Ahhhh…Spiral..we meet again, If I count my visit here in Spiral, it was just around 5 times, and for this 5th time, it was my 2nd time to check out and see the new renovated set up of Spiral. We remember that the entire floor of Spiral was heavily damaged by a typhoon, and then after a year of renovation, we finally saw a much better version of Spiral. I just learned that their dining section is no longer called “buffet, ” today it is called "atelier", meaning a workshop for chefs as artisan, where they make awesome recipes that masterfully prepared infront of you.
Here in the new Spiral, they are featuring 21 dining ateliers -
- Salad and Appetizer
- L’Écailler
- Sushi Sashimi
- L’Epicerie
- Hot Japanese
- French Stove
- Rotisserie
- Wood fired Oven
- Churrasco
- North Indian
- Asian Noodles
- Peking Duck Oven
- Steam Baskets
- Chinese Wok
- Filipino
- Thai
- Korean
- La Boulangerie
- La Patisserie
- Chocolaterie
- Creamery
Spiral's official website : http://www.spiralmanila.com/
I was here during the last day of their Le Tour de France special, an added French dessert and cuisine theme that season. I met the team Sofitel that day and it was a special invitation and tour for me around Spiral and I just learned a massive info about Sofitel’s Spiral. It’s an information overload, and here I feature some of the awesome things that I discovered about the new Spiral.
At their Le Tour de France theme setup there’s a mix of beautiful visuals in French style, there’s a set up of a miniature scale Eifel Tower that adds more beauty to the Spiral’s entrance, I got sad that I will see this for the 1st and last time and I just wonder what will they do to that Eifel Tower after that dining theme. I joked that I want to take home that tower after their French theme set up.
But that’s okay, my main mission here is to check out the new 21 atelier of Spiral and see if its more better than the last time I tried it last 2011.
Last summer of this year, me and my family stayed here in Sofitel, and it was my first time to see the new Spiral, we were there to eat our breakfast and it feels like I’m already eating a lunch or dinner set. They still got the crown for having the biggest buffet in the Philippines, but I was told that during breakfast, it was not yet the full Spiral scale, it was just a partial of it.
Ohhhkay! ehem… in Lunch and Dinner, they are in full scale service, imagine.. 80 service team, 80 chefs and kitchen team working together every lunch and dinner just to serve good food for you. Their kitchen staff and chefs are very accommodating, and majority of the staff are young people, its fun to talk to them whenever I inquire about a certain food, they will answer all your inquiries and also offer you the best food for you, they got this cool kitchen uniform that is designed by our local fashion designer Rajo Laurel. ohhh wow!!
I noticed that Spiral did change and its much more better than the last time, for their philosophy and concept - they brought here the authenticity and warmth of the traditional French market and Asian hawker stalls in a 5 star hotel setting.
At first, I didn’t know that Spiral is going French, or even Sofitel.. or maybe its their origin, sorry ha, I’m not an expert with hotel brandings, but this info that I got helped me understand more.
but according to their profile, they are French!
”Sofitel is the only French luxury hotel brand with a presence on five continents with 130 addresses, in more than 50 countries. Sofitel offers contemporary hotels and resorts adapted to today’s more demanding and more versatile consumers who expect and appreciate beauty, quality and excellence. Whether situated in the heart of a major city like Paris, London, New York or Beijing, or nestled away in a country landscape in Morocco, Egypt, Fiji Islands or Thailand, each Sofitel property offers a genuine experience of the French “art de vivre”.”
Okay let’s go back to Spiral
Here are the rates at Spiral
300 dishes from all over the world - Western, Mediterranean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Thai, Asian and wide selection fo desserts)
Breakfast
630am-1030am - Mon-Fri -Php 1719.55 NET (kids Php 800++)
- Sat-Sin - Php1965.20 NET (kids Php 900++)
Lunch
12nn-230pm - Mon-Sat - PHp2431.94 NET (kids Php 1100++)
- Sunday - Php3991.81 NET (kids Php 1500++)
Dinner
630pm-1030pm - Sun-Thurs - PHp2800.41 NET (kids Php1300++)
6pm-1030pm - Fri and Sat - Php3046.06 NET (kids Php1300++)
Supper
11pm-3am - Mon-Sun - Ala carte - Bar Area.
