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IT’S
that time of the year again when one’s social life goes
full-speed. December is a favorite month for weddings,
sociocivic club anniversary celebrations, product
events—in fact, it is the ideal time for any event held
indoors or in the open air because the rainy season is
behind us. Add the cool air, the Christmas lights,
including the garish ones set up by local officials, the
general festive mood that envelops the city, and you
have the essential elements of social success that are
hard to find at any other time of the year. The only
problem, of course, is the frozen traffic—then again,
that, too, adds to the general air of energetic
festivity.
This is
also the time of the year when the relatives we stayed
with while visiting the West Coast or New York or Rome
or London, squatting in their “guest” room or their
living room and making ourselves at home, come over and
pay us back for the “thoughtfulness” of our visit.
Though they have enough foreign currency to pay for a
stay in a fine hotel, it is an unspoken rule that, since
they housed you, you are now their official shopping
guide and restaurant host. Ah, more tasks to add to the
101 that fall on one’s lap when the holiday season sets
in.
For
those in a quandary as to where to bring their visiting
firemen, where there is a little bit of Filipino, an
impressive ambiance and, of course, that all-important
factor—good food—the pool area of the Sofitel Philippine
Plaza is a must visit.
For a
romantic like me, Sofitel has the most beautiful gardens
and the best pools in the city. They have one advantage
over all the rest: Manila Bay and its sunset as a
backdrop. There is nothing like taking a walk, just
before dusk, along the breakwater and listening to the
waves lapping the rocks piled against the sea wall. Of
course, the burnt orange, mellow yellow and streaks of
purplish blue palette on the horizon will make one stop,
gasp and pause until the sun completes its exit.
This is
one setting that cannot be duplicated anywhere else;
there will not be enough candelabras and serenading
mariachis that can ever outdo what nature has lavished
on Manila Bay.
Sofitel
Philippine Plaza knows the gem they have in their midst.
The management has converted the area around its pool,
with curiously shaped but ever-bright blue and sparkling
pools of water. Now you can have a wonderful buffet
dinner while sitting under softly swaying palm leaves
and the faint twinkle of stars against the velvety black
sky.
The
buffet is not a repeat of what is found in the very
popular buffet spread of the hotel’s Spirals restaurant.
Out in the fresh air, only a one-kind-of-buffet will do.
A great barbecue! But done only in a five-star way. No
irritating smoke coming from the grills expertly handled
by a chef. A varied selection of choice meats and
succulent seafood are spread out generously for the
picking. Memories of Mongolian barbecue will never come
to mind. Horrors! I never appreciated this
once-upon-a-time popular kind of meal that resembles a
rubbish of shredded meats, lettuce, and diced and
unidentifiable seafood, stir fried by anyone who can
hold a wok and stuffed into a bowl: a mish-mash of
leftovers.
The
French will never allow anything like that, thank God,
no matter how enticing the economy of scale. At the
Sofitel barbecue, you choose the meats and the seafood
(the pieces are not bite-sized but right-sized, so that
you can identify what’s on the table and taste it). The
chef will grill it to perfection.
Then
comes the best part: a table full of sauces to
complement the grilled delights. There is a whole array
of them. From different chilis and hot sauces, our usual
sukang puti with sili, Balayan patis and
toyo, butter and calamansi or lemon, ali
oli mayo and tartar, more international ones like
chimichurri, English mustard, horseradish, Chinese
sweet-and-sour, Thai peanut sauce and more—enough
variety to infinitely delight sauce lovers.
Sofitel
will never do anything half-baked. There is also a good
array of fresh greens and tempting antipastos. But I
suggest not letting oneself get carried away for these
are just starters for the main event: the barbecued
dishes themselves.
The
dessert table, with its colorful and caloric
temptations, also awaits those with more space in their
tummies, or who just need to get their sugar fix. But
not too far is a puto bungbong and bibingka
station for balikbayan to wax nostalgic with.
Don’t forget the sorbetes and halo-halo, too.
While
having dinner al fresco, you may think you are in the
Bahamas until the familiar strains of the dance music
touch your ears. Young girls and boys come in clad in
Maria Claras and old-fashioned barongs to dance the
polka bal. Sofitel Philippine Plaza has chosen just the
right spot, the right volume of music and the right
number of dances to entertain without getting in the way
of soft conversations. It is nice to listen to
kulintang music with the wind as a gentle
accompaniment; delightful to view our dancers doing the
tinikling on a wooden stage surrounded by real
trees.
The
production is simple, the sets and lights and music kept
to a discreet yet distinct decibel. How very French.
Though French food is identified with the best of
butter, crème fraiche and other calorie-laden
ingredients, when the sauce slides onto your tongue, it
is subtle, smooth and silky. Yes, enough to make you
pucker and say, rather pretentiously, it is true: “C’est
magnifique!”
To
everyone out there still trying to figure out where to
make a fantastic and lingering impression on the
visiting friends and relatives who hosted you in the
land of the brave and especially the free, head off to
Sofitel Philippine Plaza and sit out by the pool and let
Sofitel and the Manila sunset magic do the rest. |
