iced tea, four seasons, mango, pinaepple and orange juice.

If you're more of a soda person, all is also well.

But my favorite drink of them all would have to be the Dilmah tea bags from Sri Lanka. Gosh, I want to have a tea caddy like this at home please! Tea all you can!

Fun fact: Kids 3.5 ft. and below get to eat for FREE! The Food Club has solved the problem for picky eating kids (like me haha) with their different sets from the Kid's Menu.

I know for a fact that I can't consume the actual almost P1k worth of food. My bad habit of takaw-tingin makes me feel full when I see LOTS of food all at the same time! So what I do to make up for that is to just enjoy the experience and eat a lot of shrimp. Hahaha!

Here's what I had for dinner:

I think it's only during buffets that I willingly subject myself to fresh, leafy greens. Haha! I enjoyed this serving of salad with sweet fruits. I also got to try the garlic bread and some cheese slices.

Now this is my favorite part! People usually don't eat rice during buffets, but I can't. I love rice and I don't feel full unless I've had some. (It's a psychological thing, I know!) Then I filled my plate with tempura (yummy yummy tempura) and some more shrimp. Then a bit sushi behind it all.

I was also able to try a slice of pizza (which I forgot to take a picture of) and this pasta. Ugh, all you see from what I ate are carbs. I'm not a very adventurous eater, but next time I will try the lobsters and oysters for sure.

The desserts look fancier because they come in cups. My favorite is the coffee cream one (with the whipped cream on top). I'm not sure if it's considered as a panna cotta, but it's really really good! You can skip the shot glass desserts - it tasted sugary and artificial so I wasn't able to finish it.

For the night, I drank four seasons and some water, but my favorite will always be the hot tea. The one I got that night is the Dilmah Blueberry Tea (which is simply black tea flavored with blueberries, hence I couldn't sleep that night). It smelled so good! (Next time, I'm planning to try another flavor and attempt to make some milk tea. See, I already have plans!)

I had a great time at The Food Club. That night I got to bond with fellow bloggers Gretchen, Roch Kirstin, Justin, Hana, Rochelle, and Gen-zel. 

The Food Club: Your Lifestyle Buffet

Unit E Bluebaywalk, President Diosdado Macapagal corner Edsa, Pasay City, Philippines

For reservations:

• (02) 736 8001
• info@thefoodclub.com.ph

Rates:
Mondays-Thursdays:

• Lunch - P800.00 + 5% service charge
• Dinner - P1,000.00 + 5% service charge
• Kids above 3.5 ft. - P580.00 + 5% service charge
• Kids 3.5 ft. and below - FREE

Fridays-Sundays:

• Lunch / Dinner - P1,188.00 + 5% service charge
• Kids above 3.5 ft. - P600.00 + 5% service charge
• Kids 3.5 ft. and below - FREE

Because I want my readers to experience 5 star dining at The Food Club, I'm giving away a FREE Buffet Dinner for 2!

UPDATE: On the "Tweet about the Giveaway" part of the mechanics, please tweet this instead and remember to still tag 2 friends:

@helenblas is giving away FREE Buffet Dinner for 2 at @thefoodclubph! @Friend1 @Friend2 http://luckycitrine.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-food-club-manila-giveaway.html

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guidelines:

1. Giveaway is from January 31, 2014 to February 15, 2014.
2. Giveaway is open to everyone, as long as you can go to The Food Club to claim your FREE buffet dinner for 2. 
3. The mechanics you see at the Rafflecopter widget are all mandatory. (Hey, the prize is worth it!)
4. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. (Yes, I will check.)
5. Winner will be randomly picked by Rafflecopter.
6. Winner will be announced via blog and Facebook post, and will have to e-mail me at helenblas(at)yahoo(dot)com within 7 days from date of announcement, or else prize will be forfeited in favor of the new winner.

Good luck! Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Love,

Helen