Paella Buffet @ Alba's

About the food:

Spanish cuisine, the authentic one, can be quite expensive. But the Paella is really worth it especially if you love rice. At Alba's you can enjoy paella as much as you want, through their buffet option.

To start off, you will be served a bisque soup.
 

Part of their buffet includes clams stuffed with cheese..

...roasted chicken..

fried chicken..

 spanish cold cuts.. these are quite good.

their best selling paella.

small appetizers..

For dessert, they have tiramisu in their buffet,

as well as smooth and soft canonigo.



Where to buy and how much:

Alba's buffet costs PHP650, excluding beverages. Alba's is located along Tomas Morato St., corner of Scout Lozano. Click on this link to see the map http://www.alba.com.ph/location/interior_tomasmorato.htm

Rating: 8.5/10

As a note of caution, those who are allergic to seafood such as shrimp and mussels should not try the paella. Especially the seafood paella, even if its just the rice. To make the rice more flavorful, it has seafood broth aside from other broths like that from chicken.

Margarita's Paella at Mercato Centrale

About the food:

Finding the perfect paella is never easy, even if we have a lot of authentic Spanish restaurants in the Metro. What is harder though, is the effort exerted to the creation of the paella. Paella doesn't just require any ordinary rice, it has to be high grade. Paella also uses a lot of broth, and not just one kind. Furthermore, if there is seafood involved, a lot of squid ink and fresh ingredients need to be cooked. Another ingredient to buy is the expensive saffron (the more authentic, the more expensive).

Fortunately, you don't have to cook your own paella all the time. Instead, you can try out Margarita's Paella. They serve Paella Negra and Seafood Paella (Paella Marinara).  


Where to buy and how much:

For PHP280 per serving, you should savor the smell and the flavor of the rice. The seller suggests you should apply the lemon squeeze to the paella to make it taste better (and it does).  If you want a really good paella, visit Mercato Centrale during Saturdays.

Rating:  9/10