samba - shangri-la the fort

sharing one of the worst shangri-la experience ever! witnessed this firsthand. not recommending this restaurant at all.

be warned, people.

"i booked for a simple lunch at their samba restaurant. i made an earlier reservation ( more than 2 weeks lead time) and even gave them my preferred menu. i didn't have any fancy requirements. just a simple lunch.

some of my guests arrived a little early than 1130am. i asked tanya (the restaurant manager) to serve the food by 12nn since i knew that the restaurant opens at 1130am. she advised me that she already informed the kitchen to prepare the food. she even told me that 50% of the total order will be prepared immediately.

the tables that were occupied during the time that i advised her to prepare the food was just less than 20 people (including kids). 1st menu was then served. but to our surprise, the main dish was served an hour after. some even had their 2nd menu an hour and half after the appetizers were served. others even decided to just eat the kiddie meals.
i constantly followed up. if i am not mistaken, i have spoken to all the food attendants at the restaurant. i must say that they are well-trained in answering follow ups because their answers to us seemed to be a standard--- “ it's coming out, shortly”. i even asked tanya how long is that shortly.

not to mention that desserts were not all served. my guests just left to their dismay. they were hungry. kids were supposed to play at the adventure zone but most of them decided to just transfer to another restaurant to have their decent lunch. we transferred some of our guests to a restaurant nearby. the others even left without having lunch. we are so embarrassed.

we were not wandering in the streets of bgc and suddenly decided to dine in the samba restaurant. i have booked ahead of time. everything was coordinated. i was expecting for a good service because i booked in a prestigious hotel.

shang-la is an internationally acclaimed brand – known in providing quality hospitality service.

i must say that it was truly a very, very, very poor service which have spoiled our high expectations of the hotel and eventually ruined the lunch of my family and friends.

the staff in the restaurant were even fabricating stories that i called them a day after i had my event to request for a refund. and why would i do that? i am a professional individual. i committed to pay for what i have ordered. it's them who didn't provide the service/product that i bought.

if there's only a button here such as poorest of the poor rating -- i will right away click that because that's more appropriate for what we've experienced."

peruvian cuisine at its best. this is a great place to wine and dine. they served great food at an affordable price. my top favorites are their chargrilled king fish sauteed onions, tomatoes or their tanique ala chorrillana. my peers ordered equally impressive platos de fondo, the prawns quinitto and chaufa de mariscos. service is swift and staff are friendly. definitely a "must" visit for all food lovers!

when it comes to shangri-la fort, raging bull might get all the hype but it’s samba that actually deserves it.

peruvian food in a casual, hip, drinks by the pool setting. i’m so pleased with my discovery i almost don’t want to share it for fear that it will get crowded. but credit must be given, where credit is due.

what we (2 of us) ordered:
1. ceviche, particularly limone. a must for anyone trying peruvian food. it’s basically kilawin, delicious. they say it’s good for 1 but they’re lying because it’s good for 2.
2. soft shell crab appetizer - a lot like tempura with a peruvian flare. definitely good for like..3 people. a bit starchy so share this and break it up with some ceviche sauce for acidity.
3. grilled octopus - perfectly cooked but mildly underseasoned (for me) although my date who likes octopus says it’s supposed to be this way so the octopus flavor comes out. ok, gets. good for 3 people.
4. prawn quinnotto - quinoa, seafood, cheese. ugh. must order. just forget rice exists and order this.
5. lomo saltado - beef and rice. see #4 about skipping the rice and eating the beef, there’s a lot happening on this plate, huge potato wedges and veggies so you gotta work to find your beef
6. marisco paella (for takeout) - so good even if you microwave it the next day.
7. chocolate ball dessert thing - i don’t want to spoil this for you but let’s say there’s audience participation and the chocolate is pretty amazing. also i’m proud that the server said we created one of the nicer versions of the dessert that he’s seen. well. unless binola lang niya kami.

some notes:
- 2k per person for all this food. paid for by
my brother who gave me a gc for my bday.
- their drinks need a little bit of work. skip their cocktails and go for the pure liquors. we returned our mojito because it tasted llike robutussin.
- al fresco dining is an option on a not so hot day.
- service was perfect.
- we walked home after this meal because we were so full!

samba is a peruvian restaurant at the shangri la at the fort. arroz con mariscos was delicious. the white chocolate desert was divine. great place to hang out with family and friends! will be going back!

absolutely lovin this resto bar located on the 8th of shangrila the fort. it has both indoor amd outdoor seating and is just right where the hotel outdoor pool is located. everythin we ordered from cocktail to appetizer main course to desert were just soo tasty. definitely worth goin back for.

went here to celebrate the 30th birthday of my partner. we were very happy with the service and the quality of the food. servers were very friendly and they gave free dessert to my partner as it was his birthday.

price is bit expensive but it's worth it with the
quality of service and food they have.

the ambiance is also very good. we had pool side table.

we got great time in the resterant food are good taste and staff are good service especially jennie she very nice she doinggreat service thank you so much for take care of us! pim

nice and authentic peruvian food. you should try!

this casual dining restaurant is family friendly with options to dine indoors or outdoors.



antichuco de camaron
peruvian cuisine is popular for its european, african and asian influences. it combines abundant seafood from the coast and a bounty of corn, potatoes from the andes plus chillies. food choices are predominantly seafood.



sudado de mero (peruvian steamed fish) is a simple lapu-lapu dish cooked in white wine with chicha de jora (peruvian corn beer) , tomato and onion.




antichuco de camaron are two-piece char grilled shrimp skewered served with peruvian spices. this festives dish brings in great flavors from
ocopa sauce (made from toasted peanuts, fried onions, tomatoes, aji amarillo, cream); huancaína sauce (spicy, creamy sauce); and rocoto sauces (made with fiery hot red peppers).




we also had tiradito de mero, empanada de lomo, salmon en salsa de chupe. it was fun to try out these refreshing food.

food was superb and so was the service! kd was great in making sure all of our 55 guests were comfortable. she and shynne was very thoughtful in helping me pick the menu for such a large group.

lamb and adobo was good!

didn’t get to take a photo of everything we ordered but the food here is generally delicious! great service and there’s a wide variety of food. seafood was fresh and portions are pretty large so it’s nice to come here in groups. expensive but worth the price!

the seafood paella was good but lacks “seafood”.

'the  palletes went to the south every time in the ocean.  the fishermen pick them up to make soup with seafood. the pallettes are called parihuela. that's why the soup is called parihuela...".  - chef carlo hueta of samba on parihuela de amejas.

superb experience. the chef even stopped by at our table to check in on the food. at firsr, i thought it would be a problem that we'd be staying outside since it's a bit hot in manila but it's no problem at all. all the food were tasty and perfect spot for dates and mini gatherings.