LUZVIMINDA: Filipino Food Festival at F1 Hotel Manila

Organic Lechon

I spent the first weekend of June at F1 Hotel Manila with some foodie friends for a quick staycation. I was personally ecstatic as I enjoyed my summer staying home and complain about the extreme heat. Yeah, I'm weird that way.

Formerly known as Best Western Premier F1 Hotel, this hotel conveniently located at Bonifacio Global City has undergone drastic changes and is now an all-Filipino staycation destination.

 

We were also there to experience their Filipino Food Festival called LUZVIMINDA, which runs from June 1 to June 30, 2013.

F1 Hotel Manila's Executive Chef Sau del Rosario with Chef Karl Noel, Chef Sidney Uy and Chef Ed Tuazon

F1 Hotel Manila's new executive chef, Chef Sau Del Rosario with Chef Willie Ertez, got the help of brilliant chefs from all over the country for this month-long food festival: Chef Martin Jickain of Station Juan Cafe Boracay for Luzon, Chef Karl Noel of Casa Verde Cebu and Chef Sidney Uy of Frontgate Cebu for Visayas and Chef Ed Tuazon of Marco Polo Davao for Mindanao.




Here are some of the spectacular dishes that I had for lunch at F All-Day Dining:

Pinoy Salads

I was impressed that even the salads are Filipino, like the salted egg and tomato salad (my favorite), pako salad, eggplant salad and many more.

There's a good selection of bread and Malagos cheeses from Davao.

Here are some of the main dishes:

Vegetable Lumpia and Okoy

Crabs

Bagaybay

Gising-Gising

Pinakbet

Crispy Fried Catfish with Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Shrimp

Bagoong Rice

Tuna Sisig

Visayan Pork Adobo

Ribeye Pochero

Bagnet

Oysters

Huge Shrimps

Huge Mussels

Aside from the hardcore Bagnet and Organic Lechon, I particularly enjoyed the Gising-Gising, Bagaybay, Visayan Pork Adobo, Chicken Pastel, Tuna Sisig. Well, I actually liked everything.

Bagaybay is a tuna caviar. I think the term 'bagaybay' is for the male tuna while it's 'bihud' for female tuna. Both were served during the buffet and are quite different in terms of texture and flavor. I love my adobo either extremely sauce or extremely dry and I fell in love with the Visayan Pork Adobo, which is packed with flavor and quite tender.

This dish wasn't in the spread during lunch, but the chefs were nice enough to serve us the Sisig Foie Gras topped with Quail Eggs.

Sisig Foie Gras

The desserts were as interesting as the main dishes:

Pinoy Kakanin

Turon

Leche Flan

Durian Panna Cotta

The Durian Panna Cotta was the star of dessert spread. It wasn't surprising that this creamy dessert had to be replenished numerous times during our lunch.

There were even fruits that we don't see a lot lately:

Duhat

Dalanghita

Rambutan

I got a little messy with the baby mangoes, which was really sweet.

I kinda lost my composure upon seeing jars filled with candies that I loved as a child. 

Butterballs, Butter Toffee, Curly Tops, and more. Who would have known that butterballs still exist? :)

Even the drinks are Filipino: Melon and Gulaman. I ended my satisfying meal with a hot cup of Chocolate Eh.

Melon and Gulaman

Chocolate Eh

I have been to a lot of Filipino buffets, but it is LUZVIMINDA got me to re-appreciate the beauty of the regional cuisines. It was also a day of nostalgia as I once again able to try the treats that reminded me of childhood.

Rediscover the Filipino flavors at LUZVIMINDA, a celebration of the Filipino ethnicity.

More of my F1 Hotel Manila staycation soon!

Thanks to F1 Hotel Manila for having us.

------------------------

Buffet Rate: Php 1399 per person

F All-Day Dining
3rd Floor
32nd Street,
Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City
http://www.f1hotelmanila.com/
Contact Nos.9289888, 9287888
inquiry@f1hotelmanila.com
Facebook page: F1HotelManila
Twitter: @F1HotelManila