Barbara's Buffet and Cultural Show

A few months ago, I purchased six discount vouchers for buffet dinner in Barbara's. I know that my grandparents enjoy Philippine cultural shows and I was planning to use it for my family during the Christmas break. With Tatay passing away, I felt it was important for me to ensure that Nanay felt there was still a lot to enjoy in life and that she didn't feel lonely. As such, I pushed through with my plans and took Nanay and my family out to have an enjoyable night in Barbara's.


The dinner buffet starts at 6:30pm and the show begins at 7:15pm. I was worried that we wouldn't make it in time for the show because of the traffic along Espana but thankfully we got there with several minutes to spare. Once we had gotten our food and settled down (the buffet spread was just okay, although both my nephews enjoyed the food as evidenced by multiple trips back to the buffet table), the lights dimmed and the show commenced.


And may I just say, it was a topnotch, fantastic show. I'm not sure how long it lasted, maybe about 30-45 minutes, but the quality of the performance made the cost of the dinner absolutely worth it. Several Filipiniana dances such as the 'Binasuan' and 'Sayaw sa Bangko' were performed in full costume to live music. I know how difficult it is to dance for even just a few minutes, so to see the performers put in 100% and maintain a very high standard for the better part of an hour was just impressive.

The show ended, as do a lot of other cultural shows, with the 'Tinikling', the national dance of the Philippines. And as is often the case, people from the audience were invited to try it. First to be selected was my nephew, and he managed to get the timing right (although to avoid getting hit by the bamboo, he would take two steps outside of the sticks instead of inside).


Nanay followed suit. My mom told the people handling the bamboo that she was already in her 80s and that they should take it easy but Nanay managed quite well.


We ended up giving a good tip to the dancers and I tossed in the same amount to the musicians. Diners were then invited to have their pictures taken with the performers after the show.

It was unfortunate that our camera ran out of battery because we were unable to take as many photos as we wanted. But it was a wonderful experience. The dinner buffet (including the show) costs about P500 I think, which by itself is already a good deal, so the fact that I got P299 vouchers in Metrodeal made this an absolute steal. I wouldn't mind going here again (and taking my family if they are still interested), and it also gives me an additional option of where I can bring international guests when they visit Manila.

*****

Barbara's
Plaza San Luis Complex, Intramuros (right in front of San Agustin church)
527-3893 or 527-4086
http://barbarasrestaurantandcatering.com/index.html