These past couple of years, Manila has been the favorite homebase to so many food concepts and international restaurant brands that our cup has runneth over. Same goes with buffet and eat-all-you-can establishments, which challenge the most gargantuan of appetites. What hooks hungry customers to stay loyal to a restaurant, or convert them to become repeat diners? For the adventurous palate, new and exciting flavors, perhaps–something they don't get to experience very often. For others, it's the comfort of familiar tastes and textures and ambiance that can often carry that fuzzy-warm feeling of nostalgia. Or for the eater whose moods often change, a little bit of both. In the case of a Pinoy eat-all-you-can restaurant at SM By The Bay, its draws foodies in the second kind of category, but has some tricks here and there up in its sleeve to keep things fresh and fun.
La Fiesta: Largest Filipino Buffet has been open for about three months now, and is slowly becoming popular for their selection of street food, party staples, and hearty Filipino fare that customers enjoy in the restaurant with live music from local bands and weekend cultural performances. Come here hungry, and come here with your balikbayans and foreign guests.
For your beloved balikbayans, things they probably miss the most are the heartwarming, home-cooked meals, and a smattering of seafoods cooked in many ways. La Fiesta will definitely satisfy their hunger, as their seafood selection is fresh from Davao, and can be enjoyed charcoal-grilled, just as you would hunker down plates upon plates by the seaside before you lay on the sand for a tan. More food selection reminiscent of beachside eats await at their grilling station, with meats and seafood ready to be attacked in partnership with heaps of steamy white rice.
My personal favorite stations are the Filipino entrees, meats, and street food corner. I made a beeline to the skewered treats of many types of meats and innards: chicken wings, tenga ng baboy (pig's ears), atay ng baboy (pig's liver), balun-balunan (chicken gizzard), betamax (grilled chicken blood)–I had a stick of each kind. While random street food in the–well, streets–can leave one hesitating to purchase ('How is it cooked? Is it clean?'), quality is assured in this buffet restaurant. The horrors of double dipping sauces is eliminated at La Fiesta, featuring bowls of many gravy and vinegar variants, each with a serving spoon for hygienic purposes.
At the far left end of the buffet layout is another street food corner, and it features nostalgia-inducing treats like mixed nuts, kwek-kwek, chicharon, chicken skin, kikiam, among others. It's sandwiched between the Arroz Caldo/Goto station and Sisig station, two staples in Pinoy food culture more prominent in late night and post-party grub to wind down the evening's festivities (and sober up before heading home). There's enough variety of goto and sisig, made with assorted proteins and toppings, to tickle the fancy of eaters wanting something new.
Of course, you can expect classic Filipino fiesta fare at a place called La Fiesta. Dishes we usually prepare and eat at celebrations are showcased in their buffet spread–there's lechon, kare-kare, bulalo, crispy liempo. Filipino staples like lechon paksiw, Bicol express, kangkong with bagoong, pinakbet, and bopis were also available during the weekday lunch of our visit. And when we talk about Pinoy food favorites, it's not just about local cuisine, really. Think of what else we love to eat that's already considered part of our food culture–our love for sweet-style spaghetti, carbonara, pizza, and fried chicken is evident in house, office, and kiddie parties. Shawarma has also been injected in our local street food/food court DNA, and La Fiesta has a shawarma station propped in one area, beside the liempo. I wait for my turn and I drizzle my shreds of beef with loads of hot sauce and garlic sauce. Every bite was a throwback to college years, where a quick fix of shawarma made my thesis term bearable (and burps extra garlicky). We have our favorite American and Italian treats in La Fiesta, and a few Japanese items, as we do love our tempura, kani sushi, and California maki, don't we?
For dessert, an arsenal of assorted panghimagas in the middle of the buffet area, accompanied by assorted pampalamig, hot and cold beverages. At first I question the layout, then realize how we really don't eat things 'by course.' We love eating by gut and craving, so anything goes. I found comfort in familiar food to end my lunch in scoops of dirty ice cream, served by a sorbetero himself roaming around the restaurant. There is also an ice cream station where you can scoop for yourself some regular ice cream, and for that visit, a smooth and creamy durian ice cream. Their pastillas flavored with ube and pandan is unlike the ones available in food stalls and supermarkets, so give them a try and pair them with coffee.
To accompany your feast, there is a live band that performs during weekdays, with two sets of 30 minutes each, seranading you with top videoke and karaoke hits that will probably make you sing along in between bites –your favorite tito will probably enjoy their covers of Martin Nievera and Gary V hits, and he'll be delighted to know you can request songs from the band (and sing on stage, why not?). During weekends, a one hour cultural performance of traditional folk dance is staged during lunch and dinner. This makes weekends a better option for diners who are coming along with guests visiting the country for the first time, so they can experience our food and culture in one go. Leaving with a happy belly and enjoying free local entertainment from a Filipino restaurant seems a fitting choice to introduce people to the flavors and colors of our country, so list La Fiesta as one of your dining destinations. Just make sure you arrive hungry to make the most out of the buffet spread!
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La Fiesta is located at SM By The Bay, Seaside Boulevard, Pasay (beside Buffet101). The buffet restaurant is open daily for lunch (11am-3pm) and dinner (5:30pm-11pm). Call 556-1111, 556-1222 and 556-1333. Like La Fiesta in Facebook ('La Fiesta Largest Filipino Buffet')
