ERICJAZ FOODIES: ALL THINGS SWISS AT CUCINA (MARCO POLO MANILA)

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

ALL THINGS SWISS AT CUCINA (MARCO POLO MANILA)

As the cutie half of ERICJAZ FOODIES, I have always shown my love and affection for different types of cuisines.

(Oh and if you're wondering about The Chinese Dimpol, his love and affection is only for ME. HA!)

Seriously though, while my husband is such a finicky eater, I'm so open (AND loving) on international dishes. My addiction to food seem to be endless with cuisines from Filipino, American, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, etc. etc. However, no matter how diverse my diet is, I realized that I have never been really exposed to Swiss food! Of course, there are the usual Swiss cheese platters or chocolates that I find in buffets or events. But come to think of it, I have never encountered main entrees from Switzerland in the Metro's hotel and restaurant spreads. That is probably one of the reasons why Filipino foodies are not that knowledgeable on the dishes that the land of Swiss watches, Swiss chocolates, and Swiss Knives that their countrymen are indulging in.

Now if your tummy is curious, head on over to CUCINA of MARCO POLO Ortigas. Because from August 19 to September 4, 2016, you'll be basking in the glory of...

... ALL THINGS SWISS!!!!

CUCINA is amping up the usual hotel buffet choices by cooking up the hottest favorites in SWISS CUISINE!

Yup!!! This may be the biggest theme buffet by MARCO POLO ORTIGAS, as they flew in MARCO POLO HONGKONG Executive Chef, Rolf Jaeggi, for this exclusive event. Chef Jaeggi is a Swiss borne culinary expert who has been concentrating on this cuisine for about 30 years.

So yes! If you want to taste authentic Swiss food, this guy DEFINITELY knows what he's cooking about!

ERICJAZ FOODIES recently visited MARCO POLO ORTIGAS to feast on the food that Switzerland has to offer!

As soon as we stepped in, the bright red and white flag of the country greeted us!

Woah... You know that you're going to have a great dinner ahead when one of the first things you see is CUCINA's recognition from Philippine Tatler!!!!

The Chinese Dimpol and I excitedly settled onto our tables. We were already drooling for the meal to come!

Tsk... tsk... Nothing spells HUNGRY more than me flashing a Japanese peace sign at what is supposedlyto be an ALL SWISS night! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

NOW LET'S GET STARTED ON THE BUFFET!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me give you a tour first on the usual spread of CUCINA and the dishes that caught my eye (and mouth).

CUCINA Salad Station!

These Tuna Nicoise look so appetizing!

Pork Terrine!

CUCINA Cold Food Section!

Ooh! Seafood!!!!

You could enjoy these with their cocktail sauces or vinegar. OR, you could have it cooked with garlic and butter. Yum!

Ooh... Something tells me I might be picking out seafood using my fingers later...

Oh no I should wash my hands then???!

Fresh and juicy oysters!!!!

Ooh.... Now this is MY favorite aphrodisiac....

Besides Thor. He he he he he!

Oysters, Clams, and Cockles!!!

Yup! If you watch GAME OF THRONES, that will NEVER get old!

Egad! Could you see the fat on THAT one??? Me likey!

In the middle of the restaurant, you'll find one of my favorite nooks of all...

The CUCINA Bread, Cold Cuts, and Cheese Station!

Swiss Cheeses!!!! Yup! There is really nothing like them.

I could actually just stay in this station all day and leave a happy gal!!!!!

Another Swiss Specialty is the Dried Beef!!!!

CUCINA Chinese Station!

Different sauces....

Meats and veggies to fry or boil into our noodles!

You have a choice of egg noodles, vermicelli, and hofan!

Roasted Birds!

CUCINA is famous for their Paella which was cooked while on the buffet!

Don't miss this when you're at CUCINA. So flavorful and appetizing! Love the extra toasted bits of rice I got from scraping the paellera!

CUCINA Pasta Station!

Grill Station!

Comparing it to other buffets, CUCINA in MARCO POLO MANILA was all about onsite cooking. They may not have an extensive display of ready dishes because they are more prepared to cook it for you when you want it to. Wow! It's like having a personal chef because (mostly) everything is whipped up upon order.

CUCINA Japanese Station!

Salmon and Tuna Sushi!

Salmon and Cheese Maki!

At this point I noticed that unlike other buffets, CUCINA in MARCO POLO ORTIGAS doesn't have a loooooong haba-haba spread.

To be honest as much as I would like to get a bang for my buck, long and a hundred dishes on a buffet line don't impress me anymore.

HELLOOOOOO???!!! SA EDAD KONG 31 YEARS OLD E MAGPAPAKALOKO PA BA AKO??!!!

