Mario’s Restaurant – A Tradition of Love and Romance

My Mark Darcy and I were in our honeymoon in Davao when we received an invitation to the launching of Mario’s Restaurant’s Holiday Treats and Buffet.  Bloggers were invited to the launching for the establishment to have web presence, as Ganns put it.  To add a personal touch to the launch, invited guests will have a chance to talk to the owner, Nenuca Benitez, over lunch.  The immediate reaction was:  WHY WERE WE INVITED? (rolls in laughter)  I’m sorry!  But come to think of it, our blogs do not necessarily feature food.  And we do not think we are as popular as the others who were invited! So in other words, GANDA LANG ANG PUHUNAN NAMIN. Hahahahahahaha!

Okay. On to business.  So we finally RSVP’d and during the last leg of our honeymoon, I kept on wracking my brains out as to how I am going to write about it given two things:

1.                  I am not a food blogger, and,

2.                  I always veer away from how things are usually seen by most people.

I definitely faced a challenge!  The day before the launch, I told my mom that I was invited to the launch of Mario’s Holiday Treats and Buffet.  This is what she told me,

“Wow! Sosyal!  I love their steak!  Did you know that it is at Mario’s where the plan of going away with your dad was conceptualized?  He surprised me in the office with a call, and he asked me out on a date.  I found it unusual because he usually slips a note as he passed by my table but that day, he gave me a call. (I swear my eyes rolled because my mom was so kilig reminiscing. Hahahaha) That night, he took me to Mario’s and I remember thinking, “does he have money?”  (laughs)  We got this very intimate corner table and we ordered steak and wine.  The whole night, we talked about spending our anniversary in Baguio which was the week after that night.  A week after, the plan pushed through, 9-10 months after, you were born…”

Of course I screamed at her, “Oh my gosh!  Mario’s is responsible for my conception!”  We both laughed so hard but that moment, I knew how I would write about Mario’s.  I even plotted out a list of questions for Ms. Nenuca not about food per se, but of family, her romantic moments, with food merely as witness.  Unfortunately, she was not able to attend the event.  Nevertheless, invited guests, and husband and I, enjoyed the featured selection for their holiday buffet and these are some of my personal favorites:

Adobo Rice

Ox Tongue Ragout

Rockefeller Oysters (faints at the first bite)

Turkey Croquettes (heaven!)

Hoisin Chicken

Garlic Pesto Penne

Paella

Cochinillo (roast suckling stuffed with paella…*ugh*)

Canonigo

Chocolate Fountain (screams)

Note:  For pictures of food, click here.

Each  bite of the delectable feast was a taste of the Mario’s tradition:  good food to be enjoyed by people who love each other.  As I looked around the table, Ganns gabbing about the food while his wife Cathy looked so proudly at her husband, Noemi with her husband and daughters sharing the food while taking pictures of it, Anton and his beautiful wife and child enjoying the luscious chocolate fountain, Claire having lunch with her son, Dine enjoying the food with her very smart husband, Ajay who was the symbol of life being so unfair because after a series of children and sessions of devouring lots of food she remains sooooo sexy (hahahahahaha), the very pretty and prim and proper, Toni who was like a princess swept off by H (giggles), and of course me pigging out with husband, Jher, I said to myself—we are living the Mario’s tradition…and I, in particular, found it very profound, if you may.  It was decades ago when my mom and father plotted their anniversary honeymoon.  Now, many years later, I was also with my husband, whom I just celebrated my anniversary with, enjoying the same good food and ambience that Mario’s is known for all throughout the years.

For more of Mario’s Restaurant Quezon City, please visit their website at http://mariosrestaurant.wordpress.com.