Instead of luxuriating in the comfort of my suite, I booked a table at almost all of the F&B establishments
Have you ever had a food staycation?
There’s staycation, a portmanteau of “stay” and “vacation,” referring to holidays held close to home, and then there’s a “foodcation,” which is a respite focused on culinary pleasures, such as wine tours in Burgundy or a Creole crawl of New Orleans.
Well, how about a food staycation? The term might not be in urban dictionaries just yet, but the concept is something many have experienced before—exactly like my recent stay at Raffles Makati.
Instead of luxuriating in the comfort of my suite (it was a challenge to resist the temptation, believe me), I booked a table in almost all of their F&B establishments and found solace and satisfaction in the array of dishes and drinks they have to offer. It’s a kind of adventure foodies like me take pleasure in, as it rewards our senses in an instant, a kind of gratification that lingers longer on the palate and memory compared to a whole day of slumber.
Bougie brunch
Since check in was still at 2 p.m., I took advantage of the lunch hour by dining at Mireio, which dishes out authentic Provençal food. On Sundays, it transforms into a brasserie with live head-bumping music from the DJ’s booth as well as curated buffet stations filled with an assortment of French Mediterranean items, from the cheese section with boursin, gruyere and Comté to a charcuterie board with coppa, bresaola and jamon Iberico carved on site.
There’s fish tartare and truffle risotto that are prepared upon order, blini crowned with ikura, croque madame, galette Bretonne, eggs Benedict, bouillabaise Marseillaise and raclette.An impressive display of blue crabs, New Zealand mussels, poached tiger prawns and oysters is accompanied by an ensemble of condiments—from mignonette and cocktail sauce to pico de gallo and horseradish.The starters are more than enough to satiate my weekend cravings, especially when downed with cocktails, but I felt that it would be a crime not to delight in their carving station, consisting of Australian prime rib with red wine sauce, porchetta with pineapple chutney and roasted salmon fillet with lemon butter sauce.
Afternoon tea with an artist
Throughout the feast, the servers also surprise the guests with elegant pass-arounds in the form of lobster with caviar, foie gras on toasted brioche with apple and creamy truffle angel hair pasta.
Mireio’s Brunch Society is far from your typical hotel buffet. It may have comparatively fewer items, but is definitely higher in quality.After dumping my bags in the room (macarons were laid out on the table—score!), I made my way to the Writers Bar to have a tea spread with a renowned Spanish painter. He wasn’t there in the flesh, but his masterpieces made his presence felt.
Recognized for his surreal landscapes, Juvenal Sansó started honing his craft in the Philippines, when his family moved here in 1934. He pursued his love for painting by studying at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts under National Artist for Visual Arts Fernando Amorsolo and Ireneo L. Miranda. Now, his prized works are found all over the world, from Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris to The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In collaboration with the Modern and Contemporary Art Festival (MoCAF) 2023 and Fundacion Sansó, The Writers Bar celebrates the artist with sweet and savory afternoon tea bites composed of tortilla squares with spiced chorizo, fresh lumpia with peanut sauce, mango tartlets, turron de chocolate, scones with clotted cream and jam and tres leches cake, among many others.
This is matched with premium tea or coffee, mocktails, cocktails and even champagne, which can all be enjoyed while admiring the memorabilia and paintings from “The Last and Best of Sansó’s Modernos” collection that are on display until Sept. 15.
Curated buffet
Since Spectrum is being renovated (it’s expected to resume operations later this month), I decided to have dinner at the Owner’s Lounge where a curated buffet allowed for a more sustainable dining experience. Guests get to design their meals and order unlimited items in the menu, with the servers delivering plated portions to the table. It’s a format that the hotel is testing to decrease food wastage.
I started with a good iteration of their Caesar salad, along with a mezze platter with a really delicious mound of baba ghanoush, as well as steamed dimsum and bao. The Chinese numbers on the menu caught my attention, and so I heeded their call and went for sweet and sour fish, honey barbecue chicken and mapo tofu with yang chow fried rice for my mains.At that point, I was ready to burst at the seams. Or so I thought.
Before calling it a night, I took pleasure in having a Raffles signature, something I’ve actually never had in the many years the hotel has been open in Manila—the Singapore Sling, a gin-based cocktail that was invented at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore back in 1915. Made of cherry liqueur, Cointreau and pineapple juice, among others, the drink made for a fitting end to my food staycation. But not after an Old-Fashioned and good ol’ nuts. INQ
Raffles Makati: 1 Raffles Drive, Makati Ave, Makati; tel. 7795-0777; raffles.com/makati. Follow the author at @fooddudeph on Instagram
Angelo Comsti writes the Inquirer Lifestyle column Tall Order. He was editor of F&B Report magazine.
