My impression on Impressions at Maxims Hotel, Resorts World Manila

I was looking through some photos and totally forgot all about Impressions, one of them high-end restaurants at Resorts World Manila. It's been months since My Bibe and I dined there for our 7th anniversary earlier in July. It may be late but I'm sharing our experience anyhow.

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The place
As you can see above, the place is awash in warm, yellow light, punctuated by the bluish glow emanating from the wine cellar on full display on one side. It sports an elongated layout that slants a little on one end. It looks fancy enough. What diluted the fanciness a bit was when they covered the table with a huge sheet of paper. I guess they weren't too keen on washing linen a lot.

I wasn't able to take photos of the place but you get a glimpse of the place on both ends from where we were seated in these two photos below:

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Part of the view on the left upon entering.

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A peak into the right side of the restaurant.

The food
Without regard for the price (oh yes, it is expensive!), the food, overall, was fine. Suffice it to say that there were a few hits and misses here and there.

We were each given a complimentary appetizer - some puff pastry with some concoction on top of it. I forgot what it was. All I remember was that the pastry was really hard. The topping was delicious, though. So much for complimentary.

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Complimentary appetizer

For the real appetizer, we ordered their Pan-fried scallops salad with citrus dressing and crispy smoked ham (Php 650) and had it split into two. The scallops were perfectly cooked and the citrus dressing was really great. I loved it!

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Half of the pan-fried scallops salad

We had soup - Crab bisque with assorted vegetable and crab dumpling (Php 390). I don't normally like bisque but I enjoyed this one.

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Crab bisque

For the main course, I had a Tenderloin steak (Php 1,900) while My Bibe ordered King prawns thermidor with mushrooms and parmesan (Php 1,300). We both weren't happy with our orders. My steak wasn't so bad but personally, I think it lacked flavor and paled in comparison to what I'm used to at Nuvo, where it's also much cheaper. As for the thermidor, My Bibe said it had a certain sour taste that she didn't like, plus the prawns were a tad dry.

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Tenderloin steak

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Prawns thermidor

Following that disappointing main course, our saving grace came with dessert - Dark chocolate soufflé with coconut créme anglaise (forgot how much). It was heavenly! And another good thing, because it took quite a while for our dessert to arrive and we were running late for a spa appointment, I followed them up. Lo and behold, they gave us a complimentary dessert sampler of truffles and bonbons. Great! At least our meal ended on a high note there.

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Dark chocolate soufflé

The service
I was quite satisfied with their service here. The waitresses were pleasant and attentive, but never intrusive. Service was fast. And when our dessert took a little longer than expected, they instantly made up for the delay with complimentary dessert, a gesture much appreciated.

The verdict
Despite the underwhelming main course, overall, it was still a good impression with Impressions. It's a great place for a dinner date with your special someone. It's got the ambience, the added "prestige" because of the price tag, and still -- overall -- good food and excellent service.

Just hope your order would be a hit and not a miss because after our experience, I thought I wouldn't bother going there again -- until I heard that they have a regular Sunday brunch buffet at Php 1,888 nett (Php 950 for kids), which, I think is a much better deal than a sit-down, multi-course dinner. I just might be back to try that one.

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Impressions is located at the 3rd floor of Maxims Tower, Resorts World Manila. They're open daily for dinner only from 6pm to 12midnight. On Sundays, though, they're also open for brunch/lunch from 11am to 3pm. Tel. no. +632 908 8883

Comments

  1. Congrats on your anniversary, all looks delicious and classy! Love the atmosphere!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've always been a fan of scallops *_* but damn. 650 a popper. I've always found fancy hotel food ridiculously overpriced when you can get something just as good at a stand-alone classy restaurant.

    I guess the price comes with the name and the ambiance haha. It'll be ages before I egg myself to visit Resorts World or anywhere close for that matter (unless I'm going for a trip or to the airport). So thanks for the review. Now I at least feel like I've been there :P

    Ada
    http://adanikki.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha. of course they're overpriced, that's why i expect a lot in the taste and service departments. :)

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  3. I know you forgot something hahaha, great pics of your aniversary, you really know how to celebrate, my friend, congrats again!

    And the place looks great!!!

    http://mytigermx.blogspot.mx

    ReplyDelete

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