Dining Review: Cafe Riviera - The Heritage Hotel Manila

As the famous cliche says, Sunday is really Family Day!

This is the day of the week where families usually spend time together shopping, eating, malling and a thousand more things to bond with each other. And last Sunday, November 17, 2013, our family has decided to have our lunch at Cafe Riviera which is located at the ground floor of The Heritage Hotel Manila in Pasay City.

We had an Eat-All-You-Can lunch buffet at the Cafe Riviera and I wanna share with you all my experience at the said restaurant. At the end of this post, I'll tell you my overall rating for this restaurant.

----------INSIDE THE RESTO---------

Cafe Riviera may not have the most elegant interior but we can't deny the fact that it's still probably one of the most unique and most stylish restaurants out there. Furthermore, the tablewares, silverwares and plates used are of high quality. Cleanliness inside the restaurant is also well-maintained by the staff, which gives the guests one of the most comfortable dining experience.

Now, let's take a look at some of the photos I've taken inside Cafe Riviera.

The interior design of the restaurant is pleasing to the eyes.

Myparents requested that I take a photo of them.

The Soup station looks so cute with the different table decorations.

This is by far my most favorite shot of the day. It presents
the vibrant colors of the plates and tablewares which is perfectly blended
with the accents of the wood.

---------THE STATIONS---------

Cafe Riviera boasts of its various stations that guests can enjoy. The stations offer American, European and Asian cuisines and this means that you are not just confined with a small collection of food choices.

The salad station which is best for the vegetarians out there.

I can't remember what station it is but I'm pretty sure that everyone loved it .

Ice Cream! Oh, I just love Ice Cream and this is the first time I saw
a restaurant has its own Ice Cream Station! This is really the perfect station
for the people who have a sweet tooth.

Sadly, I haven't tried anything from the Tapas Station. I should have gotten
some since the food displayed here looks delectable!

This is the perfect station for pasta lovers! They have a wide variety of ingredients
that you can use for your own pasta sauce.

The Soup  Station!

A dining experience wouldn't be complete without eating fruits.

Desserts! And yes, you heard me right. I just love their array
of sweets and delicacies. But most probably the best part of this station
is the Halu-Halo - very pinoy indeed!

----------THE FOOD----------

This is what I ate for the first wave - Mini-Burgers and a fried chicken.
The chicken tasted very good but I'm  afraid I'm not used to the 'a-little-bit-hard"
texture of the bread. Nevertheless, it's still a dish worth trying.

Not familiar with this dishes but I know they tasted good.

Chose my own toppings for the ice cream I scooped up from the
Ice Cream Station. I just love the combination of the sprinkles and mallows
with the creamy chocolate ice cream.

Of course, I wasn't able to say 'no' to the Lechon.
This is comparable to the lechon served at the Marco Polo Plaza in Cebu City
Both are flavorful and delicious!

Tried some of the fresh vegetables and sea food.

Grilled fishes and meat.

Green Apples and Pears.

Desserts again! :)

Cafe Riviera surely has given me the best dining experience, so far.

The food are well-served.

There's a lot of dishes to choose from, in fact, I wasn't able to take a photo of all the stations.

I like the fact of unlimited iced tea because I desperately need those when I'm eating in a buffet lunch.

BUT, there is one thing I wanna COMMEND the CAFE RIVIERA for - their staff (from the receptionists, waiters, cooks way up to the chefs) is extremely HOSPITABLE, COURTEOUS and HIGHLY-CONCERNED about their guests. They always come to each table to unceasingly remove all the used plates, ask the guests if they need something and to fill the empty glasses with iced tea.

My experience with Cafe Riviera is surely one of the most unforgettable because of its staff. To sum up everything, here's my evaluation for Cafe Riviera:

Venue/Place: 8/10

Ambience: 9/10

Staff: 10/10

Food: 9/10

Davey explored the WILD!

I've got two (2) free tickets to this year's highly anticipated gathering of the bloggers in the Philippines, the BLOGOPOLIS 2013: #INTOTHEWILD.

Striking a pose at the Blogopolis 2013: #IntoTheWIld backdrop

Special thanks to Nuffnang Philippines for their generosity (Hugs and Kisses!) and giving me the opportunity to earn from the most prominent bloggers in the Philippines. The bloggers who served as the speakers during the conference have surely inspired me all the more in my endeavor as a blogger. Each of them has a very unique and relatable story to tell and I was captured by their stories.

Me and my cousin, Elizabeth.

SEGMENT 1 - THE LION: CONTENT IS KING

Mariah Ressa while guidng the Tech Team

Maria Ressa started off the event with her informative talk about Rappler, the online news site that she started in the Philippines. Next to her was the woman behind the successful blog 'Dessert Comes First', Lori Baltazar. Then, a video of Rappler's Social Media Head, Josh Villanueva, was played on the screen to impart knowledge to the audience. Josh wasn't able to attend the event because he's currently in the US for an exchange program. Following this video presentation is a talk by ABS-CBN's very own TJ Manotoc who shared how the social networking site, Twitter, has helped him done great things as a reporter. 

