A Taste of Tuscany Every Friday Night at Seasons of Waterfront Pavilion Hotel

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We might as well begin a "pampering" series on our site since many have been generously inviting us to participate in what we may call opportunities to indulge on the best things that life has to offer.

An invitation came a few days after we've arranged a makeover day for me and my wife at one of the most popular salons in the country. It was so amazing that the make-over day was followed by an exciting Italian dinner buffet coupled with an overnight stay at one of Manila's finest hotels located in Manila somewhere at the United Nation street just fronting the Philamlife building where I used to report for work.

Waterfront Pavilion Hotel’s lifestyle restaurant, Seasons, welcomes the start of the holiday season with its first themed dinner buffet every Friday night they dubbed as Friday Night, A Taste of Tuscany Dinner Buffet starting October 23 from 6 to 10 pm. A festive selection of Italian dishes exclusively prepared by a naturally born Italian himself, executive chef Giovanni Sias and his award-winning culinary team.

Since the event was scheduled on a Friday night, we were all coming in from either work or school, thus leaving our Pasig residence at around 6 pm meant we were about to endure a long travel time going to Manila. It took us two hours to reach Manila because of the terrible traffic situation. But since the buffet was until 10 pm, we still made it before it closed down for the night.

Chef Giovanni welcomes us to Seasons Restaurant of Waterfront Pavilion Hotel and Casino located at U.N. Avenue in Manila. He talks about the Friday night Italian Buffet they dubbed as A Taste of Tuscany, and explains his pasta and main dishes creations.

I managed to arranged for a family staycation so my wife and I could bring along our kids for the overnight stay. We would like to thank the management for agreeing to have our kids with us for their offered hotel staycation. Though our kids were not able to join us during the dinner buffet, four of us were allowed at the breakfast buffet.

Dinner was an awesome culinary treat of Italian cuisines concocted by Chef Giovanni featuring special dishes that are not a common sight at buffets. The buffet was made more special and extraordinary since many of the dishes were new for us.

We started with a soup, the Zuppa di Pesce alla Livornese (Seafood Soup Livornese style), to bring out our appetite for the main dishes. The seafood soup was a great start for the evening. It really excited our taste buds for the main dishes.

They have on the main dishes section the Anguilla alla Fiorentina (Yellow Eel Stewed with Green Peas), Osso Buco di Pecora in Umido (Lamb Ossobuco in Tomato and Vegetables), Filetto di Pasce Bianco alla Livornese (Pan seared black cod with white wine and fresh tomatoes), Trippa alla Foirentina (Stewed Tripe).

My favorite among the lot was the Anguilla alla Fiorentina since the satisfying taste of the eel combined with the green peas was quite different from the other meals I've experienced. I was also specially curious what eel would taste like. My wife said she liked the Osso Buco di Pecora in Umido where the meat clinging from the bones was extremely flavorful.

At the pasta section of the buffet, they offered three specialties, namely the Pappardelle al Sugo de'agnello (Home made pasta with lamb ragu), Ravioli di zucca e patate al burro (Ravioli stuffed with pumpkin and potato in butter and cheese), and the Risotto Nero alla Fiorentina (Black Risotto Florence style).

All three pasta dishes were exceptionally good but we find the Risotto Nero alla Fiorentina's squid ink black better. It actually contains squid too. Again, it is very rare to dine on such kind of dishes so it was a welcomed treat for me.

We also tried the following: Midollo Arrostito (Roasted Bone Marrow) in Salsa Verde, Fegatini di pollo su pane Tostato (Sauteed Chicken Liver on Bread), and the Filetto di Bue in Crosta (Baked Beef Tenderloin in Puff Pastry), Carciofi Marinate (Marinated Artichoke), Funghi Sott'olio (Home Made Preserved Mushroom), white beans salad, and the Prosciutto Toscano con grissini (Tuscan ham with bread stick).

We can say we loved every dish because nothing was left on our plate. Both of us could not eat every type of dish  at the buffet since our stomach cannot fit all of them regardless how little of every dish we consume. I guess our metabolism is a lot slower. Since we arrived late at the event, we only had one and a half hour to dine at the dinner buffet. Not enough time to wait for a while for a second batch of dining. If we arrived early at exactly 6 pm, we could have rested for a while and got back to the buffet tables for a second, or even third, run.

For dessert, we had the Torta Mantovana (Mantova Cake), Torta di Mele (Apple Cake), Bucellato Tuscan Cake, and the Tiramisu. My favorite was the Torta Mantovana while my wife cannot choose between the Torta di Mele and the Tiramisu.

Chef Giovanni was very generous in explaining what went on with the decision to serve the dishes when I asked him to discuss about the pastas and the main dishes. He also discussed that they only use fresh ingredients for the dishes. The pastas are only cooked when a customer request for it to guarantee better taste.

I also caught the staff of the Seasons restaurant posing for a group photo so I also took the opportunity to ask them for both a photo and group video. You can see the photos I took at our Wazzup Pilipinas Facebook fan page and the video I prepared soon at our YouTube channel.

The story doesn't end here. Watch out for part two where we shared our overnight stay experience at Waterfront Pavilion Hotel. We call it a family staycation since we always stay at hotels as a family. We always come as a package so that our stay would be worryless since we don't need to think about the kids we left back at home.

We would like to thank everyone involved in inviting WazzupPilipinas.com as one of the bloggers they picked for this special promotional event.

Come on over and visit Seasons restaurant of Waterfront Pavilion Hotel every Friday night for a fabulous dinner buffet for only Php 999. The sumptuous buffet is worth every peso. But don't just take our word for it, be sure to personally try it out to experience it for yourselves.