It is often the boyfriends or husbands who plan the dinner dates for Valentine’s Day here in the Philippines. I believe that the ladies shouldn’t always be the ones feeling special (receiving flowers or chocolates, getting surprises, etc.) on February 14; all is fair in love after all! I wanted our celebration quite different back in February and decided to plan a dinner for the two of us.
Fortunately, I saw Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila’s Valentines at The Food Truck offering at Php 3,200 per person. It was perfect for the dinner that I was planning: casual dinner while watching the sunset (we love sunsets), not crowded plus we can have a good table, and restaurant is not too far. It may be pricey, but I have no doubt with Sofitel’s world-class service.
I immediately made a reservation and 50% deposit a week before, anticipating that Sofitel, a favorite dinner date venue, might be fully booked by then. I also booked for February 13, Sunday as I knew we didn’t want to risk being stuck in traffic.
The Food Truck
If you are not familiar with Sofitel, it also boasts of a few restaurants and bars aside from the ever famous Spiral and its buffet. Check out their restaurants and bars here.
Sunset Bar, the hotel’s outdoor dining venue near the pool and overlooking Manila Bay, started offering The Food Truck every weekend from Thursdays to Sundays from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm. For the Sweet Al Fresco Affair at the Food Truck promo, they accepted reservations for February 12 to 14, 2022.
The dinner buffet consists of all-time favorite dishes such as Bellychon, Burgers, Sisig, Tacos, Gambas, Salpicao, etc. paired with beverages such as sodas, local beers and house wine.
Reservation is required due to the limited number of available tables. For reservations, you may click here.
The Dinner Date
We arrived 30 minutes early and so we had time to take some photos and linger as the sun set beautifully. It was a magical moment, a marvelous backdrop for our special dinner. We couldn’t help but hold hands… love was indeed in the air!
At 6:00 pm, they started accepting guests and so we queued to show our reservation details. The attendant showed us to our table, we expected to be seated in one of the wooden tables near the food trucks. To our surprise, we were assigned to a cozy table by the Sunset Bar.
The beverages were free flowing, so we started off with iced tea and soda. We then ordered the soup of the day, Squid and Pork Sinuglaw, Bellychon, Gambas, Salpicao and a lot more from the different food trucks. We also tried their house wines: white for me and red for him. To cap off our dinner, we ordered ice cream with lots of toppings for dessert.
Overall, it was a good experience from reservations, dining to payment. It was easy to reserve through Sofitel’s website. An email will be sent to you containing all the details you need to know about the reservation you made. You can also call them should you have queries or clarifications.
The food are all delicious but we didn’t get to try everything that were being offered in the food trucks as they are already quite heavy and filling to the stomach. We recommend that you make sure that you are truly hungry to get to enjoy the different dishes. This is how you will also maximize the price of the dinner buffet.
Since it is also al fresco dining, the weather is also something that you need to consider. Plus, sunsets are best viewed when it’s not raining. It makes the mood and ambience more romantic.
Will I ever reserve our dinner date at The Food Truck or at any of Sofitel’s restaurants and bars again? Most definitely… he is so worth it!
Gallery
Ang cheesy!
Yakitii!
Manlibre ka uli ah