Located in the center of the busy business district of Eastwood, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel's Cafe Eastwood offers a great lunch experience for the businessmen who find it difficult to travel far from their work area.  It doesn't come as a surprise that during weekdays,  the hotel's signature restaurant is packed with business clientele. 


Cafe Eastwood has a spacious buffet area which is separated from the dining area.  The centerpiece is the dessert station which is definitely eye-catching.


The dining area is brightly lit with soft yellow lighting.  It has a classy interior, with contemporary abstract art pieces on its walls and  the  large well-cushioned seats provide comfort while the spacing between tables give the diners privacy. 

With the introduction of its Weekend Brunch Buffet that is available from April to June 2013, Cafe Eastwood seeks to widen its customers by catering to the whole family which includes the kids.  The Weekend Brunch Buffet is the same as their weekday buffet but with an addition of the Kid's Station, Candy Buffet and Kid's Playroom.  What makes this a great deal is that its priced at a lower rate than the weekday buffet. 

Weekend Brunch Buffet

Pastry Section

Pastry Section

The Pastry Section is limited to three options: soft rolls, toasts and bread stick.  It's oddly placed together with the desserts.  I decided to skip this section to pursue the more enticing offerings ahead.

Salad Station

Salad Station

The Salad Station offers the usual ingredients needed for a garden salad with an addition of three kinds of dressing: Thousand Island, Balsamic and French. It also houses local ingredients such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, salted egg, bell peppers, onions and other garnishes, perfect for preparing a Pinoy Salad.

My Pinoy Salad and Traditional Garden Salad

Hot Pot Station

Hot Pot Station

At the Hot Pot Station, you can choose between beef, chicken, fish and pork as the meat component of your soup, but it doesn't discourage you from getting one of each. Other hot pot ingredients like fish balls and kikiam can also be added to mix.  To add flavor to its plain broth, there are five sauces you can add: Chili Garlic, Ginger Oil, Peanut Sauce, Soy Sauce and Hoisin Sauce.

Hot Pot Station

You can also add sliced cabbages,carrots, mushrooms, onions, beans, leeks, sprouts and green onions. 

Hot Pot Masterpiece

While one of our table companions requested the station chef to prepare his Hot Pot Masterpiece, I decided to go for a more simplified version of the Hot Pot soup, only consisting of pho noodles, tons of shitake mushrooms, a few leeks and sprouts and some slices of all types of meat.

My Hot Pot

Dimsum Station

Dimsum Station

The Dimsum Station includes Steamed Beef Siomai and steamed buns with ingredients to make your own Cua Pao.

Steamed Beef Siomai

My Beef Siomai and Cua Pao

The Beef Siomai was served hot and it was tender. I had fun making my own Cua Pao but by the time I was done with it the steamed buns were no longer hot and moist so the paper was hard to remove.

And so, to avoid experiencing the same scenario, the first thing you should do upon receiving the bun is to remove the paper beneath.

Tempura Station

Tempura Station

The popular dish that's a must-have for any buffet is the shrimp tempura.  The Tempura Station is regularly replenished so you can get as much as you want.

My Tempura Plate

Who doesn't love tempura?  I had some perfectly crunchy Shrimp Tempura and Mixed Vegetable Tempura to my heart's content.

Main Dishes

♥ Spicy Adobong Pusit

The Spicy Adobong Pusit had huge-sized squid rings with a light fiery flavor that tickles the taste buds.  I'm glad they were soft and easy to chew.
 

Korean Beef Bulgogi

The Korean Beef Bulgogi was tasty and the beef was tender.

♥ Vegetable Kare-Kare

The Vegetable Kare-Kare is my favorite among the viands. The greens were crunchy and the eggplant was soft.  The healthy twist to the usual kare-kare dish accompanied by the delicious bagoong got me hooked.

♥ Thai Northern Pork Curry

The Thai Northern Pork Curry is a pleasurable new sensation.  Though the curry taste was light, it was nonetheless satisfying.

Carvery Station

Carvery Station

Crispy Lechon

The Crispy Lechon was the highlight of the buffet so I had great expectations only to find out that the skin was not crunchy at all.  But the meat was so tender, it could have melted in your mouth.  

Mongolian Station

Mongolian Station

They have a Mongolian Station with a wide variety of ingredients and a choice of sweet and spicy sauce.

My Sweet Mongolian Bowl

Like the rest of the buffet, my sweet Mongolian bowl is my own creation.  I'm quite proud of this.

Barbecue Station

Barbecue Station

My Barbecue Plate

I'd say the barbecue is cooked wonderfully.  Each type of meat was soft and juicy especially the beef.

Filipino Desserts
The Filipino Desserts Station is the most extravagant station with its contents arranged in a colorful and festive Filipino theme.

Fresh Fruits and Chocolate Fondue

Fresh Fruits, Strawberry Cheese Cake and Moist Chocolate Cake

♥ Leche Flan, Maja Mais, Puto with Cheese, ♥ Yema, Biko and Palitaw

Ginataang Bilo-Bilo

My Dessert Plate

I wasn't able to try the Maja Mais so I guess that was the best item at the Filipino Dessert Station. I enjoyed the lightly sweetened Moist Chocolate Cake and Strawberry Cheesecake.  The Leche Flan was smooth and creamy.  The Puto with Cheese in red and the Yema in blue is not only visually appealing, but were delicious too.  I'm not much of a fan of rice delicacies but the Biko was pretty good.  I got some fresh fruits too for good health.

Halo-Halo Station

Halo-Halo Station

Halo-Halo Station

The Halo-Halo has a lot of topping options.  You can add some ice cream too.  Unfortunately, I was too stuffed to try it out.

Juice Station

Citrus Iced Tea and Pandan Juice

What's great about the buffet is that it's already inclusive of drinks!

Citrus Iced Tea and Pandan Juice

The Citrus Iced Tea was the usual lemon iced tea so I personally preferred the Pandan Juice.

Kid's Station

Spaghetti with Pinoy Style Sauce or White Sauce,  Hotdog on Skewers and Southern Fried Chicken

Candy Buffet

Cake Pops

I'm no kid but to be honest, I wanted to try the Cake Pops which quickly emptied.

Kid's Playroom

Kid's Playroom

There is also a colorful and not to mention cute Kid's Playroom with balloons, mini tables and chairs, a television playing kiddie shoes, books and toys.

Toys

Kids will have tons of fun playing after they've enjoyed their meal. 

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Eastwood Cafe's Weekend Brunch Buffet is one of the most affordable hotel buffets I've tried.  And I have to say for the price, it's worth it!  The selections are extensive and mostly customizable.  The food quality is good.  I'm also impressed with the arrangements they made for the kids.  I highly recommend that families especially those with kids to consider visiting the Cafe as one of their fun family activities.