Here’s the atelier section at Spiral
One of the private dining room in Spiral
They have 6 kinds of dining room and you can rent the room for FREE! if you will pay for the number of headcounts of guest per room.
Hidden room - 10 people
Voyeur room - 12 people
Indulgence, Epicure and Decadence room - 12 people
Tasting room - 8 people
Each room is heavily decorated in luxury setting, you can put up your own TV and dine with your family and friends with privacy, I like the Voyeur room,bec. there's this see through window which you can watch and see a partial kitchen of Spiral, you can see there how chef's do their magic in creating those yummy food.
La Veranda area - an indoor Parisian-style bar
The list of 21 Ateliers of Spiral
A view of their private room – the Indulgence room that can house 12 people and the Tasting room that can house 8 people. If you plan to eat at Spiral in a group, I suggest you inquire getting this room, because it is offered for FREE, but I suggest you book it in advance so that they can reserve it for you. A family that consists of 8 people, I suggest you grab the Tasting room! its one their okay room for the family, its like dining inside your home with luxury style.
The hanging capiz on the ceiling of Spiral added warm color and feeling, the capiz improves the light ambiance for the entire Atelier section. Yes, this is expensive!!! hahaha only spotted here in Spiral
A view of the dining area at Spiral
My first fave atelier area is the Asian atelier, I spotted here Korean, Filipino, Chinese, Malaysian cuisine, and I got informed that Bulalo is a mainstay here at the Filipino area.
Spiral 2 Go
One of the highlights and new offerings of Spiral is that they have a mini store called Spiral 2 Go, they are placed in selected areas of an atelier, here they sell take away items that you can drop by and buy it on the spot. Non diners can also avail any items being sold in their mini store. For example, here at the Asian atelier section, they sell this packed organic and brown rice.
You can inquire to a staff of Spiral and they will assist you with your shopping in Spiral.
So here, we know that Spiral is not just a dining area but it is also a store for everyone.
More food items for sale in the next atelier section.
Filipino section
Spiral also offer a healthy food to their guest, here at the De-Light section,
they have a selection of menu of fresh and well balanced food options, these are low calorie dishes offered to guest who are concerned about the healthy food.
Here are the De-Light, everything are prepared fresh and no processed ingredients present in the De-Light menu.
here are some info:
Developed by Thalassa Sea & Spa, recognized nutrition and wellness experts in France for over 40 years, De-Light offers a menu that combines the freshest ingredients with innovative cooking techniques and tempting flavours to help travellers meet their health goals in delicious style. The new menu of balanced low-calorie items is prepared à la minute (prepared to order) and will be introduced in restaurants, breakfast, banquet and event options, as well as room service menus at Sofitel properties across the region.
At the Asian atelier, they also have a mini store – here they offer different kinds of Asian sauces, when I saw this, I just remembered that I’m looking for a rendang sauce, and instead of going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just to buy an authentic rendang sauce, you can now buy it here in Spiral.
Dimsum area at Asian atelier
ohhh yummy pork knuckles, chicken feet and some dumplings
Chinese section
Roasted duck is the best here in Spiral.. and yes, I went back to this section for three times to grab more roasted duck meat.
Hainanese chicken
The noodles and dumplings section
North Indian Atelier
It is one of my favorite section, because I love beef and lamb and also their aromatic curry and rendang flavors.
Here in Spiral, each Atelier have their own import chef, for example here at the North Indian atelier, their chefs are import from India, and also not just the same, also the cooking fixtures and cooking style are all authentic and traditional. Picture above is some kind of giant mud ceramic pot that cooks the Indian food.
Also they have their own Indian mini store too.
Chutneys sold at Spiral 2 Go section at the Indian atelier
Here’s one of the best De-Light section, they serve everything green! For salad and for soup.
They have this soup 2 go here in their mini store, you can buy it and drink it anywhere.
Also offered are freshly prepared juice. I want to try this in my next visit.
More Spiral 2 Go soup for you!
Also my favorite section in every buffet is the Sushi and Sashimi section!
French stove atelier section
Here they brought a Bonnet French stove, a customized oven used by Michelin Star Chefs around the world weighing one ton of steel and worth a millions of pesos.
