How to Beat the Le Grand Casino Du Vin? @GrandHyattManila

Le Grand Casino du Vin at The Cellar was so much fun! It’s a unique educational wine & dine interactive experience in Manila where you get to indulge in a 4-course degustation and, at the same time, interact with other diners through 3 different games of wine roulette. You can use the chips you accumulated to bid in the grand auction of the night. Galing ng concept!

Here’s what we think of the experience and tips on how to beat the casino to win more chips.

---

LE GRAND CASINO DU VIN EXPERIENCE

Le Grand Casino du Vin is akin to the game of roulette where guests can bet their chips when they play at any of the three themed wine game tables, each of which guarantees to test their knowledge about wines, awaken their senses, or simply let them rely on luck.

“The Grand Casino of Wines” feat. AWC Philippines wines
Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.
5:00 PM to 11:00 PM
(Next — Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2023) 
₱3,000 net per person
Includes:
✺ 4-course specially-curated dinner set menu 
✺ glass of red and white wine 
✺ 12 playing chips (add playing chips with an order of a bottle of wine)

For inquiries and reservations, call +(63 2) 8838 1234 or email manila.grand@hyatt.com.

Best to organize this with a couple of your friends + family and book the signature cellar rooms good for 10-12 people.

Goal is to combine your winning chips to win the auction. During our night, the winning bid was around 450 chips. If the group starts with 120 chips, you need 5x or 10x that amount. You can also collaborate with other tables and their chips.

The Cellar’s Head Chef Gadz Ong prepared the four-course meal with an open kitchen setup.

1). The Type of Wine 
Is it red, white or rosé? Participants will have to use their sense of smell and taste to guess the mystery wine. 

You have 5 chances to play the game. The trick is to know the taste and the smell of the white wine. I was able to know the white wine by its “gas” smell, acidic taste and absence of tannins. You can taste the tannins from the red wine. The rosé is the tricky one so you have to use your first two chances to learn and make use of the process of elimination. Trust your gut always.

The salad was made special with the soft goat cheese soufflé, sweetness from the fig jam, and contrast with the sherry vinegar dressing. Yum!

2). The Aromas of Wine
In this game, players will have to use their sense of smell. The host will present vials of different scents, from fruity to floral, and the players will guess which wine scent was given to them. 

For this game, my wife Rache was the master of smell. This was her game, and she was able to multiply her chips. Key to this game is to find somebody who can figure out the smell. What happened during her game was that bumakas na lang sa kanya (followed her bet) some of the players. Observe first who is winning in this table and makitaya ka sa kanya.

The pasta course was served with a satisfying portion of pork belly. Best to eat it while it is hot so make sure they don’t serve it while you are playing games.

3). The Wine Regions
Is it from the old world or the new world? Guests will have to determine where the wine comes from by carefully observing, smelling and tasting. Players will place their bets from all the wine-producing regions presented in front of them.

This was hard. You have to know your old wine from the new wine. During our game, all the people in the table bet on the new wine but it turned out to be old wine. Also, if you can determine the actual region of the wine and distinguish the American and Australian from the European wines, then you can times 5 your chips. Get a sommelier friend to join you. 🙂

The steak portion, cooked medium with a good sear on the outside, was worth it. The steak was good in itself but you can add a bit of the chimichurri, potato, tomato, and egg yolk to enjoy it with a different dimension.

The sea bass was also good, cooked properly and not well done. Loved it with the tapenade.

I thought I will win because I know a bit about wines, but my wife was the ultimate winner with a bucket of chips ready for the auction.

Auction time was fun. Don’t reveal how many chips you already have. Start to make friends and go to the other table with small chips only so that you can combine them. The chips technically do not have monetary value but you can use them to win a friend during dinner.

I loved how the game made the dinner interactive, encouraging collaboration and meeting new friends. The 4-course dinner was actually good but the games made it extra special.

End the dinner with a refreshing citrusy dessert while you do a post game analysis on what happened while reminiscing your winning moments.

---

FINAL THOUGHTS

Congratulations to the Grand Hyatt Manila team for thinking of this innovative interactive dining experience and for paving the way for the idea that fine dining does not have to be stiff and boring. After the pandemic, interactive concepts like this make dining out more fun in Manila.

“The Grand Casino of Wines” feat. AWC Philippines wines
Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.
5:00 PM to 11:00 PM
(Next — Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, 2023) 
₱3,000 net per person
Includes:
✺ 4-course specially-curated dinner set menu 
✺ glass of red and white wine 
✺ 12 playing chips (add playing chips with an order of a bottle of wine)

For inquiries and reservations, call +(63 2) 8838 1234 or email manila.grand@hyatt.com.

Live an Awesome Life with Christ,

Founder & Digital Creator, Our Awesome Planet

Disclosure: Thank you to Inah and the Grand Hyatt Manila team for the invitation. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.

P.S. Congrats to the Grand Hyatt Suite staycation winner during the grand auction. 🙂