The fun begins with the appetizers because they are bite-size innovations of classic Filipino favorites.
Ubod Spring Rolls
This is the best appetizer for us. Small fried lumpia cones with a slice of chorizo, prawns and heart of palm. Top it with sinamak vinegar (in the form of shaved ice) for that spicy yumminess.
Tuna Kilawin Roll
Something different. The raw tuna in vineger was wrapped like siomai.
Sisig Basket
A bit weird because you would expect the sisig to be crunchy even if it was molded into a tart form. Nothing special, to be honest.
Stuffed Fish Ball
Don’t order this. We were expecting the kind of fish ball you can find on the streets of Manila to be stuffed with goodies. (Hindi pala.) It tasted like heavy stuffed wheat balls, which were bland.
SOUP
The soup offerings are also fun. I love the creativity in the presentation and the innovative concoctions.
Prawn Sinigang Martini
This is my personal favorite. The sinigang was turned into a jelly at the bottom of the martini glass. Coconut with hot lemon grass was poured over the cold jelly. It’s like drinking milk soup with sinigang jelly. I thought the combination wouldn’t work but the taste was refreshingly different.
Shiitake Mushroom
This is Rache’s and Aidan’s favorite. My wife loves mushroom soup, especially if it is full of froth.
Paella Arroz Caldo
Just imagine the taste of Paella with seafood swimming in the soup of Arroz Caldo.
Tomato Monggo Soup
The combination of Tomato and Monggo did not work for us. It was a bit heavy too because of the monggo.
SALADS
We decided to skip the salads because we wanted to try the main dishes before we got too full. As a strategy, go after the high-priced items like Angus Beef and/or Salmon, to make your buffet worthwhile.
SILOG
US Angus Beef Tapa with Garlic Rice, Stuffed in Tomatoes and Eggs Cooked to Your Liking, Served with Salted Egg Cucumber Salsa.
I really miss Country Waffles’ Angus Beef Tapa, and this dish’s taste is as close as I can probably get. The Tapsilog is served like a burger, where the tomato serves as an open-faced bun filled with garlic rice, and topped with egg and the tapa itself.
Why can’t they just serve tapa in the classic style — plenty of rice with tapa as toppings and tomato and/or salsa on the side?
TORTAS
Chorizo and Mushroom Torta Cream open-faced Omelets served with Kamote Crisps and Mesclun Salad
We were curious to try the Torta/ Omelet which was served like a packed hash brown with flattened crispy kamote on top. You can skip this.
MEAT MAIN COURSES
US Angus Beef Kare-kare
One of the best Kare-Kare I have ever tasted, especially because of the generous chunks of Angus Beef. The bagoong was intentionally mixed in with the Kare-Kare sauce. This was quite heavy — good for two people, I think.
SEAFOOD MAIN COURSES
Salmon Escabeche
The baked salmon was served on a bed of potato and carrots with crispy salmon skin. I like Chef Laudico’s escabeche, which has a toned down tomato flavor and a bit of creamy butter-y taste.
Paella Stuffed Squid
I liked the paella and stuffed squid except for the breaded mussels and clams on the side because they were a bit cold and makunat. Anything with rice is a bit heavy. This dish was served with a tomato paste sauce mixed with bell pepper and garlic.
Mango Sorbet
We tried to order the sorbet to clean the palate in between meals. Unfortunately, this is not included in the buffet. Maybe if you charm your server, you might just be able to get this for FREE.
PASTA
Calamari with Crab Roe Pasta
We ate this last. I’m sure the pasta was good, especially with the yummy sauce of crab roe, but we were not able to appreciate it anymore since we were stuffed already at this point.
Learning: Just order a few of the dishes with rice, if possible. Most of the main dishes are designed to be heavy. You can skip the pasta altogether.
DESSERTS
I’ve never really been a fan of the desserts in Chef Laudico’s Bistro Filipino. Nevertheless, we tried a few desserts to end our Easter Sunday Brunch.
Deconstructed Sans Rival
I still don’t understand why this is called “deconstructed”. The meringue was swimming in the sauce with the mango on top. Maybe this should be renamed to “Tropical Meringue Island”.
Halo-Halo Napoleon
The serving of the Halo-Halo was too big for us but we had to finish it. I liked the Selecta Gold Ice Cream on top, which tasted like Haagen Dazs.
