Every Vikings restaurant is an attention grabber.

Witnessing a number of Vikings branches in the metro, including NIU by Vikings at SM Aura, the impact of visiting any Vikings branch has given me positive impressions from the very start.

The year started with a feast for our home, bundles of dishes prepared by mom, dad, my sister and I with the assistance of our helpers. Although for myself and O, we wore our hungry caps on to take a journey to the newest Vikings opened at SM Jazz Mall.

As I rotated to the next Vikings store in line, thankfully not that far from my place, I anticipated the same ambiance with its other Vikings siblings. Little did I know, I was taken to a whole new level of Vikings experience. Later on, as you scroll and fast forward to its ambiance, I’ll share you my insights on this particular branch.

 I came in for lunch, the best time to visit any buffet restaurants for me. In my case, I have enough time to walk and burn down the calories as to dinner time, when I would feel sleepy after a heavy meal.

The English should find what they need from the appetizer section. Bread, butter, jams, and portioned pastries like Creamy Beef Pot Pie, Salmon Tartare & Caper Bruschetta and Mexican Tuna Ceviche Shots were among my favorites.

Japanese Station

Particularly spent more time choosing from the Japanese sushi bar than any other cuisines. My inner Japanese wouldn’t want to skip the next cuisine without staying with the freshest among the rest. Salmon and tuna sashimi, crazy rolls and cooked teppan plates occupied my first big plate.

Chinese Station

Filipinos would have constant cravings for Chinese food. Diverse choices from dim sum to sweet and sour saucy plates to shabu-shabu. Vikings gave an extensive number of choices for those who longs for this Asian cuisine.

I personally inclined to make my own shabu-shabu, adding all familiar flour and meat balls, vegetables and a little bit of meat for a mix of textures. I didn’t have to wait by the kitchen table for the cooked shabu-shabu. The server asked for my table number and all I have to do is wait for the final shabu-shabu I mixed and matched.

Carving Station

The winner of the longest line competition is the Carving Station. Makati crowd have gone mad for meats, making it to a point they get a slab of that animal they desire on their plate.

With so many choices, I had a hard stuffing every piece of meat on one plate. Clearly, what made it to my top choices were Herbed Orange-Stuffed Turkey, Bourbon-Glazed Chicken and New Zealand Garlic and Rosemary-Stuffed Leg of Lamb.

Move forward a few steps and the tiny Italian Corner will put you in a good mood. Hot and fresh pizza placed on wooden pan and few more pasta dishes to pair with. I went back 3 times for more pizza slices.

I noticed Italian cuisine didn’t exhibit too many choices compared to Chinese and Japanese. Does it show we’re patronizing Asians more? Haha!

Also, I wasn’t in the business of hunting for Filipino food in this luxury buffet. I tried a number of dishes like Sisig, but seemed ordinary that I could easily get in other Filipino towns.

Do I need to explain why we all love this station? 🙂

A variety of desserts ready to handpick one by one. Every person with a sweet tooth will leave room for desserts, emphasizing on the last ‘s’ of the word desserts. I didn’t feel I ran out of choices – ice cream, fondue and refrigerated cakes and a lot more.

Local delicacies aren’t forgotten, giving them space to showcase what Filipinos are proud of.

Taho shots anyone?

Lemongrass infused tea, Honeydew melon agua fresca, Tamarind Juice, Sago’t Gulaman and Four Seasons, some of the choices to fill up your glass.

Finding the Beer corner could be tricky. There wasn’t any sign, only one beer tap and its thick mugs tucked at the far end of the long buffet.

Some dishes significantly appealed to me (Italian corner and Carving station for instance), some dishes stayed on the average. But then, Vikings scores on their great number of selections leaving you the chance to discover one dish at a time.

Take it from me, this is the best Vikings buffet I’ve visited so far.
Organized in the center with wide and long buffet tables from the main entrance straight down to the far end. Dining tables are divided in different sections labeled with different Italian cities. Consistency of European ambiance through its decors and furnitures, particularly the state of Italy. Even the wallpaper has the illusion of white stone bricks, which looks elegant in photos.

Mind the ceilings, their worth looking at. Take a tilt up even just for a while because I know the food could distract more than anything else.

The Service:

Transactions between me, the interactive cooks and the servers, were similar to my hotel-like service at NIU by Vikings. Every server had that attentive and energetic spirit to serve me and the people around me. By the way I see it, SM Jazz branch patterned their sophisticated service to NIU, and not its other neighboring branches.

Plus, I know parking is one issue we want to eliminate. 2-hour free parking, a treat for all Vikings diners.

Buffet Rates:

I started the year with a feast by eating like a viking.
Tell me, have you tried Vikings at SM Jazz Mall?

Share with me your thoughts, foodie! 🙂

Cheers,

Location: SM Jazz Mall, Metropolitan Ave., cor Nicanor Garcia St., Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Operating Hours: 11:00AM-2:30PM / 5:30PM-10:00PM

Contact: (+632) 891-3888 / (+632) 891-4888 / (+63 917) 827-1888, (+63 919) 999-7888

Website: http://vikings.ph/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vikingsjazzmall

Budget: PHP700++

Rate:

Food	9/10
Ambiance	9/10
Service	9/10
Cost	9/10
Overall	9/10