On a bright and sunny Thursday, Christmas morning :), and most importantly, Jesus's birthday, my family and I head out to a merry Christmas lunch.
As soon as we entered the glass doors of Makati Shangri-la, our eye were greeted by a golden display of Christmas trees, surrounded by presents and holly behind a plump and joyful faux Santa who is being harassed by children and foreigners trying to take photos with him. We weren't there to view the wonderfully decorated lobby of the hotel, but we were there to stuff ourselves with a yummy Christmas lunch at none other than Circles.
As we made our way to the front desk of the bountiful buffet, we were happily greeted by the staff. Before I even settled into my seat, I was captivated by the array of choices they have now. The last time I ate in Circles, their buffet menu was quite limited, especially, their dessert selection, but, I guess, for Christmas, they added tons more food for the occasion.
I first headed to the fresh seafood section. The amount of sushi seemed to have increased. They added sweet octopus, new rolls and a really spicy tuna. They still have their usually fresh sashimi and sushi, which are still really good. Now, they have lobster. The lobster was incredibely light, but the flavor was strong enough and the freshness was evident in every bite. The lobster roe, too, was very flavorful. Shrimp cocktail, a new addition, was doused with the cocktail sauce and had a sort of sweet and sour flavor.
I then went for the main course. Circles always provides every type of meat or carb one can think of; this year, it didn't change. They had an impressive table filled with steaming dishes ranging for a huge herb crusted fillet of beef to individually steamed and served scallops.
I found most of the dishes in the continental section a little tough and overcooked. The purple cabbage topped duck was sort of hard to chew, but the purple cabbage was really soft and sweet. The baked salmon was soft and still a little pinkish on the inside, which I love. The flavor was just quite bland, but still good. Though, I preferred the smoked salmon. It was light and had a little lemony flavor to it. The lamb was surprisingly bland. I was sure it was gonna be tough, since the duck seemed more tender than this, but it too was dry and flavorless. The tuna tartar was a better change. It was peppery and fresh. It didn't taste bland, like most tuna. The cauliflower and broccoli were soft and tasty, but it was just that, cauliflower and broccoli. (why did I bother getting it?)
I then went for the more Asian sections, Indian, Japanese and Chinese. The Indian area contained mostly of curries and nan bread. The Chinese section seemed more tasty and worth it. There were beautifully roasted pecking ducks just waiting to be sliced and a great selection of dimsum (but lacking shrimp dumplings).
I ate this weird curry thing, which I thought was chicken, but definitely was not. It was sort of bready or some weird vegetable. The shrimp of the tempura was flaky and soft, so was the eggplant. The beef and shrimp balls were really good and they were soft that it was flaking as soon as my fork touched it. They especially went well with the chilly dip. I also got some muchroom risotto(out of place on the plate). It was really moist and full of flavor. Not like most risottoes nowadays. Lastly, I took a slice of pecking duck, which was tender and soft, just as it should be. Oddly, my favorite item on the Chinese selection was their siopao. The mantao was soft and delicate while the asado was creamy and chunky. It was the perfect balance for a siopao.
Finally! My favorite part of the buffet, dessert!
The dessert spread seemed to have doubled in number. Goodbye to the weird make-up sweets they used to have and the period in Circles of few desserts. Hello to the dessert-full Circles! As I walked along the dessert area, scouting for my first treat, I was immediately captivated by the large plate-bowl of chocolate souffle. The only other buffet with this was Heat(Edsa-Shang), and it only was served on "chocolate day". There was also an ode to Filipino dessert and a couple healthy and sugar-free choices as well.
I started with the chocolate souffle. The flaky outer meringue-y crust crushed out as I spooned it to release the gooey warm chocolate center. The souffle is really the star chocolate dessert in the buffet. The mango cheesecake was the right balance of tang and sweetness. The creme brulee was, like always, sweet and creamy. The flour-less chocolate cake was good, soft and covered with a layer of chocolate frosting. (though, i prefer Sonja's [Cupcakes] flour-less valrhona cupcake)
The Brazo de Mercedes was one of the featured Filipino desserts. It was light and creamy, and of course, really sweet. (I still really like frozen brazo over normal brazo) I thought that I got a chocolate cupcake, but as I slowly cut through the so thought chocolate cupcake, it was apparently ube. It didn't really taste like ube much, it only had a slight hint of ube-ness, but I didn't like it that much. The chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse cake and the triple chocolate mousse cake were all sweet and smooth. Their was really no evident difference in flavor, only in presentation, but all of the three desserts were good.
After devouring so many calorie-packed desserts, I thought I'd try a few of the healthier options. I really shouldn't have. The red bean paste cake was really awkward tasting. There were weird little chunks in it and it distracted me from the taste. The raspberry jelly was not that bad, but it wasn't at all sweet, but really sour. The nut tart was a little tasty, but it was mostly just a pie crust. The bibingka, another Filipino delicacy, was soft and had cream in the center.
I really love their tiramisu. Most tiramisus can come off too sweet or too bitter, bit this stroke the right balance of flavors. The cream was sweet enough to balance of the bitter coffee-dipped cake on the bottom. I finished like two of these. On the other end of the spectrum, the pandan panna-cotta (or a mousse), which I thought was mint, was okay, I guess, for pandan lovers, but I wasn't so I didn't even finish it. The yule-log cake was alright. it was kinda plain for me.
The strawberries and sugar syrup and strawberries and champagne were both yummy. The champagne, though, had a bitter alcoholic aftertaste.
The french macaroons were all flaky and chocolate filled. There was strawberry, chocolate and I think, orange.
I loved the cherry panna cotta. Circles has stopped serving panna cotta in their buffets for a while now, and I though this was a good come back for it. The cherries on top were a deep crimson red, the flavor was sweet and a tad bit sour, but it complements the sweet dreamy panna cotta. I lost track of how much of this dreamy dessert I devoured. tee hee :)
Overall, I though Circles has become much better. I though Heat was miles ahead of Circles, but now, Circles seems to have caught up. Their selection has grew in number and their service is still top notch. Circles still hasn't dimmed from the hype it received and is still continuing to serve great food.
