Thursday, June 14, 2018

A Trip Around The Philippines: Luzviminda 6: Timeless Flavors

F1 Hotel Manila is popularly known as the very first hotel to open in Bonifacio Global City. With its modern interiors and accessible location, it has been one of the top of mind hotels for travelers and locals alike. But aside from its comfortable beds and spacious rooms, F1 Hotel has established itself as a destination of choice for food enthusiasts with its mouthwatering buffet spread and dishes. It also holds an annual food festival Luzviminda to celebrate local flavors around the country. And this year marks its 6th installment. 

Hello, F1 Hotel Manila.
F1 Hotel Manila commenced its 6th annual Filipino food festival, Luzviminda 6: Timeless Flavors last June 7, 2018, led by F1 Hotel's Executive Chef, Angelo "Chubby Timban. He was joined by guest chefs AJ Reyes and Zhe Jacinto who also shared their expertise to come up with a wonderful spread highlighting authentic Filipino flavors with each chef's unique touch. 
There are several dishes included in the buffet that I'm familiar with such as the various kinds of longganisa, beef belly as well as fried seafood like crablets and tawilis.
Also present are regional classics and favorites which were beautifully and scrumptiously showcased by the three talented chefs. 
Chef Chubby focused on Northern specialties such as Insarabasab and Pocherong Baka. He also created this divine Kalabasa Flan which made my taste buds dance with joy. 
Make sure that you also grab his Litson Liempo Tinomok. 
Chef AJ Reyes highlighted Visayas specialties with the mouthwatering Kinilaw na Lobster and Sinuglaw. 
He also turned the familiar maja blanca into a tamales, making the local delicacy more interesting.
One must try dish from Chef AJ is his Adobo Bone Marrow which was a crowd favorite. 
His Beef Belly Tapa was great too!
Mindanao was featured by Chef Zhe Jacinto with her Chicken Piyanggang and Beef Korma. 
But my favorites from her were the desserts such as Tapioca with Ube and Mango.
TIP: You can request for your crabs, mussels, clams, and other seafood cooked based on your preference. I recommend butter garlic. There's also a grill station for some select meats.
Luzviminda Buffet is available for lunch or dinner from June 8 to 30, 2018 for just PHP1,699 nett per head at F All-Day Dining Restaurant. 
After our filling lunch, we decided to head to our room. We stayed in a with a spacious living area/anteroom equip with mini fridge, nook for tea and coffee and a work desk, a bedroom with king size bed and television, and well-maintained washroom. 
I noticed that there are a lot of closets in our suite making it a perfect place for those looking for long-term stay.
We were also greeted by a fruit platter and a welcome note. 
And we got a complimentary gift certificates to the Canary Lounge and F1 All Day Dining. 
We opted to take an afternoon nap given the bed weather we were having. I set my alarm to 5 p.m. to give us ample time to take a quick dip. But I guess the bed was so comfortable that made me press the snooze button, four times. 

We woke up just in time for dinner and we were in for a treat!
We got this before heading out.

Several local dishes were prepared for us with some we've tried before during lunch. 

 
Again, each one was delectable. Some of my favorites are Bagnet, Ox Tail Bulalo and Crispy Bagbagis.
And it went beautifully well with some cocktails from Manille and Very Old Captain. My favorite was Nilasing na Mangga.
Plus, Aging's Food Delight spoiled us with her awesome suman!
And check out this Latik Fondue.
We capped the night with a spa treat. Note that the Spa Center is still under construction and they turned one of the rooms in the 6th floor as its massage room. 

The massage lasted for about half an hour but it only took a minute or two for me to snooze off again. 
The breakfast spread was simple but the morning staples were perfectly done. 
The scrambled eggs alone got me jumping with joy. 
It would have been stellar though if they added my favorite taho in the menu. 
We planned to finally swim after breakfast but got sleepy again after the heavy meal. We'll just try it out on our next visit. 
If you're more into something more than just swimming, F1 Hotel Manila also has a gym that is open 24/7. We obviously skipped that too. 
The check out process was a breeze too. We bumped into one of the hotel staff on our way to the hotel lobby and he checked our room prior to officially checking out cutting our wait time in half. 
We didn't mind waiting though at the hotel lounge while drinking some fruit water. 
Overall, it was a relaxing and fun staycation. We could have been a bit more active during our stay but the bed weather made us otherwise. 
Fort Suite has access to the premiere lounge where you could get some light snacks in between meals. It also has a meeting room and computers for those on business trips.
Note: I noticed that the lifts skip some floors such as F All-Dining Restaurant and Pool. So make sure to read the label so that you don't end up riding the wrong one. Also, if you have an appointment, make sure to head out a couple of minutes earlier as the lifts take time to get to your floor. 

F1 Hotel Manila is located at 32nd Street corner Lane Q, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

F All Day Dining- F1 Hotel Manila Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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