ROSSINI Serves Comforting Italian Dishes at S Maison

If you've been the person to choose where to eat in the Mall of Asia grounds, I've got good news for you. There's this nice and quaint Italian restaurant at S Maison's 2nd Floor called ROSSINI that I think you should visit. It's light and bright interiors, cozy seats and classy decor won't be the only reason to go here because the food is equally great.

Mango Cannoli and Meatball in Marinara

Cappellini Ai Frutti Di Mare for the seafood lovers out there!

Fruit Drinks and their signature ROSSINI Pizza! The pizza is legendary because it contains chopped up foie gras combined with fig. It was the right amount of sweet and savory. Best dish served that afternoon.

Steak with Salsa Rosso. Angus Steak with roasted asparagus, mushrooms, onions and potatoes.

They also have a private room at the back that can accommodate around 20. If you're looking for a date place, a place to celebrate your birthdays or intimate gatherings, go give ROSSINI a visit. Food is comforting, best shared, because like Italians, we are family-centric.

Again, it's at the 2nd floor of S MAISON at Conrad, Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay City. Trust me on the pizza. 

 

Take Another Look: Heritage Hotel's Riviera Café

The Riviera Cafe has a selection of dessert items, the Mango Graham is highly recommended!

Heritage Hotel has been something that I usually just pass by going to and from other landmarks like Mall of Asia, MOA Arena or hotels in the area. This 4 Star hotel sits at the corner of EDSA and Roxas Boulevard which is a prime location. Back in the 90's they've had the privilege of being the primary destination for food adventures since the buffet here is legendary, probably one of the firsts who have done it in Pasay City. This is my first visit inside the hotel. I haven't thought about this being a dining destination because as a commuter, it's pretty dark outside. When I went inside, I was at awe of the interiors. To tell you honestly, I didn't know it was this nice. Heritage Hotel definitely deserves another look.

RIVIERA CAFE has been renovated and spruced up recently (and it's now open to the public!). Executive Chef Patrocinio Obia was mighty proud about how things have changed in recent months. For starters, the buffet used to be very dark and the renovations were pretty much a chance to brighten things up. Riviera Cafe will still be homey, very Mediterranean in style; but now modernized with a few light fixtures reminiscent of cafe's. Their menu now boasts of over 21 stations, bringing international flavors and Southeast Asian flair to the buffet. I could tell how passionate he was in making changes, and the other Chefs delivered quite well during service.

The spread was huge, and they've got plenty of dishes to choose from. I had a tiny bite of what I think would be good first before I concentrated on the best ones. Yes, I always had a gameplan when I visit buffets, and Riviera Café was absolutely lovely.

Salads stay cold and crunchy, served with different salad dressings on the side. Note how small servings they have on the station, they do that so you get food freshly cooked each time.

Fancy cheese? I like the funky smelling ones, don't judge!

The Grilling Station had different seafood and meat all skewered up

See that Beef Sate on the top left? They had to refill that plate because of me, it was that good! It was lightly grilled and smothered with peanut sauce that was a bit crunchy. It made a lot of difference!

The Laksa Station is something that you should take a vacation in. They make the Laksa from scratch, the shrimp flavor was intense and this was undoubtedly everyone's favorite that evening.

Carbs? They've got the pasta station waiting. Just let them know what sauce and pasta variety you want, they'll cook it right in front of you.

They've got Hainanese Chicken, I like the roasted one. You would need to put sauces on the meat if you choose the other poached or steamed variety.

They have Lechon and Crispy Pata, I would pass on the sauce as it was too livery (if there's such a term).

For those who love Japanese rolls, they've got a multitude of options laid on the mirrored plates. This was quite filling.

Dimsum had Chicken Feet, I like it.

Siu Mai was also freshly cooked, not overly steamed because it was probably made the same day.

I don't need to convince you with the Beef Sate, it was my personal favorite!

Finish the meal with some seasonal fruits, just to feel healthy about all the grilled food you ate lol!