Oops. I'm sorry about the unnecessary outburst but food really does that to me. Even I choked on the age reference. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

What I mean is, I would rather have a limited selection of dishes that would deliciously blow me away rather than several platters of inedible food. Why would I risk my 24 inch waistline (ahem) on empty and distasteful calories??? What is really important in a buffet is the taste AND enjoyment factor that you're going to get from it.

And based on the reviews and the dishes that I am faced right now, I'LL CERTAINLY GET BOTH IN CUCINA's ALL THINGS SWISS!!!!

AND FINALLY, BEHOLD!!!!

The ALL THINGS SWISS Station!!!!

Of course, you might've seen other dishes bearing the Swiss flag on it from other stations but THESE are the real and authentic entrees that you could get a taste of to have that Swiss kind of experience!

I know what you're thinking:

Just what IS Swiss food???

According to Chef Rolf, if you go beyond their popular cheeses and chocolates, Swiss food is all about the delicious influence of other European dishes of French, Greek, Italian, etc. Come to think of it, you might have already enjoyed Swiss food but you thought it was from somewhere else!

But really, if you had, let's say, sausages from Switzerland, even if it was heavily identified with German food, you would still be able to note a difference in taste because each region adds its own personal touch to the dishes.

And if you're wondering if the food served at CUCINA is a sorry version of what they cook in the Alps, HELLOOOO! Think! Mcfly think!!! You are going to taste the essence of Chef Rolf's 30 years of Swiss food experience and there's no altering the seasoning to make this Pinoy friendly. This is the Swiss taste were talking about. Besides that, some of the ingredients were especially flown in to the Philippines. So yes, it's like you're getting the authentic Swiss experience right here in Manila!!!!

Various Swiss Salads!

My favorite is the one in the middle with the bacon, cabbage, and onions!

When I asked the Restaurant Manager which is the most popular among the Swiss dishes in the buffet, he cannot really pinpoint one because they change the menu daily.

However he did say that the Barley Soup was getting a lot of raves from the diners. Hmmm... I'm really not fond of barley so I'll just take his word on it. He he he he he he!

CUCINA's Red Wine Chicken Stew seem so perfect with crusty bread OR a bowl of steaming hot white rice!

Oooh! There's more!

CUCINA Roasti Potato with Cheese!

Many Swiss food dishes are based on potatoes and cheese since these ingredients are always available in their regional areas. With that, you'll see many concoctions using these two!

Woah!

Jumbo hotdog... Kaya mo ba to???

The carving station!

I wasn't able to catch the whole cut but no worries. The perfectly roasted meat seem glorious!

CUCINA Dessert Station!

What should I get???

I'll go for the ones with the Swiss flag!

The Swiss' Engadine Nut Tart!

I'm not really fond of nuts in my pie but I could make an exception tonight since this looked scrumptious!

Ooooh! Cherry Tart!

Who would've thought that this is a Swiss Specialty as well???

When I was in Geneva Switzerland with my sibs, we had this delicious dinner of Cheese fondue. Too bad I don't see a fondue pot anywhere. Maybe it's available on the weekends? I guess I'll make do for now with their Chocolate fondue!

CUCINA Drink Station!

Drinks are not actually included in the buffet price but for P300.00 (fresh juices per bottle) and P180.00 (Iced Tea buffet), you could quench your thirst, Swiss style!

CUCINA also had unlimited Wine and Beer for only P850.00!!

And now it was time to eat!

We were joined by MARCO POLO MANILA's Ms. Roan Viana and she was able to explain to us more about the ALL THINGS SWISS event of the hotel!

Yub's grilled pork skewers and chicken!

My unorganized first plate!

I'm hungry that's why!

I also requested for the very accommodating CUCINA chef to make me a cheese platter. Isn't it pretty??

Seafoods fried in butter and garlic!

This was SO yum!

The Chinese Dimpol's Steak!!!!!

My favorite oysters!!!

MY plate of Swiss food favorites!

I was already getting so full at this point but I wanted to have some paella!

The Chinese Dimpol finished ahead of me and was now feasting on fruits!

And 2 more cups of ice cream!

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

As for me, I went for the Cherry Tart and apple crumble. They had a lot of ice cream flavors available so I reqeusted for the vanilla ice cream to make this "ala mode"!!!

Oooooops....

Something suddenly turned up! I wonder whose "dessert" this was???

KANINO????

I have a weird sense of order I know.

As expected, we were still eating AND chatting up to the CUCINA closing!

Time flies when you're having fun really!

Where's that Swiss watch when I needed it?

Tee hee!

Heading out, we learned that CUCINA was also selling these delectable Swiss Chocolate Pralines!

These were all created right in the CUCINA kitchens!

Thank you soooo much dear Roan for having ERICJAZ FOODIES! We really enjoyed our Swiss food encounter in CUCINA! I'm glad too that I have found a kindred spirit in you. We chatted for hours and it was still bitin! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!