Dessert bites, creations by Chef Jakie Laudico
Filipino sweet creations of Chef Jackie Laudico

Waterfront Cebu Celebrates Filipino Flavors with its First Filipino Food Fest

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Chef Roland Laudico carefully scooped the remaining yoke and separated it from the embryo. He then made a paste out of these two ingredients. The egg white, on the other hand, was cut into thin strips and were tossed around the savory paste. On a shot glass rimmed with salt, Chef Lau collected the balut juice, and then mixed it with local vinaigrette. This novel creation is called Balut Napoleon Shot.

Balut Napoleon Shot—along with sinigang bites, palabok bites, sisig basket, ngohiong cones, green salad with local dressing, etc—is among the featured starters at the Filipino Food Fest of Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino in Lahug. Waterfront celebrates the food fest to pay homage to the home grown flavors and cookery, and introduce them to the world.

Cafe Uno Kitchen
Cafe Uno
Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico
Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico, Filipino food inventors for Waterfront Cebu’s Filipino Food Fest

Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico, who oversee the food fest, personally designed the menu and hand-picked the finest ingredients themselves. They visited Pasil, Cebu’s fresh seafood source, and Carcar market to get inspirations.

Salad ingredient and dressing options
Salad Station: Salad ingredient and dressing options
Sinigang and palabok bites
Sinigang and palabok bites

Among those locally-inspired dish served with fascinating twist are nilarang bouillabaisse, puchero corn chowder, balbacua uno, fried humba, kaldereta pie, grilled pakbet, kimchi pinangat, sushinoy [Filipino maki with yellowtail scad flakes], and many more.

Sisig baskets and ngohiong cones
Sisig baskets and ngohiong cones

Lechon station

Waterfront is also proud to introduce the lechon station, which features seven types of lechon. The options are: lechon kambing [roasted chevon legs], sinampalukang turkey [turkey in tamarind marinade], lechon baka [roast beef], lechon baboy [Carcar-inspired roast pig], bacon bagnet, pinaupong nilasing na manok [baked chicken in beer], and salt crusted fish.

Cafe Uno's Lechon Station by Chef Lau
Cafe Uno’s Lechon Station by Chef Lau
Lechon Baka
Lechon Baka
Bacon bagnet
Bacon bagnet
Balbacua Uno
Balbacua Uno [slow-cooked ox tail, beef knuckles and skin cooked UNO style]
Dessert bites, creations by Chef Jackie Laudico
Filipino sweet creations of Chef Jackie Laudico

Dessert Station

Chef Jackie, on the other hand, is the one in charge for desserts and pastries. She invented interesting sweet creations based on traditional desserts or kakanin. The biko latik mousse cake features a delightful layer of sweetened glutinous rice and latik-based mousse cake. It is topped with chocolate cuts and cookies.

Displayed beside the biko latik mousse cake are also Filipino-inspired delicacies, such as queso de bola cheesecake, ube mousse cake, and buko pandan cake.

Biko Latik Mousse Cake
Biko Latik Mousse Cake
Ube Mousse Cake
Ube Mousse Cake
Queso de Bola Cheesecake
Queso de Bola Cheesecake
Buko Pandan Cake
Buko Pandan Cake

Visit Waterfront Cebu’s Café Uno

Filipino food are often seen unnoticed in buffet table of large hotel chains like Waterfront. But instead of totally crossing them out of the list, Waterfront saw an opportunity. The hotel chain partnered with Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico to feature an interesting twist of the local flavors and delicacies; recreating them to suit the most discriminating taste.

Cooking, like any facet of culture and art, keep evolving and transforming in tune with changing lifestyles and the development of technology. The concept behind ‘UNO’s Modern Filipino Taste: A Filipino Feast for All Senses’ looks to tradition for inspiration, but extends to the possibilities of the future. The tastes we presented find a delicious common ground between heritage and technology. Thus, the flavors are familiar but surprising.

–Chef Roland Laudico

The Filipino Food Fest is currently available at Waterfront Cebu’s UNO Restaurants and will run until August 31, 2017. The dish and desserts featured on this event are marked with Philippine flags.

Visit Waterfront’s Café Uno today, and then try the amazing Filipino creations of Chefs Roland and Jackie. Buffet rate starts at ₱898.

By the way, Café Uno or simply UNO, is Waterfront Group of Hotels’ flagship buffet restaurant offering fine international selections. During the entire food fest run, Filipino delis are displayed side-by-side with the restaurant’s world-class staples.

Dessert bites, creations by Chef Jackie Laudico
Dessert bites, creations by Chef Jackie Laudico
Cafe Uno Interior
Cafe Uno, Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan

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