It’s one of those places that you absolutely must leave your diet at the doorstep for it will be a losing battle against the artillery this restaurant is armed with. If the extensive display of eye-popping desserts at the entrance is not a fair warning of a bountiful feast that lies ahead, I don’t know what is.
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| Leave your diet at this restaurant's doorstep |
Radisson Blu’s premier, all-day dining restaurant, Feria, was a wonderful surprise on a short visit to the Queen City of the South. Its wide entry will appear pocket sized against the cavernous lobby of the hotel. Like they say, don’t judge based on first impression.
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| The cavernous lobby of the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu. |
What I presumed to be an regular hotel food and beverage outlet that offers a typical buffet spread was not. Feria is another cavern that holds a cornucopia of cuisines.
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| Feria is Radisson Blu’s premier, all-day dining restaurant serving fresh, local & international cuisine creatively whipped by a culinary team lead by chefs from Italy, China, Korea & the Philippines. |
Everything about Feria is generous, from an area that can comfortably seat a quarter of a thousand guests including two glass-walled rooms ideal for private functions....
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| Lunching with the Cebu media hosted by Radisson Blu in one of Feria’s glass-paneled private function room. |
....to the relaxing view of a verdant garden and the swimming pool afforded by the towering floor-to-ceiling glass windows that wrap the spacious dining hall. The main star is the food, of course, is its wide array of offerings.
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| Pinoy breakfast with a Cebuano flare & a view of the verdant outdoor garden. |
Feria serves fresh, local cuisine and a variety of international dishes creatively whipped by a culinary team lead by chefs from Italy, China, Korea and the Philippines. With each chef carefully preparing authentic dishes from their respective countries and presented across the restaurant, each station has turned into a culinary destination.
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| Each food station at Feria is a culinary destination. |
Busy the peak dining hours may be, Feria makes sure it keeps its personal touch to the dining experience with the chefs interacting with the guests. “Eating at Feria creates exciting memories for travelers as the restaurant’s chefs mingle with guests in the dining room, serving samples of the delicious cuisine and offering taste recommendations,” shared Rica Rellon, Radisson Blu’s Marketing Communication Director.
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| The Italian station with a variety of freshly-cooked pizzas. |
Feria offers varied cuisines very friendly to each guest’s personal taste—vegan, vegetarian (their salad choices are unbelievable), meat lover or not. Personally, I found it quite difficult to resist being at the center of the “temptations.” Consider your every visit to this restaurant as your cheat day or free day (which is the English translation of the Latin word “feria”) from your strict diet.
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| Feria offers varied cuisines very friendly to each guest’s personal taste. The vegetarians will have a feast. |
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| Check out the dressings. |
Cannot be denied most of all, is my sweet tooth, which was further enticed by the Radisson Blue team to (must) try the house specialty—the special bread pudding with vanilla ice cream on the side. It was worth the calorie and sugar intake, I must admit.
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| Feria’s signature dessert- freshly made special bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. |
Overall, I enjoyed everything about Feria. Most especially the lovely lunches with Radisson Blu Hotel’s Assistant Manager, Zenaida Alcantara, former General Manager Lyle Lewis and the former Marketing Communications Director Rica Rellon, and Marketing Communications Assitant Mae Jimenea with the Cebu media. Thank you for graciously hosting these wonderful meals.
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| Coffee after a hearty Feria meal with Radisson Blu Hotel’s executives— Assistant Manager Zenaida Alcantara, former Marketing Communications Director Rica Rellon & former GM Lyle Lewis. |
So if you find yourself in Cebu for the Sinulog Festival, make Feria you first stop to get fired up for the high-spirited, colorful parade and your last stop to regain the spent energy. Pit Señor!
Feria is at the ground floor of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu at Sergio Osmeña Blvd. corner Juan Luna Ave., Cebu City. For more information, visit their website at http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-cebu/dining.
For more lifestyle & travel stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/ and http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on January 15, 2014.
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