Find out why New World Hotel's Cafe 1228 is one of the best buffet restaurants in Metro Manila.

New World Hotel's Cafe 1228 is highly recommended if you a looking for a buffet restaurant with an extensive array of food but without the cramped space typical in other similar restaurants. In fact, Cafe 1228's cozy interior is one of its positive points and is conducive for intimate gatherings with friends and loved ones.

Cheese station

New World Hotel’s Café 1228: Cozy and Intimate

Our experience at Cafe 1228

Mett-ups with friends have been a rarity these days because of our busy schedules. As such, we always make it a point to make our occasional meet-ups a little celebratory. And what better way to do it than to have a good lunch buffet, which had brought us to Cafe 1228, New World Hotel's signature restaurant.

Baked scallops

The place isn't too big, with only just a few tables to accommodate mostly those who have booked a reservation. This was good because it meant the place wouldn't get too crowded. The interiors were modern and spacious despite its small floor area.

The food at Cafe 1228

After we had settled down at our table, we immediately got down to business and surveyed the whole place.

Seafood station

The restaurant is divided into the usual stations: salad, meat carving, fresh seafood, Filipino, continental, Japanese, pasta, and Italian food, bread and cheese, and desserts.

Baked oysters

In terms of food, Cafe 1228 has a good selection of fresh seafood, salads, and meats. For those who love Filipino food, you will love this place because it has a wide selection of Pinoy dishes on display.

Salad station

Diners may begin their meal with a starter from the fresh salad station, bread, and pâté, or soup of the day.

Japanese food station

We skipped the starters and went to the fresh seafood station. We loaded our plate with fresh oysters, scallops, and prawns which we brought to the grillery. We requested the chef to bake the oysters with cheese and cook the prawns in butter and garlic.

Carving station

Being meat-lovers, we wouldn't let the meal pass without venturing to the carvery. The station featured a leg of lamb. We asked for several slices and we had them cooked medium-well.

Carving station

After a few minutes, a meat-lover's feast arrived with a good dollop of gravy. I got some buttered asparagus but it would have been nicer with a good helping of baked potatoes.

Filipino food station

The leg of lamb was very tender and juicy It was also seasoned well with salt and some spices. Personally, though, I prefer roast beef or steak over lamb because of the former's milder flavor.

Cheese station

When dining in buffets, I also make it a point to visit the restaurant's cheese station. It was a whole table with a good spread of dried fruits and nuts, jams, marmalade, bread, and butter, crackers, cold cuts, Gruyere, Camembert, and cheddar.

Cheese station

I got generous chunks of the cheeses and put dollops of jams and marmalade on top. It was a really good combination; the rich and savory cheeses tempered by the sweet and slightly acidic fruit jams.

For those who love Italian food, venture into the pasta station where you may have the chef prepare and cook the dish of your choice. I did not try any pasta dish because I lie low on carbohydrates when eating in buffets to avoid getting too full fast.

Sushi and sashimi

For Japanese food lovers, there is a station where one may choose from a wide array of freshly-prepared sashimi, bowls of sukiyaki, crisp shrimp and vegetable tempura, and pork belly skewers. We tried several pieces of sashimi but we did not get too much because Japanese rice is a bit heavy.

Dessert

After the mains, dessert came next. The dessert station featured a good selection of native cakes, pastries, ice cream, and frozen yogurt. I got several long sticks of churros, with chocolate dip and scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Dessert station

I found this a really satisfying combination; the vanilla ice cream cutting the richness of the chocolate and lending a creamy flavor to the fried churros. When I was done with the churros, I came back for my ever-favorite Leche Flan. That was it, I was full and couldn't take another bite.

Epilogue

We were stuffed after three hours of indulgent eating. Good thing BDO Elite Credit Cards had a promo with Cafe 1228, thus, we paid only half the regular price. Definitely a steal for such a good meal in a beautiful restaurant.

Cafe 1228 is located at New World Makati Hotel Esperanza Street, corner Makati Ave, Makati, 1228 Metro Manila. For inquiries and reservations, call telephone number (02) 8811 6888.

Cafe 1228's all-you-can-eat lunch menu is priced at PHP2,400 on Thursdays and Fridays and PHP2,988 on Saturdays and Sundays.

Cafe 1228's dinner buffet price is at PHP2,600 on Thursdays and PHP2,988 on Fridays and Saturdays (excluding holidays - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day).

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