Spanish Chocolate
We barely finished this. Too rich and heavy. Skip this if you can since it is really nothing special. We were expecting liquid chocolate but we got a brownie chocolate instead.
Molten Chocolate
As you can see, we ordered a lot of desserts. If we were to order just one, I would get this molten chocolate cake, which I think is the best dessert on the menu. (Some say, the pandesal pudding is even better than this.)
Hi Anton! By 10am-3pm on weekends, you mean that buffet is only available at this time?
in your previous post about this restaurant you said–“We were quite surprised with how good the desserts are. We were not expecting it to be this good. I can go here just for the desserts!”. Contradicting, much?
Ohhhh I like!!!!
looks like another weekend buffet to try! =)
Yes I realized it but I guess we were so full already with all that we
ordered and we did not enjoy the desserts so much. I guess the learning is
leave room to enjoy the dessert!
This is the time for the lunch. I think the weekend buffet promo is
available for dinner too.
Anton
food contamination from saliva of people talking while getting the food? haha, that cracked me up! but yes, if you think about it, things like that are entirely possible.
anyway, i just wanted to say that chef laudico serves the best appetizers in town. and because of this post, i am going to drag my husband to his weekend brunch buffett. =)
same comment as glenville on the food contamination from saliva. gross but true! haha.
the food look great – very photogenic! i hope to try this out soon when i am in manila.
i guess your best Easter Brunch Buffet you ever had in Taguig…di ba sa Taguig ang Fort?
definitely would recommend this place
http://goodfor2.blogspot.com/2009/03/chef-laudico-bistro-filipino-fort.html
Hi Anton,
try iceberg’s tapsilog or butterdiner’s. i think they use angus beef also..
….awesome looking food display….i would like to know how much all living united states presidents liked me….by askiing all of them ‘how about’visiting the philippines this year{doesnt have to be together lol}….presidents mr.jimmy carter bill clinton george bushes{father & son}just to let you know that this year is the time to show me-the world that america has a ‘fine’ one unarmed woman{in silence}helping lifting deserving people-the world in general by how about ‘dining’ in small populated but fun filled philippines this year lol{seriously]
Oo nga Taguig and Makati!
….i haven’t met any u.s. presidents personally my comments are based on what i know-heard{100% cure}that in early o mid 90’s former pres. carter & bill clinton are both very fond of me so i am inviting them to dine in the philippines in returned to know to see if they still like me also bcoz i saw-heard a different story on former pres. bushes side i wonder if jon stewart’s comment about ‘sincerity’ of this america’s past pres. is for real or hypocrisy so if it is for real then father & son will visit & dine there too so i will feel good so i can feel the sincerity of a ‘true’ good will nothing wrong in inviting them WE ALL DO lol
hi , wanted to try the weekend buffet yesterday. Had a very sad experience , seems the people running bistro Filipino wanted to get as much customer as they can get as it was mother’s day . The result was a our food did not arrived and we are waiting already for 1 hour , and when we followed up our order the waiter seems clueless what we ordered. We could not wait anymore and decided to go somewhere else. I hope the management of bistro filipino next time would limit their acceptance of reservations rather than ruin the dining experience of their customers.
Thanks for the comment Paul, I’m sure the management of Bistro Filipino is
reading this post.
anton
to avoid the next confusions in the part of the clueless employees & managements about neglect unorganized settings next time this restaurants{busy hours}should divide the dining areas based on the present time-numbers of their haosservers{employees}meaning if there 6 waitresses/waiters than make them attend to 6 firm-agreed but not confusing divided areas that way everyone has A CLUE WHO IS WHO THEY’RE SERVING in any chaotic rush hours and remind employees to constantly smile to everyone present around them to minimized ‘nasty’ customers impressions remarks o opinions so good luck happy smiling creative energetic fun filled filipinos lol
Do they have vegetarian dish in their menu?
I'm not sure… I don't think they have.
the Spanish Choco’s great with the Halo halo ^,^
http://jotan23.blogspot.com/2010/04/chef-laudicos-bistro-filipino-at-fort.html
their appetizers and desserts are spot on, but sadly, their main dishes failed to deliver, like their bagnet wasn’t fresh, it was already chewy. I’ve had better bagnet in Ilocos.
how about value for money buffet with the experience of those hotels 🙂