Acaci: Buffet Dining at Acacia Hotel Manila

Spending a fabulous weekend staycation at a luxurious five star hotel like Acacia Hotel Manila would not only entail a night of uninterrupted relaxation and unwinding, but also of food, food and more food. So after touring the new yet already impressive facilities of the hotel, the beau and I paid a trip to Acacia Hotel Manila's signature coffee shop that is Acaci.

Located at Acacia Hotel Manila's ground floor mezzanine, Acaci offers guests breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets. Now if you're a regular reader, you'd already know that I love buffets. But although I've been to quite a few eat-all-you-can food spots, Acaci is by far the only hotel restaurant I've seen exuding a fun, stylish and playful ambiance as its space is beautifully drenched with colorful floral and striped tapestry while being surrounded with tall glass windows that give diners a 360-degree view of Alabang.

Like most hotel restaurants offering buffet dining, Acaci carries international dishes in 5 of its stations. For starters, they have a separate section for soups and another station for an array of appetizers -- cold cuts, cheeses and hors d'oeuvre.

On the same station are some cold mussels, sashimi, pieces of assorted sushi and salads.

Acaci also has a pasta, noodle, Mongolian bar, tempura and carving station in one which I wasn't able to take photos of because of the crowd. (Even though I've spent months taking photos inside restaurants, I still get shy when there are a lot of people.)

There's also a separate station for cooked dishes which the beau kept on checking out. This area had a number of viands along with servings of Paella, Oriental fried rice and plain steamed white rice.

Slow Roasted Beef Ribs in Tamarind Orange Sauce

Grilled Chicken Breast Stir Fried Vegetables Chicken Jus

Grilled Salmon Belly Teriyaki

Vietnamese Prawn with Nuoc Cham

Since Acaci is a proudly Filipino hotel's café, they also carry a Pinoy favorite, Sisig.

For sweet endings, Acaci also has some cakes, maja blanca and other assorted pastries, as well as fresh fruits which one could dip in the chocolate fondue.

Comparing what I've seen to other blog posts and reviews I've read of Acaci, there was a different line-up of dishes for this particular night, a little less than usual probably. However, we've noticed that the place was easily packed with diners which is one reason why I didn't go trigger-happy.

WHAT WE GOT

Before we went around for the second time, to pick out dishes we'd like to try, the nice servers at Acaci had us try 2 of their soups for the night -- a Filipino classic, Nilagang Baka (beef stew), as well as Onion Soup for a taste of the West.

Honestly, I've grown tired of home-cooked Nilagang Baka since my mom would make this almost every other day. However, Acaci reminded me why I used to love this classic bowl of Pinoy soup -- simple, warm, yet very comforting. My date and I both savored the flavorful soup until the very last drop. The beef shank was also surprisingly soft, so tender that you can break it in pieces with just a spoon.

The Onion Soup on the other hand, was good, but nothing spectacular especially compared to Nilagang Baka. It was smooth, creamy, rich and very filling.

After the soupy start, the date and I went our separate ways to get what we wanted for the night. I got a piece of cooked prawn, Shrimp Gazpacho, a California roll and about a dozen of my favorite salmon sashimi.

With an enticing line-up of entrées, I took a plate of almost everything on the buffet table -- a few pieces of Shrimp Tempura, Roasted Pork from the carving station, Slow Roasted Beef Ribs in Tamarind Orange Sauce, Grilled Apahap Fillet, Grilled Salmon Belly Teriyaki, Vietnamese Prawn with Nuoc Cham, Sisig and some Seafood Paella.

Sorry for my lack of patience to plate these. But despite the bad presentation, I can assure you that this mix of various dishes was very interesting. Every viand was quite good, but there were 2 which stood out for opposite reasons. For the good, both my date and I agreed that the Grilled Salmon Belly Teriyaki was phenomenal! The fish was cooked perfectly, tender, flavorful and far from being dry. The Teriyaki sauce also gave it a lovely, savory taste. For the not-so-good on the other hand, the Seafood Paella failed to make a very positive impression. Although the seafood pieces -- shrimp, mussels and squid were cooked nicely, the rice was too mushy.

After trying out most cooked viands from Acaci, we asked the chef to whip up a Pasta Puttanesca for us. We liked how the fettuccine was cooked al dente, but we would've loved it more if the sauce had more tang.

Although the beau is not a big fan of veggies, we also decided to give their Mongolian Bowl a try. Filled with thinly-sliced beef pieces, a few shrimp and squid, some mushrooms, bean sprouts, carrots, lots of greens and cooked with Mongolian Barbecue sauce, this bowl was definitely a hit! As expected though from not-so-frequent vegetable eaters, we didn't finish all the greens.

For desserts, I had this plate of assorted pastries with a chocolate-coated apple slice. I may not know the specific names of each of these sweet treats, but among them, the round plain biscuit sandwich-looking one (Maybe this is a French macaron?) was the best. The round pastries had a texture similar to the chewy Silvannas, and sandwiched between them is a nice and sweet cream filling.

For drinks, I decided to go with the Acacia Goddess (P300) -- a lovely blend of fresh pineapples, apples, oranges, carrots and watermelon. Being a fruit lover, this juice was a perfect beverage for me. It's also one healthy drink as it doesn't only taste good but also helps boost metabolism and cleanse the kidneys. And being a hardcore chocolate lover, my date ordered Hot Chocolate (P160) for his drink. It was not too sweet but rich and creamy. And of course, to end our meal, we had a pot of hot tea.

If you know us, you'd wonder why we didn't seem to eat a lot for this buffet dinner. Fret not though because it's not the food. We wanted to take a dip in the pool before the facility closes at 9PM so we ate dinner in quite a hurry. *toink*

THE VERDICT

As a hotel buffet dining spot, Acaci may not have an extensive selection of local and international dishes. However, quality-wise, everything was good and worth a try. Acaci can definitely use some room for improvement when it comes to variety and overall flavor. But when it comes to service and ambiance, I can already say that Acaci is on the top of its game.

Being only a 6-month old hotel on its soft opening phase, I know this café will be made better. And of course, I am very excited to see how Acaci will grow bigger and sturdier in offering gastronomical delights.

Taste - 3/5
Ambiance - 4.5/5
Service - 5/5
Price - 3/5
Overall Value - 4/5

Take a tour of Acacia Hotel Manila's rooms and facilities
Head over to The Lobby for a la carte dining

Buffet Rates:
Breakfast - P788+
Lunch - P988+
Dinner - P1,088+


Acaci, Acacia Hotel Manila
5400 East Asia Drive corner Commerce Avenue,
Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang,
Muntinlupa City 1781
Metro Manila, Philippines
(02)720-2000; 588-5888
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