Holiday Inn's Flavors Restaurant - Limited Food Choices

We availed of Citibank's 50% off at Flavors and had lunch on a Saturday. I forgot to make a reservation but the lady staff was kind enough to accommodate us and arranged set up of additional table at a private area (with smoked glass walls) just adjacent to the main dining area.

 

 I found the food choices to be limited . There's nothing to rave about the flavors, taste is not delectable. Dishes were your average beef caldereta, spicy squid, pata tim, crispy seafood noodle, sweet and sour pork, grilled chicken, fish, ratatouille, pumpkin soup, pizza, pasta, noodle soup, a small salad bar, dessert spread, taco bar, Japanese food limited to maki and a bit of salmon sashimi.

It's much better to go to the nearby Buffet 101 which has wider selection of food and is priced the same as the discounted price at Flavors.
 

We're not totally disappointed with our lunch. Good customer service shown by the staff made up for the limited food choices. Without the Citibank promo, the original price of Php 1400 is pricey. I must say we will not have a second visit even if there's a promo and will explore other hotel restaurants.

Katsudon Craze - Ginza Bairin , Glorietta 2

 Aside from the war of ramen-ya , there is also a battle of tonkatsu.

The first tonkatsu restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan was established back in 1927 . It is well know for its delicious fried pork cutlets and the special sauce that goes with it.

Now Ginza Bairin has come to the Philippines. First branch is located at Glorietta 2 with entrance at the Palm drive side by side with Wee Nam Kee and  Coffee Bean.

This is our second time at Ginza Bairin. It was good that this Saturday lunch time date was not overcrowded anymore. As soon as we were seated, we ordered our salad and set meal.

I ordered Kanikama Mango Salad @Php180.

 The salad was refreshing. It has shredded kani, cabbage, fish roe and mango slices and some dressing.
It was very light.

We got the Menchi Katsu Cheese Curry set @Php380.00

 

Curry was light and not overpowering. The katsu has melted cheese in between. 

Also, got the Rosu Katsu set meal @Php345

The Rosu Katsu set meal came with miso soup, rice, pickle, unlimited fresh cabbage salad and slice teeny weeny fruits. The pork cutlet was tender and not oily.

I found out that there are 3 ways to eat your tonkatsu - dip the katsu in Ginza special sauce or season it with ground sesame seed and pink himalaya salt or with some spicy mustard. I chose none. What I did was mix the specia sauce with the ground sesame seed and dip my katsu. I may get a stare from the chef by doing this !

There is an on going promo when we had our lunch. This is free scoop of ice cream. You can get it after you take a photo of a dish , posting it in social network and hashtagging #ginzabairinph and showing it the food attendant after posting.

I did not order a regular dessert as I already got my free scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I really like the unlimited fresh cabbage salad, unlimited sesame dressing . The staff were cheerful and attentive. Bill out was quick.

Budget per person Php500-600
 Location:
Ground Floor Glorietta 2 (entrance along Palm Drive), Ayala Center, Makati City
Contact: +632 553-7350
Operating Hours:
Monday to Friday 10:00am to 11:00pm
Saturday to Sunday 10:00am to 12:00mn
Facebook: Ginza Bairin PH