Heritage Hotel's Riviera Café deserves another look, another try. With the changes they implemented on the buffet, the amount of people they can accommodate in the floor and guest rooms, this would surely be a good place to dine in for those special occasions and events. They're also HALAL Certified and has been the go to place of Malaysian and Indonesian Embassies for meals and meetings. If you want to reserve a table or their venues, call 0288548888 and press local 7355 or 7357. Trust me on the Beef Sate, it's one of my favorite places now to dine in. The buffet costs Php 1,188 and is currently open Thursdays to Saturday Dinner, and Sunday Lunch.

You can also stay in Heritage Hotel's many rooms. They are planning to renovate those as well. Now you've got more reasons to go there!

Four Kings and a Queen Concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater This August

Legends of their own right, deserving of the accolades and love they receive from their fans, these singers, songwriters who ruled the 70's and 80's just came back from a successful concert in the US to perform in the Newport Performing Arts Theater for the home crowd this time. Hadji Alejandro, Rey Valera, Nonoy Zuniga, Marco Sison and the one and only Pops Fernandez will do their 4 Kings and a Queen Concert this coming August 26 and 27 in this venue. They had small mishaps in the US tour when some of them tested positive before they had to do the Vegas show. It took them a few days to recoup and do the concert for the same or even bigger crowd later on at the same state.

Nonoy Zunigaa says “I had complete vaccines and boosters but I tested positive for COVID and had to move the show in the states. Plus there are different variants in the US so if you had one you might have the others too.I’m glad to see that the US tour was almost all FULL HOUSE. They went there to enjoy and lots of people refunded tickets but when the actual day came, tons of people appeared even walked in. I’m glad people appreciate our jokes, we know each other too much even if they are concerned for me because of jokes. But we’re good.”

Marco Sison says “We have never performed in two years, it was a little hard to do concerts but the US opened up early, you can feel the excitement of the people. Even if it was cold in San Francisco, you can feel the love and support of the Filipinos. The first one was awesome and even our first few shows were sold out.”

Rey Valera says “Don’t get me wrong but people I know in the Philippines were all dying, I was asking myself if I’m gonna be next. I told the fans in the US to just enjoy the moment because they were lucky that they got the concert happen in their state. They say we are the most politically incorrect group of people and we don’t even talk about bashers. Our humor is different because we often talk about ourselves, we haven’t talked about the audience YET, but maybe if we don’t have anything to talk about we will lol.”

Pops says “I was really happy, music is powerful because it can give us a lot of joy, bring us back in time and some of them even cried. Through our songs, they remember moments, and see something live, it brings a lot of memories. We enjoyed because there are a lot of people, sometimes we forget that our songs affect people, plus the wonderful spiels of these innocent men. Thank you to Newport because when they knew we had shows in the US they got us there. It’s not easy to produce shows these days because people might be a little afraid to go out. Thank you to those who believe in us and different artists because it’s a challenging time, and I’m happy we have been successful, thank you to producers and people who believe in us. What we will be bringing in Manila is the same show but since this is home, we will put a lot extra in production. You need to see it because it’s a little bit of everything, it’s a surprise. This is going to be so fun I promise.”

Hadji says “After two years, this is a grand reunion of sorts, we were like barkadas catching up with stories. Cliche as it may sound, but with this group, you just build it and they would come. Our generation may come in wheel chairs and dextrose, but they will go to the venue and enjoy it. It’s a happy feeling to see them come because of the songs, and sometimes because of time constraints it’s a little tough to squeeze in all the songs because it’s a lot. But our top hits will be there, so you’ll have a good time with us there! We will have duets, quintets, a medley of love songs from the 70’s and 80’s, a little boring from Rey Valera but it’s good. We don’t have Rico J anymore but we got his spunk, it will be clean fun. I remember Rico had nuns and priests walk out but with mine, there won’t be anything like that.”

Tickets are sold at the venue or Ticketnet and SM Tickets. If you're raring to reminisce the good old times, the 4 Kings and Queen would want you to be there.