THE buffet tables looked particularly verdant at Marco Polo Plaza’s Café Marco last month.
We were seeing green all over the hotel’s signature restaurant because we were on a Culinary Journey to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
The Irish patron saint’s feast day is a jolly celebration and a public holiday in many countries, with Christians and non-Christians alike wearing green outfits or embellishing themselves with shamrocks in all sizes.
At Café Marco, there were lots of green dishes served alongside the regular international buffet, such as the shamrock salad, green velvet cupcakes, and chocolate Guinness cake and cappuccino Irish coffee cream chocolate cake adorned with shamrocks and green hats that little leprechauns could have left behind.
Of course, Café Marco couldn’t just decorate with leprechaun hats and shamrocks and call it St. Patrick’s Day.
Traditional Irish dishes were specially offered on this Culinary Journey, such as beef and mushroom pie, corned beef and cabbage in dark beer, pork ribs with apple and cranberry.
Especially Irish were the Dublin coddle--potatoes, sausages, and bacon in a pot—and colcannon, or traditional Irish mashed potatoes.
In the jolly spirit of St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in different parts of the world, the hotel offered Green Beer in mugs as large as a liter to enjoy either at the restaurant or with fun and entertainment at the poolside outlet, El Viento.