In celebration of Father’s Day this year, we had lunch at Mabuhay Palace and dug into plates after plates of dimsum. Hakaw, siomai, congee, dumplings…you know it. We saw this restaurant the last time we went to The Manila Hotel (read Review of Café Ilang-Ilang). We were all enticed with their dimsum buffet offering (only at Php 888 net per head) and promised to try it in our next visit to experience “the most luxurious Chinese dining in the city.”
We’re happy that this restaurant also offers a la carte dishes including vegetarian (for my dad). Mabuhay Palace’s quality of food is good and its consistency is tough to dispute. With its lavish menu of authentic Cantonese cuisine, there’s 100% your palate will be delighted. It’s one of the best we had so far. Come hungry, and you won’t leave disappointed. 🙂
Review of Mabuhay Palace Dimsum Buffet (The Manila Hotel, Manila)
Ambiance:
Mabuhay Palace is decorated with imperial Neo-Classical interiors highlighted by rich hues of bright red, orange, and gold, with chinoiserie carved Chinese dividers. Panels are padded with dragon-pattern fabric and glass that you surely won’t miss right off from the entrance. The walls are adorned with hand-crafted panels made of jade and precious stones, which narrate the tale of the philosopher Confucius, opulent art works that took a family of artisans two decades to complete. The dining room felt cozy and the seats were comfortable. Each table will make you feel like you’re own private space.
Service:
The staff were warm and professional. Orders were quickly noted, but it took some time before food arrives on the table since they’re prepared and cooked only upon order. Main courses will only be served after finishing all dimsum entrees. We had to request for them to be presented at the same time alongside other items. Service was not perfect and there were items we ordered but didn’t get. Despite the service hiccup, we had an awesome meal. We received a sincere apology and some free drinks in return.
Food:
Unlike regular buffet setup where people queue at the buffet stations and get food from the counters, in Mabuhay Palace, patrons order food from the waiters while seated by ticking items on a checklist. It’s simple: just let the food come to you. There’s no need to wait in line or consider the movement (or appetite) of other people in the restaurant or select dimsum entrees stacked high with bamboo or metal steamer baskets from steam table trolleys as in a typical Chinese restaurant. Rather, it’s more of a formal dining encounter where guests just have to sit, relax, and enjoy food served on the table.
Dimsum is the ancient Chinese art of making a whole lot of damn fine food, served small plate-style. Why settle on one dish when you can sample dozens? To make the most out of our dimsum buffet experience, we tried everything that’s available on the dimsum menu checklist: steamed pork and shrimp siomai, vegetable and chicken spring rolls, steamed seafood spinach dumpling, no mai gai (deep-fried glutinous rice dumplings with black pepper chicken and leeks), ma lai gao (steamed cup buns), seafood taro puff, seafood nori roll, deep-fried wonton, ham sui guk (baked pork barbecued puff), steamed buns chocolate and walnut, steamed crystal skin shrimp dumpling (hakaw), steamed pork and shrimp dumpling with zhen jiang vinegar sauce pan-fried pork and shrimp dumpling, pan-fried me chai and dong po pork buns, volcano buns, and mushroom bun.
Aside from dimsum, cold cuts are also part of the all-you-can-eat menu. We had century egg seaweeds and golden fried crispy smooth tofu. For the main course, each person is allowed to choose one. My mom, sister, and I ended up choosing: crispy-fried shrimp glazed almonds, honey-glazed chicken, crispy ginger, and crispy fried pork spareribs. We could have ordered another main course (for my grandfather) but we were already too full to finish everything! While waiting for the mains, we were served with sweet corn coup with crab meat and Zzechuan hot and sour soup. For desserts, we had deep-fried chocolate buchi, blueberry jelly, and red bean jelly.
Everything was excellent and we were so impressed. This must be the gold standard of dimsum restaurants in Manila. If I were to choose my favorite, it would still be hakaw. It’s the best. Fresh, juicy shrimps encased in a transparent dumpling wrapper looked and tasted amazing! Yum. 🙂
Price for Value:
Mabuhay Palace at The Manila Hotel is an elegant restaurant where nobody’s trying to flip tables or rush you out the door. It’s ideal for big group dinners or luncheons, with easy-to-share dimsum for everyone at a relatively fair price. If you’re into Chinese food, it’s hard to go wrong spending a special occasion here. Look forward to a whole table full of plates crammed with dumplings, steamed buns, and Chinese pastries. Go with people with a large appetite and make a reservation by calling (02) 527 0011. 🙂
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
Yummy post! I love Dimsum and would definitely love to try this too!!
We have eaten in this restaurant before as a family. The cooking was very good. I recall that we went primarily to try out their salted egg ice cream which was a specialty back then (I do not know now), but it was out of stock, so we were disappointed.
This place looks fantastic! And the food… looks so good but also too cute! You’re making me hungry! xx corinne
Wow! what awesome pictures of the dimsums. Makes me want to visit Manila just for this. I love trying different types of dimsums and they are quite the rage in India too!
I love going for Dimsum! There are many Dimsum restaurants in Toronto. That place in Manila looks amazing. I like the menu items that are served as animal figures. I’ll definitely have to visit soon!
This looks so delicious and like an awesome experience. I love that this is at a hotel. What a great weekend getaway this would be!
From the moment I read the title, I knew it’s going to be about delicious foods and I wasn’t wrong. So many mouthwatering goodies to choose from! I bet you guys had a wonderful time there.
The dimsum looks nice. Will try this soon. The ambience and designs are also nice 😀
It’s nice that you can easily order by just ticking the dimsum of your choice. They do have a good variety of dimsun. The pig one looks cute.
The place looks fantastic and the food divine. If we are ever in the area I will make sure to visit. Everything looks so good. I think that we do not have any restaurants like this in my area but I would love to find one just like this near me.
Stunning. Just absolutely stunning. And the dim-sum is so creative. I never seen a presentation like that.
Fancy place! The best part of dimsum is the variety you get to eat and how hot it is served. Sesame balls are my favorite from the pictures you have posted here!
I am absolutely loving the decor in this place! And the food looks divine!
I know some friends who have spoken very highly of Dimsum. I have never tried it yet. It looks like I am going to have to put it on the list of foods I will have to try in the near future. I love food and this looks amazing.
Mabuhay Palace looks like such a wonderful place to go for Father’s Day. It’s cozy and fancy and all of the food looks so good! It’s especially fun that one can sample from lots of little portions, and you guys really did. If I’m ever lucky enough to go, I’d especially love to try the shrimp simao, spring rolls with veggies and the seafood nori rolls. Yum!
Made me really hungry!!! I love dimsum so much (and buchi toooooo) Yum! This is a must try 🙂
It looks like everyone really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food! I have never tried dimsum before but my daughter loves it. I think I will have to give it a try as I like most if not all of the foods that you mentioned. The presentation of the food is top notch and the amount of food served seemed to be very satisfactory. Great review. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Y-U-M! I miss my Sunday dim sum sessions.I’ve had to give them up since I moved to Melbourne because most of them are on the pricey side! Glad to see you enjoyed the food & ambiance, the restaurant did well.
woah! i wanna try this! just reading you post made me really crave for dimsum now.. haha i really miss times we go food tripping to places like these years ago. maybe i should try it one time soon again. 🙂 thanks for this post.