FOR TAKING nutrition to heart and serving up the best breakfast in the Philippines, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu garnered the ninth spot in the Top 10 Best Breakfast Hotels in Asia Pacific, the only hotel in the Philippines listed in the category by the prestigious Asianrooms.com Hotel Awards 2013.
A late afternoon check-in at the Executive Suite of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu was a luxurious prelude to experiencing Feria’s Super Breakfast. With my grandkids from New York City Silvian and Sabrina, we indulged in the unparalleled comfort and grandeur of the suite. They squealed in delight as we checked out the amenities that included a welcome plate of cookies and beautifully crafted Chocolate Mendiants by Pastry Chef Sonny Juanino. Mendiant is a traditional French chocolate disk (we had a rectangular bar) studded with nuts and dried fruits. My New York “rascals,” after all, know what luxury means.
Dining in Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu’s Feria that serves up fresh, local and international cuisine is an extraordinary and delightful treat. Chefs mingle with the guests and offer samples of the delicious cuisine. Easily the biggest hotel coffee shop in Cebu, Feria seats 240 persons and has two glass-walled rooms for private functions. The 39-year-old Executive Sous Chef Lee Seung Joon leads Feria’s culinary team that includes multi-awarded Pastry Chef/Chocolatier Sonny Juanino and 34-year-old Filipino Sous Chef Gary Reyes, who was Senior Sous Chef for the opening of Fairmont and Raffles Hotel and Residences in Makati. Korean Chef Lee who recently joined Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu brings with him 17 years of experience in five-star hotels and resorts, five of those years in the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa as Tides Coffee Shop Sous Chef.
The breakfast buffet selections at Feria are overwhelmingly healthy. Rica Rellon, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu’s Director of Marketing and Communications, gave me a tour of the different stations. We started at the Fresh Juices and Yogurt Station. Here, freshly juiced fruits and vegetables in pitchers are available—apple, orange, pineapple, carrot, red beets, celery, cucumber. The bar tender can also prepare one’s choices of smoothies and is kept busy behind a power juicer. The Bread Station is a full bakery with unlimited choices, including piping hot pizza. Just checking out the extensive choices— cereals, nuts and dried fruits, fruit preserves and marmalades, cheeses could take up the whole morning, For herself, Rica chose “Knackebrod” or Swedish crisp or hard bread that looks like brown crackers made from rye flour. Must be really good with the colorful and freshly made fruit preserves and assorted cream cheeses.
The pastries and sweet bread of Chef Joanino are eye-popping. The Danish pastries were puffy and flaky with assorted fruits and chocolate. I had sugar buns or Berliner (doughnuts) filled with velvety sweet cream and Cheese Balls (delicately raised dough with sweet cheese filling that looks like a popover). I consumed more than three cups of brewed coffee while enjoying the sweet breads and pastries.
I skipped the other stations like the Egg, Japanese Sushi and Sashimi and Hot Dishes. But we had a feast trying the set breakfast offerings—Eggs Benedict, Filipino plate of
Beef Tapa, Danggit and Eggs on garlic rice, Egg White Omelette with Salmon Gravlax served with caramelized onions, dill cream cheese and brown bread, Steak and Fries and the sandwiches.