Valentine's Day dinner at the Sheraton Manila Bay

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

My wife and I had the opportunity to try the Taste of Love: Valentine’s Day Dinner at the 21st floor of Sheraton Manila Bay. We wanted to have an overnight stay as well but the hotel informed us that they were fully booked that day. It seems even the pandemic has not stopped couples in booking for hotel stays. The day still was busy for hotels since they were still serving as quarantine places for newly arrived guests of the country, mostly fellow Filipinos arriving from other countries.

We were early, not really excited, at the venue but merely to avoid the rush hour traffic. The Sheraton Manila Bay is formerly the Pan Pacific Hotel that has been totally renovated when it was taken over by Marriott hotels three years ago. Honestly, we don't really spend Valentine's Day like young couples since we're not that keen on sharing the day with others adding to the traffic jams, but since we've been mostly indoors due to this pandemic, we opted to try our luck, and gave in to the season of love.

To spend time waiting for the 7pm dinner, we just hang around at their park located at the 21st top-most floor, but before that we tried going around the hotel surroundings first and realized it was quite near Robinson's Place Manila, the mall nearest where you can buy stuff or just go window shopping if ever you decide to stay at the hotel. 

While taking photos and videos of the venue, we also met Sheraton Manila Bay's Chef who prepared the Valentine's Day dinner tonight. He also revealed earlier that he has his own YouTube channel so that means he's also very bubbly and creative. Let's see if he'll be sharing more information later, and we'll definitely share how good the 7-course meal is.

A sumptuous 7-course set menu features foie gras croquette with smoke pimento aioli for the starter and shellfish veloute, potato espuma, dehydrated olives, arugula pesto for the soup. Followed by a salad of beet root carpaccio, goat cheese emulsion, candied pecans, mesclun, caper berry and a hearty serving of glazed cod, pumpkin risotto, edamame, pumpkin seed, watercress & parmesan crisp. Cleanse the palette with calamansi sorbet with tanqueray gin and then indulge in slow braised beef cheeks & herb crusted lamb rack, roasted cauliflower puree, blistered tomato, king oyster mushroom, radish & port wine reduction with beurre noisette for the main course. Cap off the meal with raspberry financier, irish mellow chocolate, mille-feuille, french macaron, fruit compote for dessert. Complimentary themed beverages of Cupid Cappuccino or Blueberry Acai White Tea and Mignardises are served après-dinner.

The start of our 7-course meal is Amuse-Bouche. - Foie Gras Croquetta with Smoke Pimento Aioli

Followed by the second dish named Shellfishly Devoted - Shellfish Veloute Potato Espuma , Dehydrated Olives, Arugula Pesto

My Heart Beets for You - Beet  Root Carpaccio, Goat Cheese Emulsion  Candied Pecans,  Mesclun,  Caper Berry is our third dish.

Our fourth dish is You are the Catch of My Day -  Glazed Cod, Pumpkin Risotto, Edamame, Pumpkin Seed, Watercress & Parmesan Crisp

To cleanse the palate for the next main dish is Squeeze Me - Calamansi Sorbet Tanqueray Gin

Going to the fifth dish, You Make Me Blush - Slow Braised Beef Cheeks & Herb Crusted Lamb Rack,  Roasted Cauliflower  Puree, Blistered Tomato, King Oyster Mushroom, Radish & Port Wine Reduction with Beurre Noisette

For dessert, Just For the Two of Us - Raspberry Financier, Irish Mellow Chocolate, Mille-Feuille, French Macaron, Fruit Compote

Final drinks for the night, Wrap Me with Your Desire - Blueberry Acai White Tea Mignardises. We also had the option of having coffee - Cupid Cappuccino.

By the way , before all of these , we had the option to drink wine (red or white) of our choice from their list of available wines.

Soft and hard buns were also served before the 7-course dinner.

Overall, I told the Sous chef that every dish passed my preference. In fact, I would have wanted more from the servings but as other people would comment, quality of the servings is the more important than the quantity. That's how food is really served for a decent fine-dining restaurant. It gives you more reasons to come back and enjoy the dishes again from start to end.

My wife agreed that all dishes were superb except for the Squeeze Me Calamansi sorbet. She was expecting the traditional sweet iced treats not knowing that was just served to prepare our tounge for the next meal.

She also got a complimentary panda stuff toy, and a stemmed rose to bring home as souvenir of the dinner.

Thank you Sheraton Manila Bay for the fab Valentine's Day dinner.