Best Western Premier F1 Hotel is the first hotel that opened in the booming Bonifacio Global City. I was lucky enough to be part of the media folks they invited to taste the food that the hotel offers at their resident food establishment, F Restaurant.
F Restaurant is located at the 5th floor of Best Western Premier F1 Hotel. This restaurant has the best view of Fort Bonifacio! Actually, the marketing manager was narrating to us how their guests enjoyed the fireworks last New Year’s Eve. People were changing positions to view the beautiful firecrackers in every angle. I wish I discovered this sooner but oh well.
The circular design of the couch greets guests upon entering F restaurant. I love how cute and innovative the design of the restaurant is. It keeps the classy hotel restaurant look but at the same time, it’s hip and cool!
Chinese decorations were all over the place…. and I guess you most probably figured that it’s because Chinese New Year is upcoming! I will be surprised if Filipinos won’t know this special Chinese occasion. Because guess what? Our very own Philippine president declared January 23, 2012 a non-working holiday! Wow! I never imagined that this could ever happen! I’m happy that the government recognized the presence of numerous Filipino-Chinese (tsinoy) here in our country thus declaring Chinese New Year as an official Philippine holiday! Whee!
If you’re looking for a place to celebrate Chinese New Year, why not give F Restaurant at Best Western Premiere F1 Hotel a try?
Here’s a rundown of our ‘preview’ of the Chinese Buffet that F Restaurant is currently offering. At Php 998++ per person, you get to eat unlimited amount of Chinese food goodness!
Take note that the F Restaurant’s Chinese buffet runs from January 16-31, 2012. If you choose to celebrate Chinese New Year on the day itself at Best Western Premier F1 Hotel’s signature restaurant, you get to see the much-anticipated dragon dance! Now, that’s a treat!
Appetizers
- Boiled Peanut
I’m used to eating fried peanuts. Upon tasting this tea-boiled peanuts from F restaurant, I’m now a convert! Boiled peanuts taste so much better! I’m not sure why this particular appetizer won me over. According to the other foodies that attended the food preview, there might be a hint of cinnamon and sugar with it. I couldn’t tell but I was having multiple servings of it, can’t get enough!
- Selection of great Chinese appetizers
Next on the table was a mini lauriat of Chinese appetizers. There were Jelly Fish, Beef Kimchi, Cucumber with Garlic & Chili Sesame and Cold Pork Knuckle. While I liked most of those dishes, Beef Kimchi came out as a winner! At first, I was actually hesitant as I dislike eating kimchi. However, it didn’t look like kimchi at all so I took one piece and voila, sooo yummy!
Soup
I like the choice of soups that F Restaurant decided to serve in their Chinese New Year Buffet. I wish they included hot & sour soup though as it’s what most tsinoys refer to as their favorite (apart from seven herb soup of course!) when dining at a Chinese restaurant.
- Crab and Corn Soup
I love the generous servings of crabs in this soup. I can see that it’s really quality that F restaurant at Best Western Premier F1 Hotel is striving for. Considering it’s a buffet and people will get numerous servings, they wanted to ensure that even a soup like this can taste just as good as their main courses.
- Seafood Spinach
The seafood spinach soup is another winner for me! I love that they put bits of shrimp into the spinach soup. I love the lightness of the dish and the right amount of flavors that were in it!
Fresh Noodles
- Fried Noodle with Sliced Pork, Bokchoi, Carrots, Mushroom and X.O. Sauce
Noodles will always be part of every food menu on a Chinese celebration. Noodles signifies long life so a fried noodle dish like this one by F restaurant was a nice touch to add to the 2-week Chinese-themed buffet.
Main Course
- Hainanese Chicken with Ginger Sauce
The hainanese chicken tasted a bit bland but I guess that’s how it should be, right? Well, I was able to enjoy it as I dipped the chicken into the ginger sauce. Finally giving it some sense of character. I wish they provided the other sauces that usually comes with Hainanese chicken order too like soy sauce and chili sauce.
- Steamed Asparagus with X.O. Sauce
When I saw the asparagus, I was ecstatic! I super love asparagus as it’s light, delicious and healthy! I also appreciate that they cooked it with X.O. sauce. The vegetable doesn’t really need too much. I’m glad they brought out the natural flavors of this dish.
- Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Salt & Pepper
Another favorite chinese dish of mine is spareribs! I was truly delighted that F restaurant included this in their buffet menu or else, I would be so disappointed. If you’re watching your cholesterol intake, the looks of this dish might take you aback. However, the crunchy and salty taste of this pork will leave you wanting to forget all those doctor’s advice.
- Peking Duck
The star of the buffet is the peking duck. Others might think that the Php 998++ price for unlimited serving of this peking duck wraps is enough reason to indulge in the Chinese New Year buffet. I must agree! Where else can we find unlimited peking duck these days?
- Steamed Marlin with Soya Sauce
This is the only dish that I disliked among the ones we tried. I guess it’s acquired taste but it would have been nice if they served steamed fish fillet with garlic sauce instead. That would have been perfect. I gave this suggestion to Best Western Premier F1 Hotel but of course, it was just my opinion. I heard the other foodies liked this. So I guess it really depends on your taste.
- Sichuan Beef
Spicy!!! That’s how I describe it but I do love the spiciness combined with the soft and tender beef slices. You’ll love this I’m sure. Don’t forget to get servings of this when you dine at F Restaurant during the Chinese New Year buffet offering.
- Lechon Macau
this dish looked so simple yet so deceivingly good! The skin was uber crispy and the meat was juicy! I was eating about 2 pieces of it without sauce when someone suggested that we put mustard and sugar with it. The suggestion was a big hit among the foodies in our table. Suffice to say, we finished all the lechon macau served in our table. However, I have to remove some fats. I don’t want to get a heart attack haha!
Dessert
- Mango Sago
Last, but definitely not the least, is their dessert which was mango sago. It wasn’t the usual mango sago that I see in Chinese restaurants. F restaurant’s version is thick! Usually, the tapioca are immersed in mango juice. This one, however, looked almost like a custard or a pudding. It’s a good twist to our usual mango dessert.
It was so nice trying out F Restaurant with fellow foodies. As I looked at my watch, I realized we were eating for more than 2 hours!
My favorites among the Chinese buffet were boiled peanuts, beef kimchi, peking duck, szechuan beef and lechon macau. The Chinese dishes I mentioned in this post will comprise 70% of the buffet table.
Php 998++ price for a hotel buffet such as this one is definitely good value for money. The buffet runs from January 16-31, 2012. Catch it while you still can! Kung Hei Fat Choi!
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F Restaurant
5/F Best Western Premier F1 Hotel, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, 1634 Taguig, Philippines
(02) 928-9888
http://www.bestwesternpremierf1hotel.com
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