The Alley By Vikings Experience

Food parks have been sprouting not just in the bounds of Metro Manila but also in the provinces of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. We Filipinos love to explore different cuisines to satisfy the desires of our palate. This unique food park trend that we have in the Philippines is one thing that we should be proud of.

Creativity is a beautiful God given talent, and when creativity meets the world of culinary— a spectacular masterpiece evolves.

Vikings Philippines had the brilliant idea of building a food park themed buffet restaurant. 

The Alley by Vikings was born.

This newly opened food park themed buffet restaurant is situated at the Second floor of UP Town Center in Quezon City.

Well, Vikings may be known for their elegant and grandeur buffet restaurants but what could possibly go wrong? Food parks may be for casual diners yet they did a peculiar makeover of how you envision a normal food park.

To my surprise, Vikings did its wonders in creating The Alley, the level of elegance and world-class service is very well maintained as compared with the other Vikings Luxury Buffet Restaurants. I was not expecting these at all.

We went there on a rainy Tuesday night.

To think that it was flooded all around Metro Manila, The Alley by Vikings was surprisingly jam-packed with people. Despite the crowd and small lines, we were still able to enjoy and experience what they have to offer.

The big Red bus is an eye stopper as you enter. The interiors are similar to what you normally see on a decent food park (or even better).

Everything was extremely organized and in symphony. We did not encountered any long waiting lines at the stalls inside for they give wireless order buzzers immediately every after a customer orders.

15 different food spots are available inside. Yes, everything is unlimited! You’ll be amazed with the widespread choices of unlimited food per stall.

First thing that we tried was the Tenderloin Steak from Just Steak a Minute. It was tender and easy to chew. Gravy was too pepper-y for me, steak itself needs more seasoning. Although it was good if you’ll eat it together with the side dishes, it makes sense why the steak itself was a bit bland. This is still a must try.

We also tried Truffle pasta with Parmesan from Buono. I love truffles on my pasta (or in everything that I can put it on), I always eat truffle pastas at every restaurant that I go to that serves it. 

It just tasted okay, the pasta alone does not have a good al dente. It quite passed my palate but not to the point that I’m totally in love with it. 

The Pepperoni Pizza at New York Pizza was tasty but I got my slice cold. Better to skip this one as this will make you feel full immediately.

Went to Lost and Pound’s Stall to order some Chicken Wings and Tower Fries.

Their Chicken Wings are absolutely amazing! I swear by it. Envision your ideal chicken wings—  they serve it here. 

Meanwhile, the Tower fries was too heavy and the toppings were not just blending with the fries. I hope they improve their recipe for the Tower Fries.

Fresh Baked Oysters with Cheese was also amazing at O’Sean Eleven, fresh and 100% loaded with cheese. 

We also got to order their (Supposedly Flavored) Calamari but we were told that the flavorings were currently unavailable so we ended up eating regular Calamari instead. Calamari was basic and okay, nothing special about it.

Went to the Frituen Batsoy to sample some authentic Bagnet. Goes perfect with the Spicy Vinegar dip. Can’t miss a delicate Bagnet! Crispy and juicy all at once.

At this point, we we’re starting to feel a bit full so went to try some light streetfood that they also offer at The Alley by Vikings.

Their “Tusok-Tusok” cart has the basic elements. Fishballs, Squidballs, Chickenballs, Kikiams, and the dipping sauces. 

“Dirty” Ice cream was a hit, almost everyone had a cone on one of their hand eating this while walking around. The flavor of each sorbetes was distinguishable, surprisingly good and refreshing.

Unlimited Taho is heavenly. No explanations needed for this one. Satisfaction guaranteed.

One of their staff was also roaming the whole restaurant shouting “balut”, I don’t eat Balut but this made my head turn. Cant believe that this classical Filipino way of selling balut was happening inside of a mid-range buffet restaurant. Quite funny yet impressive.

Needed a tea break to relax our tummies. While getting our tummies ready again for another food battle, I got some Ferino’s bibinka in the middle of our tea time. It was extremely comforting and satisfying with the tea.

Finally, we reached our finale. Had desserts at Hunneycomb’s stall. Immediately went to the Ice Cream booth as they are famous for their Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream. Excitedly got some of their ice cream but I was told that they ran out of Liquid Nitrogen at that time. Felt very unhappy deep inside.

Well, Life goes on so I just continued with my dessert haul. 

I went back to our table with a tray filled with plates of desserts. 

These were the desserts that I got:

-Churros was good on its own, the dips tastes unnatural.

-Cookies and Cream Cheesecake was too bitter for my taste.

-Blueberry Cheesecake was quite good. Just a bit dense. The blueberry flavor here is very prominent, it does compliment with the cream cheese.

-Butterscotch lacks butter (quite ironic). Tastes weird and texture is similar with the boxed ones. I had high hopes for this one but nah.

-Palitaw it was like plastic. Extremely cold and flavorless. I barely can’t even chew their Palitaw.

-Crème Brûlée was just fine, I expected it to be light but it was not. Also lacks sweetness for me.

-Pistachio Ice Cream was creamy and delightful, the Pistachio flavor does not taste fake at all.

-Their Sugar-free Mango Ice Cream is one of the best. Rest assured, you’ll enjoy this one!

With everything that I ate, I needed something to refresh myself with. Went to HEGT, a stall that serves beverages for adults. They suggested the cocktail of the day so I went for it. This is the best thirst quencher that I have tried in a buffet, it was called “The A”. Also feel free to ask them to create a drink for you if you want to.

They also have an in-house Coffee Bar named Nord’s.

Mocha Frappe was the only ice-blended drink available (there were a lot of hot beverages available though). The coffee used in our Mocha Frappe was too bitter for my taste yet it was still good. Similar to your well-known coffee shop. 

Despite of the little mishaps, our whole experience was amazing. The offerings are spectacular for the value (I only payed a little less than 2,000 for 2 people), definitely worth every penny spent.

I’m still in food comma as of now and I still cannot get over with our great experience at The Alley by Vikings. Can’t wait to go back!

See their website here for the current buffet rates and details http://www.vikings.ph/buffetrates/

Adios!