The island for buffet hunters

By: Adelson Genito

Somewhere in the peaceful barangay of Marikina Heights in Marikina (#284 Gen. Ordoñez St. to be specific), is an “island” for buffet hunters everywhere.

La Isla Buffet, a restaurant that started out as a cooking hobby of Cecilia De Guzman Sanchez during 1997, now serves a wide assortment of cuisines from their eat/ drink-all-you-can buffet which happens every Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. for lunch, and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.

Cecilia, a single parent to three children and dentist by profession, used to cook for friends. Little did she know that later, her cooking flair would spread by word and would entice different famished people and companies to seek for her culinary skills. Her success gave birth to La Isla Buffet Restaurant, which opened in September 2012. Later on, her daughter, the eldest of the three siblings, Crenz Lagpacan, would step up and follow in her footsteps. Crenz, like her mom, loves to cook. She took up HRM in college and embarked to Ziu Hua in China for her on-the-job training. She also trained at Dusit Hotel and worked for the catering industry for 4 ½ years. She now manages the restaurant, with the guidance of her mom, and is doing a pretty good job.

But enough now of our two lovely ladies. On with the food!

La Isla’s buffet menu includes Kare-kare with shrimp paste (favorite of mom and daughter, by the way, and a MUST-TRY), Beef Broccoli, Chicken ala King, Lechon Paksiw, Pork Dinuguan, Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet, Fish with Tofu in Black Beans, Pansit Canton Guisado, Fresh Lumpia with Peanut Garlic Sauce and their house special, Seafood Mixed. For soup, they serve Crab and Corn. Dessert includes Fruit Salad, Coffee Jelly and the (mmmm!) Turones. For our vegetarian buffet hunters, a salad bar that serves Vegetable and Macaroni salad is waiting for you while bottomless iced tea is available for the thirsty.

How to get there..