hotel food…to die for or not

with the fame of hotel buffets in recent years and the reputation of hotel restos, you’d expect the same kind of food at any hotel function. surprisingly that is not the case in most occasions.

got a chance to attend a two day event at the edsa shangri-la hotel and as usual food was as bland as they could be.

appetizers

(grilled thyme marinated vegetables with balsamic and crispy onions)

liked this dish, i love roasted veggies with a bit of balsamic, the blue cheese gave it a nice kick.

(caesar salad with foccacia croutons, bacon and parmesan petals)

the dressing was watery. nothing extraordinary about the salad…other restos serve a much better caesar.

entrees

(basil crusted snapper with creamed leek mashed potato and asparagus and chili green pea paste)

i liked the uniqueness of the dish but none of the flavors mentioned were evident and it was simply bland.

(maple glazed chicken breast with steamed rice, roast capsicum relish, steamed snow pea julienne peppercorn creamed mushroom reduction)

whew! what a long name/description. again, no hints of maple, the bell pepper was not made into a relish, the peppercorn sauce was like a instant mix gravy. bland food remedied with loads of pepper and salt.

dessert

(lime cheesecake with pineapple five spice compote)

i love cheesecakes so i enjoyed this even though i didn’t taste the lime and the five spices were probably forgotten by the person who made the compote ;).

(raspberry crème brulee)

it tasted like medicine. i am very particular about certain flavors, like chemical tasting fresh milk which sometimes comes out in milk chocolate too. and this time it was the raspberry flavoring that tasted like medicine of some sort and the texture was more like pudding.

i had two days that were gastronomically frustrating that i was craving for a mcdo burger at the end of it ;).