WALKING DOWN THE GRAND SPIRAL STAIRCASE OF THE SOFITEL HOTEL WAS LIKE ENTERING A WHOLE NEW WORLD.

Hotel personnel we met along the way greeted us with a welcoming smile and a respectful “Bonjour, mabuhay!” I had never heard of the French and Tagalog greetings spoken in one breath, but it was refreshing to hear, and as I was to find out later, a portent of things to come.

My team and I arrived at Spiral to sample their legendary buffet; legendary because it is known to be extensive, extravagant, and well, expensive. There was so much to take in visually: a magnificent metal

sculpture by renowned artist Ed Castrillo by the staircase, a spectacular 180-degree view of Manila Bay, and of course, the seemingly endless buffet.

PLANNING AND STRATEGIZING

Let me just say that I pride myself in being a wise shopper and I believe dining in a buffet is similar to shopping: you want to get your money’s worth. One of my strategies in eat-all-you-can establishments

is to survey all the available “merchandise” carefully and literally walk around until I’ve seen everything they have to offer. I then mentally categorize the food as:

 1. Must Haves (my favorites)

2. High Priority (can’t afford-to-eat-at-home everyday)

3. Must-Taste (new to me, just curious)

4. If There’s Room (relatively common food, but still satisfying)

5. Never Mind (I can do without the calories)

I have to admit that when I did my first round of “casing the joint,” I got a barrage of number 1’s and 2’s immediately. Hmmm, this is going to be tough, I thought.

Although most guests choose to sit in the open area where they can see both the buffet and the garden, we selected a quiet table by the Chinese dining area. We were “toured” by a pleasant young waiter named Ralph who explained that on any given day, there are at least 355 items offered on the buffet.

On special occasions like Father’s Day, Easter Sunday or Halloween, the number goes up to 390 dishes.

There are seven main sections at Spiral featuring the best of Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Italian,

Spanish and French cuisines. This does not mean that the menu offerings are limited to those cuisines alone; I found German cervelat, stuffed Greek olives and Middle Eastern figs in their antipasti section.