Pleasures of the Table: By Chef Gene R. Gonzalez
I had spied upon the Seven pillars buffet when we had the memorable Chinese dinner at Xian Tian Di At Crown Plaza Hotel beside Robinson’s Galleria on Ortigas Ave. The way Chef Cyrille and Chef Luis’s food was presented on the buffet in all its seven stations seemed to have stuck in my mind. Being a Quezon City and Greenhills resident, I was rather glad that our side of town had a good looking buffet to boast of. The question was, would the beautiful spread deliver in terms of taste? And to see, I had brought along some of our chefs and son, Gino, a chef himself to this spread. Their Olympian appetites and knowledge of food can be matched by their obsessive compulsive ways either in lifting weights or in beer and food marathons.
Upon entering Seven pillars, a most impressive brick pizza fired up to ultra high temperatures churn out some delicately thin, crisp pizzas together with a creative display of freshly baked bread, with a selection of flavours. The favorites of that day were small blistered, airy loaves with parmesan and a chewy Japanese seaweed bread with lots of umami goodness. A new addition beside the chocolate fountain with various fruits and soft, chewy homemade marshmallows for dipping was the ice cream "teppanyaki" station which one has a selection of gelati with goodies from dried fruits like figs, dates, sultanas nuts to M & M’s kneaded into your ice cream selection. The station chef will even recommend a streak of dark chocolate from the fountain that immediately hardens and produces more texture upon contact with the ice cream.
Interesting especially in the evenings is the spicy noodle laksa soup that Chef Luis is quite proud of. This is spicy and rich from coconut and spices though I would like it with the thicker chewier rice noodles. The cold station especially that night made me skip the salads all together and concentrate the oysters and little lobsters served cold on ice. Beside it is of course the sushi bar with some impeccably fresh selections. (It was difficult not having thirds or fourth servings of uni…)
What captivated my appetite completely was the Tandoor area where it was difficult to leave space for the other areas of the buffet having tasted the bubbly, crisp and multi textured naan slapped on the side of their tandoori oven and eaten together with chicken tandoori, lamb tikka and grilled paneer (fresh white cheese). These all went very well together with some black bean and fish curries and some chicken biryani with real basmati rice. It was fun sampling the different fixins they had such as homemade yoghurt, and different chutneys.
Having had very little room left, I tried the U.S. angus roast ribeye and a roasted veal loin while my table companions illicitly continued with this enjoyable night of gorging. (I’m glad I didn’t take these guys to lunch and it is with fondness that the restaurant staff are truly good sports…)
Anyway, it was back to the entrance of the chocolate fountain dipping marshmallows as I had jealously tried Gino’s Ice Cream combi with figs and nuts. Of course, just one more little petite crème brulee that was absolute velvet… Next time, I have to plan a really long evening, after I go back to this buffet… and I’m glad we finally have our own grand "all you can eat" place, this side of EDSA.
