The Manila Hotel Champagne Room

"Epitomizing grandeur and elegance in Old European style, the Champagne Room is one of the country’s great bastions of haute cuisine, a place firmly dedicated to the fine arts of gastronomic seduction. Long favored by the fashionable set, it is well-known for its impeccable service and lavish décor, including crystal palm trees, tasseled ceiling fixtures and floral upholstered chairs, which perfectly reflect its sumptuous classical offerings."

I never bothered reading the description when I was choosing among the three restaurants at Manila Hotel before our 8PM Fuerza Bruta show. I was not in the mood for Chinese food (Mabuhay Palace) nor was I ecstatic gorging on buffet (Cafe Ilang Ilang), so I was left with the The Champagne Room which serves French-Mediterranean cuisine from an ala carte menu. Good thing, my three dates agreed.

On our way to Manila, I called to reserve a table for 4 and the reservation officer was kind enough to allow us to order up to 30 minutes before the restaurant opens at 7PM. This will give us ample of time to enjoy the food. She was also gracious enough to ask me if we're watching Fuerza Bruta, show goers with non-complimentary tickets get 20% discount at the Manila Hotel!

The staff were still setting up the place when we arrived but after 5 minutes of checking with the Dining Manager, we were ushered into the restaurant and I can only say one phrase: 

"The place took my breath away!" 


The Place

Everything about the room is grand: plush furniture pieces, crystal chandeliers, silver dinner wares. It's impeccably lavish. I am generally not a fan of grand things, but the Champagne Room is irresistibly charming. I kid you not. Something you rarely see in the Philippines. Save for the yellow-tasseled drapes, I love every piece in the room.

The feminine chair and the love seat. I can imagine using these as accent furniture pieces.



The inverted umbrella lamps. I will take off the tasseled rope add-ons. And for some reason, the crystal plant is also very pretty.



The restaurant gives an aura that it's perfect for brunch and afternoon tea. I am coming back.

The Food

After placing our order, the waiters offered us a selection of dinner rolls. The breads were soft and tasty.



It comes with butter and liver pate with cranberry topping.



They will be very happy to offer you more bread and butter through the entire meal once you consume the piece on your plate. The pate was not replenished though, maybe if you ask. I can tell you the bread is good because my guy companions were able to consume about 4 each.

Seafood Lasagna (PhP 580)

Home-made lasagna with sauteed sea scallops and green asparagus spears in light cream sauce with Salmon Caviar



The pasta tastes freshly-made: coarse and al dente. Vegetables were done just right. The sauce has a very light taste and salted with the seafood. I can't remember tasting the caviar though. I say this dish is okay.

Soursop (Guyabano) Sorbet



I like this sorbet: the sweetness borders that of ice cream and it also comes out creamy because of the milky-fibrous consistency of the soursop.

Bar de Mer Chilien (PhP1200)

Oven-baked Chilean sea bass on mushroom potato-ragout and lobster-tomato-herb vinaigrette



This is a must order. The sea bass was done to melts-in-your-mouth perfection, the flavors are very subtle slightly seducing the taste buds.

Souffle au Chocolat (PhP 220)


Warm chocolate souffle with grand marnier sauce

I forgot to take a photo of the dessert! Nonetheless, it was okay. The souffle tasted decently good but not top of the list good. I could have appreciated it more if it was more chocolatey.

I leave you with the white chocolate pudding my friends had.



Oh, the restaurant gave us complimentary chocolates.



Nice touch!

In Summary

1. The Champagne Room is the prettiest grand room I've been to so far in Manila. I suspect as well that this is the best. You will dine at the Champagne Room because of its ambiance and you want to experience nice and pretty things. I prefer it for brunch and afternoon tea.

2. Food is not the very best but it is good. The oven-baked sea bass was done to perfection. My friends rated their main courses excellent.

3. As expected of a hotel restaurant, price slides to the expensive side... the fine dining kind.

4. I recommend the place for dates with special someone, catching up with friends if you have the money to burn and as well as family gatherings... again, if you have the money to burn.



The Manila Hotel Champagne Room
One Rizal Park
0913 Manila
63.2.527.0011
12PM - 3 PM
7PM - 11 PM

The Fuerza Bruta Experience

After several deliberations with me, myself and I, I finally gave in to my i-wanna-pretend-i-am-cultured self and organized a weekday night out with 3 friends to watch Fuerza Bruta.

