The Dishes Worth Ordering at Manila Marriott Hotel’s Restaurants

(SPOT.ph) Staycationing at Manila Marriott Hotel comes with a pretty good dining perk: You don’t have to leave the property to eat at some of Metro Manila’s notable restaurants. The hotel is home to two Michelin-selected restaurants—Chinese restaurant Man Ho and steakhouse Cru Steakhouse—each offering a very different kind of meal. Whether you’re craving Peking duck and dim sum or a proper steak dinner with all the fixings, both restaurants have plenty of options to choose from.

And everyone already knows, the hotel also has arguably one of the best hotel buffets in Metro Manila: Marriott Café. But with an extensive selection of what to order and to try, you'll want to avoid the guessing game, especially when you’re dining at the hotel for just a night or two.

Whether you’re staying the night or just here for the food, consider this your cheat sheet to what’s actually worth ordering.

There’s a reason the salad-soup-steak combination has survived all these years: everything can stand on its own, but everything also complements each other. At Manila Marriott’s Cru Steakhouse, the meal can start with the signature crisp CRU Caesar (P820), with the dressing prepared tableside and customized to your liking. The alternative option is to try the Purple Bok Choy Salad (P850), a deep purple-tinted bok choy offering an earthy flavor that goes with the pulpy orange slices, candied almonds, a smoky unagi, and sesame dressing to round it out.

You can then move on to the rich, earthy Wild Mushroom Soup (P510), made with three kinds of mushrooms: portobello, porcini, and truffle. Fun fact: The mushroom soup has been on the menu since the restaurant launched, a testament to just how well this classic has held up. For those who aren't willing to splurge all the way, you can stop here for a light and comforting meal.

But if steak is the whole point of going to Cru, flip over to Cru Steakhouse’s dedicated steak menu. The Portoro (starting at P3,100/250 grams) comes with a roasted garlic bulb and steak sauce, and is the kind of main that doesn’t need much fussing around. If you still have room, add a NAKR Oyster (P420/piece) and give it a splash of mignonette—or, for something with more punch, pinakurat. Not a fan of slurping oysters straight from the shell? You can have it prepared Oyster Rockefeller-style instead (P440/piece).

Similar to Cru Steakhouse, ordering at Man Ho is easy—go for the Michelin Selected restaurant's Roasted Flambéed Peking Duck (P5,988). The duck comes with a bit of tableside theatrics, with the meat gently doused in Dalmore whisky before it’s flambéed. You can have it served two ways: the classic way with pancakes, and the minced, seasoned, and fried version, which comes with crisp lettuce cups for scooping up all that meat.

You also can’t really go wrong with anything that arrives in a steamed bamboo basket. Man Ho's dim sum selection can be a little overwhelming, so let’s make things easy. Order the Shrimp Dumpling “Ha Kau” (P388) and Crab Roe Pork Dumpling “Siew Mai” (P358), and order them with a platter of rice or a bowl of noodles. Just remember to leave space to order a basket of Steamed Custard Bun with Egg Yolk (P370) for dessert.

You always need a plan when coming into buffets, and it's especially true for Marriott Café. The obvious strategy is to make a beeline for the Japanese, Chinese, Indian—or whichever cuisine is your personal weakness—but there’s value in doing a quick lap around the dining area. Familiarize yourself with the layout, see what’s available, and take note of the dishes you’ll want to come back for.

A good example is the Smash Burgers. Right beside the tempura station, you’ll find a dedicated area where you can have your burger patties smashed to order. The best part? You get to customize it to your liking—double up on the patties, add some heat, or build the burger exactly the way you want it.

During the dinner buffet service, Chef Sharwin Tee takes over the second run of the Sinagtala Famsigiving with a spread of Tsinoy dishes inspired by heirloom recipes passed down through generations of Filipino-Chinese families. The lineup includes the Tao Meng Tsai with Seafood (hair vegetables, but no, there’s no actual hair involved), Diok Pit He (deep-fried stuffed shrimp), Pata Tim (braised pork leg), and Kiam Peng (salty rice).

The Tsinoy spread also has its own dessert, the Taro Sago, like a spicy version of guinataang bilo-bilo. Should you want to stick to something straightforwardly sweet, the buffet has a gelato station that has "hindi masyadong matamis" flavors. Not leaving out the ube fans, you can order a slice of Kasen Burnt Basque from Marriott Café Bakery's à la carte menu. The dessert gets its name from Kasen Abelgas, a young Filipino food content creator, who helped make the purple dessert.

The Manila Marriott Hotel is a 5-star luxury property located at District 2, Resorts Drive, Newport World Resorts, Pasay City (right across from Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport). For more information, check out Manila Marriott Hotel's website.