For the last part of this segment, Camille Arevalo was given a chance to promote Blogopolis 2013's co-presentor, Blink.

Josh Villanueva on a recorded video of his talk.

SEGMENT 2 - THE EAGLE: COMMUNITY AND ADVOCACY IN SOCIAL MEDIA 

Sharing his insight about the new nation, Jim Paredes talked about his personal experience how the means of communications has greatly evolved and helped him share his advocacy with the netizens.

The 2nd Segment's speakers on a panel discussion

Jeff Lo of pinoyfitness.com then shared his about he successfully drew people to join him in his advocacy to promote at healthy lifestyle. Lastly, Asia Ipac and Ana Gonzales shared about Bloggers United humble beginnings and how they managed to make BU as one of the most successful and most anticipated Bazaars in the country.

Asia Ipac and Ana Gonzales of Bloggers United

SEGMENT 3 - THE AGE OF THE URBAN APE: MAXIMIZING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS 

Probably one of the most entertaining and informative talks during that night is that of Googly Gooeys. The real life couple has provided the bloggers ideas on how to maximize social media platform by creating a compelling blog and social media proposal.

Then, Christine Dychiao of manilafashionobserver.com gave us 10 ways to guide back traffic to our blog using social media. From her talk, I learned about the numerous social networking sites that I can integrate to my blog aside from the most popular ones. 

SEGMENT 4 - THE PARROT: MARKET YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS 

The last segment of this year's Blogopolis was dedicated to teach the bloggers how to successfully manage their blog and be able to draw a lot of readers and followers.

Abe Olandres while doing his talk.

Abe Olandres of Nuffnang Philippines and yugatech.com shared how he was able to get two (2) million pageviews a month for the latter. This definitely inspired me to be able to widen my horizon and influence as a beginner in the blogging world.

Chuckie and Yen Dreyfus then talked about how to manage social media accounts. This couple is really a sight to behold (literally and figuratively). I also got inspired and fascinated by their strong chemistry with each other.

GOING VIRAL: INTERVIEW 

As a way to end the event, some of the most viral or talked about personalities in the social media were asked to share some insights regarding ow they felt knowing that the thing they did got viral on the different social networking sites.

The maker of 'Conjurian', the much applauded parody of the movie 'The Conjuring',  told the bloggers how surprised was he upon knowing that the meme he made gone viral overnight.

Finally, Kimpoy Feliciano personally joined us at the event and shared some of his pick-up lines that surely made a lot of women, and pa-women, kilig to the bones! It was also funny to know that Kimpoy admitted that he is 'torpe' and that since his video gone viral, the women he liked taught he was just kidding everytime he throws a pick-up line at them.

Kimpoy Feliciano while answering some of the questions asked to him  

BLOGOPOLIS 2013: #IntoTheWild was such a blast and I am really thankful to Nuffnang Philippines for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity to meet some of the Philippines' top bloggers.

See you all at next year's Blogopolis! :)
...by the way, thank you very much for all the FREEBIES!
  

 

Blogopolis 2013: #IntoTheWild is presented by Nuffnang Philippines and co-presented by Blink.
Major Sponsor: Sun Cellular
Other Sponsors: Air Asia Zest, LG, PLDT, Oishi, Paktor
Official Timekeeper: Timex
Official Photobooth: PrintSocialPH
Official Media Partner: Rappler, Adobo Magazine
For the benefit of Red Cross Philippines

Take note that they have agreed to donate all the proceeds of this event to the victims of Typhoon  Yolanda.

BOTTLES FOR VISAYAS: AN INITIATIVE TO HELP THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY TYPHOON #YOLANDA

Good Day, my Friends! :D

Last week, we've heard and seen a lot from the TV, Newspapers and Social Media how the Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) has left our country with great devastation. Thanks to the Foreign Media and the world knew how much help our countrymen need in order to survive the aftermath.

Actually, there are a lot of efforts and initiatives that are currently happening right know to contribute to the betterment of the condition of the people who live in affected areas. And one of those efforts are spearheaded from a good friend of mine: the BOTTLES FOR VISAYAS.

This online campaign to raise fun to buy bottles of water to give to the people of the typhoon-hit areas might be the organization/initiative that you might want to support. Bottle for Visayas aims to raise $2000.00 to spend for the bottles of drinking water that will be delivered to a multitude of people.

Take part in the initiative. Help; and be BLESSED!

To know more about Bottle for Visayas, you may visit their official website here: http://www.bottlesforvisayas.com/