Fuerza Bruta is a postmodern theater show created by Diqui James in 2005. It originated in Buenos Aires and has been seen by 500,000 people worldwide. It is an energetic spectacle under the motto "Brutally Happy" and is packaged as a 360-degree experience. 

I can summarize the entire show as a misty (the water-kind), acrobatic, dance show party with great club music. The music reminds me of Hans Zimmer's Inception soundtrack. There were around 8 performers and the stage is the entire space including the walls and the ceiling! If that's not enough, it is a highly interactive show that performers dance with the crowd. In certain parts of the show they join the audience and  carry out the acts with the crowd. Two of the performers loved to shuffle my hair.

Given that the acts are carried all over the venue, the production staff heralds the crowd where the performances are gonna be. No amount of research prepared me for the actual show. The experience was more intense and more out of this world than expected.

The Highlights

1. Running Man Act

Show starts with the running man on a moving stage. In my interpretation he battles the forces of nature until he gets shot. 

My friend thinks that it's putting man in a jellyfish's shoe. He's one of my more interesting friends.

2. Witches Scaling the Wall

Sideways.

This is one of my favorite acts. Two ladies walk, run, fly and roll on the silver wall. The experience is taken a notch higher with the shrills they make and the varying intensity of the music.

3. Crazy Tap Dancing

I find this fun. The steps were simple but it was executed with too much gusto, crazy passion and a lot of shouting. Raw, brute force. I love the sound of their boots hitting the steel floor. 

Intense.

4. Bashing, lots of smashing.

What garnered a lot of shrieks and applause from the crowd are the breaking of slabs. It was executed in so many form from falling ceilings to moving walls and there were also smaller slabs that you can hit people with. The performers joined the crowd and smashed several slabs with random people. I think it's a good form of stress relief.

5. Overhead Swimming. 

Look Up!

The final act is performed in a translucent pool of water viewed overhead. It won't be surprising if people say this will be their favorite act. Performers peer, swim, splash and glide. The moves were pretty simple but what made it really good is that it can be viewed from a different vantage point. The pool lowers to the audience that you can actually touch the dancers in the water. It is also risque. You get the picture.

6. You get to dance with the performance and actors! 

At the end of the show there's a shower that you get to party wet. Our party of 4 did not do that. We are boring.

The Lowdown

The show lasted only for an hour. I would have preferred it to be at least an hour and a half! I wouldn't mind watching and dancing even for 2 hours. That would have tired out the cast.

In Summary

1. Fuerza Bruta is one unique show that everyone should experience at least once. More so if you love dancing, acrobatic act, club music and something out of the ordinary. It helps that the performers are very attractive. This is not for anyone who can't appreciate club music, dancing crowd, intense performance and anything unique.

2. Since I consider it a party, it is best enjoyed with your special someone or friends. Families can enjoy the show as well as long as they don't have young kids with them. I don't encourage bringing children under the age of 12 since there are risque parts and well, I am not an advocate of exposing kids to parties. Especially for very young kids, they might find it too noisy and might get hurt as the crowd moves. Although a 5-year old kid had the time of his life the night we watched the show: he had slabs smashed on his tiny frame and even danced under the shower after the show. He was the favorite of the performers.

3. I find the Php 2500 tag expensive because it lasted only for an hour. Other than that, the entire experience is worth all the money. The ticket comes with 2 free drinks which you can enjoy before and after the show.

4. Do come in your most comfortable attire and footwear. It's good to wear something chic but it is more important to be in something really comfortable. Remember, it's a standing show, you move around and you may opt to dance so aching feet should be the least of your concerns.

5. For the Manila run, it is held at the Manila Hotel Tent, if you still have money to spare, have dinner  at the 3 restaurants within the grand dame. The food may not be the be in the top 1% in town but  still good and it's also nice to experience old elegance. The hotel has been recently renovated, it's way nicer as compared to my visit in 2008.

6. Lastly, pick a night when you think there will be the less show-goers. It will be easier to move around and it doesn't get too crowded. 

Fuerza Bruta, Manila

Manila Hotel Tent

Roxas Boulevard, Manila

February 14-26, 2012

Mon - Thurs (8:00 PM), PhP 2500

Fri - Sat (8:00 PM and 11:00 PM), PhP 3000

63.2.320.1111