Food and Restaurant Review

As the fourth law of ecology states, “there’s no such thing as free lunch,” in everything we do we must have a reason behind it. So, I was on Zab’s Interactive buffet for the first time and had an eat-all-you-can lunch with my colleagues for our Advanced Writing class. And yes, there isn’t such thing as free lunch because I had my 329.00 Pesos spent. I kind of understood the law literally. Actually, the amount made me anticipate a whole lot of bloating food because I have been to buffets before but not with a sum exceeding 200 Pesos.

There I was. I plunged in to my anticipation. I filled my first plate with their main dishes and the interesting fried rice – in two kinds. And got myself more plates and saucers for the other dishes I found on the various sections the restaurant has, such as Mongolian, Pasta, Seafoods, Pizza, Crepe, Mongolian, Japanese, Dessert and Ice Cream stations. Sadly, the Pasta station was empty. I loathed that there wasn’t any Meatball Spaghetti or Carbonara (my favorite) available at that time. But just like a famous cliché goes, “the show must go on!”

I was unerringly starving at that point in time. So, after having placed my filled plates on the table, we all started to dive into the ravenousness. I first had a sip of their corn soup, it wasn’t warm anymore. But at least I still had a taste of creaminess on the tip of my tongue. Subsequently, I took a spoon of the colorful fried rice they served. Then I paired it with every little portion of their Fish with Special Sauce, Pork Cordon and Buttered Veggies with my pick, Soy Chicken, which caught my taste buds among the rest. It had a taste close to teriyaki and the sauce soothed to the chicken bones. I loved that! It was a simple dish made a little more special than the usual adobo.

Beside me were slices of their Pizza. I was thrilled to notice that it had a thin crust. But I wasn’t that satisfied with its sauce. Something was lacking. Perhaps, it was more of sweet than the usual Pizza I enjoy. So, I just had one of it and left the other three on the platter. Then, it’s time for the roasted beef. Honestly, I don’t get to devour beef much often but I believed it was cooked medium-rare. I just haven’t enjoyed it that much since I filled it with its gravy-like lumpy sauce. It would have been scrummier if it was glazed with spicy honey paste.



I was also interested with their Mongolian noodles in Hoisin and Terriyaki sauce. I can’t exactly describe how it tasted but it was not a typical savor of noodles. I only took a small fraction of it using chopsticks. Since I didn’t have it ordered from the station, I was too busy nourishing my eyes with all the other cuisines surrounding me.

After feeding my hunger, my favorite part has finally arrived – my right to abuse the sweetness of the world. I just got hyped after seeing in my hands cups and saucers of sugarcoating. I ordered a plain crepe without even knowing how it would taste. But since it looks sweet, alright! I thought to give it a try. As I sat back to my seat, I started to take a teaspoon from a spoon of Crème Brulee. A classic French dessert presented cold in ramekins, with a hard caramel top. Mmm.. That was my first time to have a taste of it and it felt like the taste can’t allow itself to leave from my buds anymore. I remembered how my Mother cooks Leche flan. I didn’t finish it at an instant, I left some so that I can still have it later. 

The cookies and cream was equally enjoyable for my sweet tooth, as well as the rest of the deserts I had. More especially when the Crepe arrived at my table. Though it was like a pancake because I expected it to be thin, it was still quite good for a first-timer like me. At the moment the waiter served our Ice Cream sprinkled with colored bits, I and a friend hurriedly went to the ice cream station to sprinkle more sugary toppings on my mouth watering bowl. On my way back to our table, I can’t help but take a spoon as it starts to melt already. Plus, the best chocolate cookie I ever had so far. It was more than I expected. Chocolate crumbs inside the cookies blasted inside my mouth and it was a delightful surprise.


As I had more spoons of it, I then felt the feeling of sweetness overload. The Vanilla flavored-ice cream isn’t that pleasing anymore, seems like my sweet tooth is beginning to explode. Then, I thought that perhaps it’s time to end my gluttony. Too much of something is bad enough, just how a lyric of a song goes. Indeed! Time for water. Water, water, water for those entire lip smacking dishes.




A sugar lover like me just met my limitations. That was it! But it appears like something inside me is still asking for more. But I can’t take another sweet or heavy bite, so I just had the Pomelo Salad to equalize the sweetness that took over me. Never mind the absurdity to have an appetizer in the late part of my eating. 

The whole Zab’s experience was worth my payment, I can say. I would love to go back there when I have all the means to be back. If you can’t wait for me to be back when I can, well take yourselves to Zab's now. After the dining, it was just then that I understood why it was called an “interactive” buffet. The cooks are right in front of you and you can tell them what you would like to have on that particular station, which I think isn’t presented in other restos. Cool idea!

Precisely, there’s NO such thing as free lunch. My lunch at Zab’s wasn’t free at all, but I wouldn’t mind paying if it’s worth my anticipation, gratification and edge of gluttony. Test yours too!