Italian section!!!! its pasta and pizza in this area
I usually skip this section
Here are the French stove area they have a mini store too and here they sell Chicken Pate for Php 250 only. I heard that every season they change their products here, so better check Spiral everytime you are in Sofitel. It will be a new habit for me to check out always their Spiral 2 Go section if ever I’m in Sofitel.
Bec. of their item might be a pasalubong for my wife and son.
L’Epicerie
Meat and Cheese lovers will be on seventh heaven in this room where one could feast from a wide variety of premium aged hams, charcuterie, smoked fish, artisanal cheese from France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland creamery products. Pair them with olives, herbs, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, sauces and condiments for a real gourmet experience. I saw this during my first breakfast in Spiral, its one of the beautiful (and smelly) section in Spiral. It’s a cheese haven for me, I didn’t got a chance to enter this during my 1st visit, but for my 2nd visit, going inside is like making you stay there for hours taking a bite of those yummy cheese that comes from different kinds of country. This gives lots of wow factor and its my first time to see a cheese room with see through wall in a restaurant. For me its like a cheese museum!
They also have a cheese Spiral 2 Go section, you can order here any kinds of cheese and gourmet items.
take note: entering here will give you a a cheesy milky odor hahahaa. (smells like soaked wet socks..but its cheese and its yummy!!)
Japanese section – they have two sections – the tepanyaki area and the deep fried area – you can spot there the mighty epi tempura!
Here’s Spiral’s kitchen staff cooking some tepanyaki beef
Ohhh spotted! former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza
Miso soup, Sukiyaki and etc.
Here’s another view of their private dining room.
This is Voyeur room, I mentioned before that this is my favorite room, because there’s a see through window glass wall that lets you watch the chefs and kitchen staff working in a kitchen.
Here’s a view of that glass window, I’m sure kids will love to watch the chefs here at work.
Not just a dining area, the room have its own sofa area and you can request also to place a LCD tv in their shelves.
The Hidden room – dining area for 10 people
Wine Gallery
Dining Area
At the Chocolaterie atelier, they have a Spiral 2 Go here and they sell different kinds of sweets and chocos
Chocolaterie
Chocolates are the stuff sweet dreams are made of. Indulge in artisanal chocolates, truffles and pralines intricately designed whether dark, white or milk chocolate from the best cocoa in the world and all freshly made for you by our chocolatiers. One bite of these devilishly good chocolates will surely send you to seventh heaven with its intense flavors and colors.
One of the best dessert presentation that I have ever seen!!! it’s a glass cabinet refrigerator that keeps the chocos and dessert in perfect shape!!! for you to grab it and enjoy a bite size of happiness
La Patisserie
Sweet endings are the perfect way to end a memorable dining experience – succumb to the temptation of freshly baked French pastries of all shapes, fillings, textures and sizes.
I agree! this is the best area for your sweet endings!! That French cake that I tasted here is a must try!
more chocos and candies!!!
Creamery area
Ice cream and any kinds of gelatos are in here… also the choco fountain never stops flowing
They also feature here our pinoy meryenda food like Bibingka, puto bumbong, and suman.
Foreigners love this area, and I heard that a Foreign foodie labeled our Bibingka as the most tastiest original Filipino food.
La Boulangerie
Follow the smell of warm and freshly baked baguettes, pain au chocolat, croissants and you end up at the La Boulangerie right at Spiral where you can choose from a selection of freshly baked breads – all hand rolled. Healthy choices include rye and gluten free breads.
Spiral 2 Go section at the La Boulangerie area.
One of the best seller here and a must try is the Sofitel’s Olive bread
There’s the iconic Spiral staircase with 31 steps
It is maintained as one of the original set up of Spiral and it stay with us after the massive renovation.
La Veranda area
It is best to dine here during sunset or night time.
This venue is also offered to event organizers, they can close down the area for your private events
And now here’s my plate!!!
Ahahaha! you see that I ate non stop here at Spiral, I enjoyed a great chat and time with Team Spiral and Sofitel, I learned a lot and it’s a massive info overload already, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post that took me almost a week to finish it. I always go back reading their fact sheet and there are so much more to tell and share about the new Spiral. Thanks to Ms. Jane and her team at Sofitel for inviting me to try again their newly improved Spiral.
