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Roast beef and other all-you-can-eat treats at The Round Table
It’s the holiday season once again: that time of the year the we celebrate by indulgent eating with family and friends. It’s also the time when we forget about our diets—until the New Year, anyway.
For sure, there will be a lot of get-togethers and reunions, and it would be easier to do it at a restaurant than at home. My recent discovery is a cozy establishment called The Round Table, an all-you-can-eat tasting room that has a different food theme every day.
Executive chef Mia K. Capay, who has worked as a caterer since the early 2000s, trained at the Professional Culinary Institute in California, and she showcases her skills through this innovative restaurant's different cuisines. Her culinary creations are displayed on the focal point of the room: a round table that the establishment is named after.
Each dish is prepared in small batches to ensure its freshness and integrity. Don’t expect a large spread; The Round Table has more of a homey ambience that is just right for the modest food display that makes up in quality what it lacks in extravagance.
What do you feel like eating?
The Round Table’s menu changes daily, but its specialty roast beef is available from Tuesday to Sunday. Foodies should take note of the different themes:
- Exclusively Yours Mondays - on this day, you can reserve the place for a private event;
- Italian Tuesdays - featuring food like fried pizza rolls and chicken cacciatore;
- Asian Invasion Wednesdays - DIY Mongolian bowls, assorted tempura, and chicken teriyaki;
- Filipino Twist Thursdays - adobo sa mangga and pork in wonton cups; and
- Roast Carving Fridays - roast beef, pork carving and roast chicken are highlighted.
- The weekends have free-style or special themed menus such as A Spanish Food Affair, Farm to Table, Big Fat Greek Weekend, and Seoul Food Kapitolyo.
I was able to try the All-Star Weekend, at which diners were treated to the most popular dishes on the menu.
My eyes drifted to the mouthwatering meat—a slab of roast beef—but convinced myself to start with soup and salad first. The cream of roasted squash soup was hearty and comforting. I could taste the depth of flavor from the roasted squash, and I would’ve gotten a second serving if I weren’t leaving space for the main course.
The colorful salad of fresh lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and walnut came with a dressing with an apple cider vinegar base. This made the dining experience somewhat guilt-free.
I wanted to skip the carbs, but I heeded the call of adobo sa mangga for some rice. What’s unique about this chicken adobo is that it is not cooked in vinegar and soy sauce like the traditional version. The chef recreated the salty and sour flavors through her own bagoong and mango puree and the result was simply wonderful. It was neither too salty nor too sour; the dish had achieved a good balance of flavors. And you can’t eat it without rice!
The other noteworthy dish that I would like to highlight is the roasted chicken. It’s not like the usual ones you see in roadside stalls. The whole chicken is roasted in saha (banana stem) and served with gravy made of drippings, cerveza beer, and liver. I got the white meat of the chicken and it was moist and tender, and the rich gravy took it to another level.
But the real star was the roast beef, a shiny slab of meat that would make any carnivore drool. This successfully tempted me to give in to my inner meat lover, considering that I have been avoiding red meat for the past year now. I relished the first bite I had of this juicy and succulent beef that was marinated for about seven hours and slow-roasted in low temperature for approximately four to six hours.
I won’t be surprised if some diners come here for the roast beef alone. It’s definitely worth it, especially since the rate for weekday lunch or dinner is P295+ per person, and P350+ during weekends and on some occasions. Compare it with other buffets that serve so-so food and you’ll find this so affordable.
Folks in the Pasig and Ortigas area are lucky to have this restaurant in their vicinity. I, on the other hand, have to brave the traffic from the south to get here, but I’d head this way again for the roast beef. Or maybe I’ll order a food tray and bring it to a Christmas party where it’s sure to be the star of the show. — BM, GMA News
The Round Table is located at 56 C & D East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig City. There are two seating time slots per meal period—lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Best to reserve through +63 (2) 706-1668 or +63 (922) 894-8509; visit www.qprovisions.com.
