Elements Buffet — Restaurant in Baguio

Good place and food (only went to New Town Plaza Hotel for the buffet). Good parking and location as well. Servers and staff are very kind and accommodating. Ambiance is quite pleasant and I like that there's an outdoor area for those who wish to dine outside and feel the cool breeze of Baguio. Unfortunately, during my first visit, the food crew made a huge mistake of not updating the labels of the displayed food after replacing some dishes with new ones. I ate a handful of fried pork dumplings, thinking it was banana fritters because that's what's printed on the label. And I'm a Muslim (pork is prohibited). Maybe I was stupid to not immediately doubt the appearance of the "banana fritter," but I have eaten neither banana fritter nor fried dumpling before so I couldn't tell. I just realized it had an unfamiliar meat on it when I tasted something that seems like poorly seasoned ground chicken. And it had cartilage bits. I was then sure it was something else. (The dumpling was kinda deformed so it didn't look like dumpling at all.)

The point is, I've already eaten the pork stuff and swallowed it. Ate lots of it, actually because I enjoyed almost everything fried. I appreciate the chef's apology, but I don't think the matter was taken seriously. Fortunately for them, I just shrugged it off. It was a clear mistake. But we can't hide the fact that it was irresponsible of them. If it ever happened to an Arab Muslim man, he would have freaked out and caused a scene. But what if the person who ate it by accident had a severe allergy on pork? That person could have been killed. It was a mistake, but PLS BE...

Yesterday at 1pm we decided to try unlimited merienda at elements. I was with my son and daughter for the first time we managed to fit schedules to bond. That part was good until 2pm came, paid for the bill, was issued wrist bands, and were asked to wait for our turn to be called, our names to be announced, before we can enter the dining area. So ok, follow the rules…at entrance we were greeted nicely, a staff led as to a designated table for three. Fine. I was thinking it was monday, not too many people were there, so we could have at least been given the freedom to choose where we can seat comfortably and dine. They sat us near the door and froze to the coldness of the wind. I hate it. They should not do that if there is ample space for customers. The other part i got annoyed was we were already starving and they started reading to us guidelines on buffets which we are already aware of —even small kids would understand no left overs-a no brainer —they took time announcing all these with a microphone while we were at the lobby waiting for our turn to be allowed to enter. Really disgusting. Very cheap. I am born and raised in baguio and i can imagine tourists experiencing this. Really...

I went for dinner since sashimi is only available in the evening. These are pretty much all the dishes in here.

As a Taiwanese, I think the value for money is decent, but the sashimi quality was just average — edible, but far below what I usually have at buffets in Taiwan. The shrimp, however, was quite good, and I ended up taking a lot of it.

I also enjoyed the Birdnest with Quail Egg Soup — the bird’s nest had a nice chewy texture, the quail eggs were delicious, and the soup itself was very comforting. The Chicken Stuffed Potato was tasty as well, though it was served cold. If it had been kept warm, it would have been even better. The Roast Beef was a bit too oily, and the Tempura Shrimp had way too much batter.

For drinks, they only offered mineral water and lemon water, which was a bit limited.

That said, considering the price, there really isn’t much to complain about. The staff here are all very friendly, and the restaurant’s atmosphere and environment are also nice.

Still, I feel this place is more of a “try-once” kind of spot for me. It was a good experience, but I probably wouldn’t...