A Raffles lifestyle

By Buddy G. Recio

There’s always something in Rafes Hotel Makati to remind you of the good life.

Upscale dining

When most lunch bufet spreads you have visited made you feel you didn’t get the right bang for your money, let us suggest you try the Mireio Society Sunday Brunch.

This bufet shifts away from the usual wide array of standard pork, beef, chicken, and vegetables with the cute and colorful desserts and pastries and surprisingly focuses on a selection of epicurean selections that impress with taste, not volume nor aesthetics.

Since this is a brunch bufet, you still get to enjoy eggs benedict, warm ham and cheese croissant and galette bretonne.

The firting smell of the Raclette already makes you want to go straight to the station but you then catch a glimpse of the Jamon Iberico and that’s when you throw away all inhibitions to the wind and you try to get in the queue eagerly. Below the Iberico are trays of charcuterie cold cuts and cheeses (Emmental, Manchego, Stilton and Bleu d’ Auvergne, Gruyere etc.)

To your right, you will stop at the tartar and blini station for your freshly prepared tartar of salmon, tuna or snapper with cucumber, tomato, shallot, spiced mango, orange, cilantro… the works. The fresh baked blinis come with keta caviar and crème fraiche.

Being led to your seat, you see the Risotto station, the Bouillabaisse soup station beside the fresh seafood spread and you rate it a 5-star already without even tasting it yet.

You order your drinks and, surprise, you remain in your seat because the frst of multiple hors d’oeuvres (pass-around) with complimentary wine pairing are being served and you don’t want to miss out on that foie de gras, the lobster with caviar, and the creamy trufed angel hair pasta.

The antipasto and salad display would want you to take more of salmon gravlax, foie gras conft in spiced red wine sauce, lobster custard, marinated mozzarella and burrata, etc.

When the appetizers have done their work and you walk through the stations, you see there’s Wagyu prime rib, crispy Porchetta, roasted salmon fllet, and more. Don’t forget the open ravioli station, the pastry trolley, and the desserts.

It is then that you realize that Mireio’s F&B team is serious in making your Sunday a gastronomical adventure you will remember.

Leave space for the Baked Alaska.

The Japanese-inspired afternoon tea at The Writers Bar

Upgrade your afternoon snack cravings to a luxurious high tea time. Known for featuring innovative themes and luxurious high tea experiences, Rafes Makati’s The Writers Bar guarantees you to experience an authentic Sakura Japanese tea time and it will be anything but ordinary.

Supported by Swissotel Nankai Osaka, Rafes Makati features two Japanese guest chefs who partnered with Tea

Master Kenta Ikeda to concoct the authentic Sakura Afternoon Tea menu for guests to enjoy.

Three tiers feature Culinary Arts and Sweet Temptations like salmon roll with tofu, “teriyaki” chicken sandwich and egg salad, Matcha Sesame tofu, Mitarashi dumpling, Sakura and berry Mont Blanc, Strawberry Panna Cotta and Yuzu jelly, to name a few.

An option to upgrade the regular TWG tea to a Setcha (loose leaf) seaweed favor or Matcha (powdered) is available on a Reservation Only basis from 2:00-3:30 and 4:00-5:30 pm.

The Long Bar experience

If you’re into passing some time away to avoid horrendous trafc conditions between 5 to 8 PM on regular working days, just chillin’ with ofce mates or catching up with friends, there is the Long Bar’s Sundowner Special. This iconic old-world charm bar setting is one of the most popular happy hour bars in the city. I prefer the Long Bar just for the roasted shelled peanuts alone, but for the Sundowner Special you get to indulge in a free-fow of select alcoholic beverages including international beers, choice wines, cook cocktails and the signature Singapore Sling, all paired with a sumptuous Chef’s Sampler platter. Don’t miss out delectable and savory treats like the melt-in- your-mouth chicharon to go with your beer. I am not a beer drinker but the German lager had me drinking a couple of tall glasses.

The understated elegance and sophisticated atmosphere at the Long Bar made it delivering a frst rate contemporary cocktail program, complemented with experienced bartenders and live music.

Meanwhile, that decadent manner of leaving empty peanut shells on the bar and the floor may not be to the liking of the purist but that is the way it is done in any Long Bar anywhere in the world, so why be a killjoy?