When sister and I attended the Lee Kum Kee Cook with the Masters grand cooking demo two Sundays ago, we were given tickets for this event, and since I already had an invite through e-mail, I just gave my extra ticket to my brother, since he really wanted to attend it.
Us three siblings left the house early, and we arrived at the venue early, too, but my siblings wanted to roam around first, so I went with them first. Around 6pm, we went to the activity center of Shangri-La Plaza to board Flight AMRF2011 - Appetite Magazine Restaurant Festival 2011.
I don't travel much, but whenever I do travel, I do try to sample regional cuisines, too, because as much I want to explore different places, part of knowing different cultures is through is food, too, and this event made me explore different parts of the world through different cuisines.
TV Personality Sam Oh is the event's host (also called as "Chief Flight Attendant"), and before the launch of the festival, there were welcome remarks from Ms. Monique Buensalido (the Associate Publisher of Appetite Magazine), Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat (Editor-in-Chief of Appetite Magazine), and Ms. Lala Fojas (of Shangri-la Plaza).
In celebration of Appetite Magazine's 7th year anniversary, they teamed up with MasterCard and Shangri-La Plaza to give foodies a unique dining experience by traveling the world through different awesome types of cuisines - Asian, American, European, and Mediterranean. From October 14 'til November 30, these participating restaurants will offer budget friendly meals - all priced between p500 - p1000.
Participating restaurants include:
- C2 (Classic Cuisine)
- Cafe Provencal
- Claw Daddy
- Crustasia
- Cravings
- Cyma
- Green Tomato
- Lemongrass
- Pages Deli
- Pepper Lunch
- Pho Hoa
- Secret Recipe
- Sing Haianese Chicken
These menus especially created for the festival, include appetizer, entrees, and dessert to complete the dining experience. For under p1000, that's already value for money, since some of the food are for sharing.
Diners can also avail of added free treats from C2, Green Tomato, Claw Daddy, Pages Deli, Secret Recipe, Pho Hoa, and Lemongrass simply by presenting a coupon, which you can get at the November 2011 issue of Appetite Magazine (of course to get this treat you need to order the Appetite Menu from these restaurants). These coupons are also available at the main entrances and at the concierge of Shangri-La Plaza.
Also, if you use your MasterCard to pay your bill worth p1000 (at least, including the Appetite Menu), you can get free parking! That's a good deal all in all! (Per DTI-NCR Permit No. A3-0890 Series of 2011)
I will feature the Appetite Menus created by these restaurants on a separate post, but for now, allow me to share to you what I ate that night:
At first, I planned to sample food from each of the restaurants, and since the stacks of plates were located next to C2, I decided to start there. I loved all the food from C2, though I must say I didn't finish my Durian Brulee, simply because I don't eat durian.
Round 2, I decided to cover more restaurants as I am already starting to feel full. I am actually on a diet, so I realized my plan of sampling all the dishes seemed outrageous. From that time, I just told myself I will just sample what I like from each of the restaurants, just so I could say I got to taste their food, even if it meant sampling just one particular food.
For Round 3, I applied the same thing I did on my previous round, but this time I decided to visit all the remaining restaurants, specifically asking them to put an itty bitty amount of food on my plate.
I wasn't able to eat all my food - some I just gave a small bite just to taste it, because I was really full already. After this, I already gave my plate to the wait staff roaming around, but I could say I still tasted other food my siblings chose.
All dishes tasted good, but if I could name my personal top three dishes, it would be: Steamed Fish Fillet with Black Bean Tapenade by Crustasia, Haianese Chicken by Sing Haianese Chicken, and that Unknown Pasta Dish by Pages Deli. Well, I call it "Unknown" because when they ushered guests to the event to take pictures of the food before the actual launch, the chaffer for this dish was still closed, and when I lined up for food, I didn't take my camera with me, so I wasn't able to get the name of the food. If you know, please do tell me.
It was already near 9pm when we finished eating. Of course, in between bites, I also chit-chatted with bloggy friends as well. It was nice seeing them again, especially my friend Nathalie, who I got to see again after more than a year.
I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to Mega Publishing Group via Appetite Magazine for the invitation. I may have stayed in Metro Manila, but I surely was able to travel to different parts of the world from the sumptuous spread of food that night. Most importantly, this event is one of the most memorable events I have attended, because this was the very first event attended by us three siblings. It was so sweet to travel and eat with people dear to you, and I am thankful to Appetite Magazine for making us experience this.
If you would like to get updates from Appetite Magazine, do check out their new website - Appetite.Ph, or like their Facebook Page, or follow them on Twitter.
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my