Mario’s Sunday Lunch Buffet: Baguio Sundays Made Special

Err, let’s make that making Baguio Sundays EVEN MORE special. \m/

Early-ish Sunday morning walk happy session on Session ❤ (almost at where the old Mario’s used to be)

On my end, Sundays are always special. Simple joys really … quiet day at the house, walking the dogs on a wide road like when one lane of Session Road is closed to vehicles already makes for an extraordinary Sunday.

Mario’s renovated. (Still imprinted in my mind are the red and green checked seats. *hee)

On last week’s particular Sunday, however, no such (dog) walk could happen.  That’s why the invitation to a refresher of the Mario’s Sunday lunch buffet could not have come at a better time. (Thank you so much, Ms. Jessie! =D) Sure, it was prrretty gloomy-wet the whole day, but when the clock struck 11:00 and we were at Mario’s Restaurant‘s doorstep, just like that, the day became a special and unique Sunday.

Beef and mushroom Thai lettuce cups, baked clams and mussels, smoky tofu dumpling with sweet chili, and soup

For one, I was glad for the opportunity to gain a new perspective of this mealtime, as I always, always was partial to Mario’s a la carte servings (#TeamLenguaConSetas) thinking their selections don’t translate well as a big group serving. Well, SPOILER ALERT: Now, I believe it does.

It took awhile for me to decide which station I’d like to try first what with the many different selections of munchies laid out for the buffet spread. While my brother was already at the appetizers table and Race was eagerly awaiting his chops of cochinillo, I thought of foregoing Mario’s signature caesar salad and paella Valenciana (in such a huge pan and all colorful and bright, boy, did that call to me).

Sushi and sashimi

I started with the soup (like I always do *hee). Packed with ingredients, it aimed to please. And for a day like it was, it’s just what I can sit down to and enjoy for hours, but I had to save tummy real estate for the other mouth watering selections. I finished that bowl, put my soup spoon down and made a beeline for the appetizers table.

Roasted eggplant salad, harvest cob salad, ham and potato salad on baguette

The beef and mushroom Thai lettuce cups, and the smoky tofu dumplings were interesting little taste and texture bombs that further tickled my tastebuds. Oh what fun my brother and I had scooping the shellfish encrusted in cheese away from their shells. It was partly because of that scooping fun that our plates ended up with more than a handful of clam shells than we’d like to admit. =)

Still on the little bites starters, we had some bruschetta, and then indulged in the Mario’s selection of sushi and sashimi. [Just the salmon for me (You know why *tahaha), although there were tuna slices there, too.]

Cochinillo (“,)

Stomach awakened enough, I started with the star of the show, the lechon suckling pig. Ah, heavenly, tender lean, and though I saved it for last, crunchy skin. Another dish I would’ve been happy to stuff myself silly with, if my goal wasn’t to try everything in the spread. ^^,

*nomnomnom

Lingering at the carving station, we also got roast beef. While you can get your beef strips seared (to make sure it’s well done, ‘dead dead‘ =b) before it’s placed on your plate, the boys and I decided to eat it the way it’s meant to be eaten. Mind you, the beef is already cooked as it is … It isn’t named roast beef for nothing. And my, what a feeling. I think that melt-in-your-mouth tenderness would’ve been lost in the sear. Swimming in a fantabulous mustardy citrusy sauce, the taste got even better.

Roast beef =D

Out of the viands, it was the pot roast cauliflower, and the beef and beetroot curry that were my faves. So flavorful and saucy,  they were the right match to plain rice. (“,)

Pasta twist with caper-tinapa cream sauce, pot roast cauliflower, beef and beetroot curry; garlic, thyme and anchovy baked potatoes, one pot spag with spinach and tomatoes, baked caesar chicken, smoky chorizo salmon, Thai coconut fish, and tepanyaki fried rice. ^^,

Yep, I still got potatoes. =)) They looked so nice and neat on display, though drab as baked potatoes usually are. A stark contrast was the smoky chorizo salmon. I couldn’t take my eyes off that chafing dish for the splash of color of it had; the orange hues of cooked salmon, bright red cherry tomatoes, black olive circles, bits of crumpled greens.

=)

Pasta like the one-pot spaghetti with spinach and tomatoes is always a winner to me. And uncannily, the ultra creamy fusilli and the minute bursts of salty flavor the tinapa strips strewn here and there contribute. Bring on the carbs! *hihi

Methinks I’m now good and ready to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Which I will do in absolute peace because my companions have since fallen into a food coma. (Apparently, they got their fill, while I was namnam-ing and savoring slowly away at the foodstuff I got.)

The boys in a state of food coma. “Hihiga na yan.” =b

With the attendants’ usual attentive clockwork service of ensuring our glasses of water are never empty, it was only with dessert that I poured myself a glass of iced tea. And what a wonderful mix of iced tea that was. Here I am thinking, it’s good that I didn’t see the drinks first because I’ll surely be too iced tea full to eat anything else. =]

What’s on the desserts table? Strawberry tart with quinoa-almond crust, cheesecake tart, choco mudlide poke cake, mango and strawberry mousse cake, chocolate fountain, bread pudding, coffee and iced tea

I have two favorites from this Sunday lunch buffet’s dessert table: 1) Mango and strawberry mousse cake, and 2) something I didn’t expect.

Don’t you look down on this as a little crockpot toss up of ‘old’, mushy bread (like I did *blushies). How the saccharine syrup and the wee bursts of fruitiness from the raisins sprinkled around made me want to shovel in the whole pan into my gob. From one spoonful, I knew, this was one bread pudding to contend with. The best bread pudding ever in my book. (Race comes out of his busog daze to groggily agree. *teehee)

The most scrumptious bread pudding ever! \m/

So, it’s another Sunday made special for three people at Mario’s Resto’s Sunday lunch buffet. Exactly what they’ve been doing for years and years now. Thank you, Mario’s.

Every Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., P900+ (depending on the spread). Let me positively enable you (again), my foodie friends: C’mon, live a little.

Blueberry cheesecake tarts

Mario’s Restaurant

16 Upper Session Road Extension

Baguio City, Philippines

0905 297 3384

244 0125

https://www.facebook.com/Marios.Group/

X and the huge platter of bright and colorful paella Valenciana *stars in my eyes

***Thank you so very much, Ms. Jessie and Ms. Grace, for having me and my foodie lovies over at the Mario’s Sunday lunch buffet. It was a pleasure to meet you. More power to you!