Niu by Vikings: A “niu” upscale buffet

As one of the Blogapalooza bloggers, I had a chance to be treated to a food tour by Niu by Vikings last October 11, 2014. Niu, located at the 6^th level Skypark, SM Aura Premiere is the latest offering by popular buffet chain, Vikings.

Just like Vikings, it has a vast assortment of dishes. The only difference is, it is much more luxurious as evidenced by its posh interiors, sophisticated lighting and lush chairs. To add to its hotel-like ambiance, Niu also has a pianist who performs at the center of the dining area.

For a more private dining experience, they also have three function rooms to accommodate varied number of guests.

Their one long stretch buffet area is situated at the left side of the restaurant.

And it starts with the Dessert section. There’s fondue and mini cakes (blueberry cheesecake, chilled mango cheesecake with fruit pastille). They also have native Filipino kakanin like biko and cassava.

Since it was around 5:00pm when the food tour was held, most of the dishes were not available. I guess they are still preparing for the dinner buffet schedule. Anyways, here’s what’s available:

Japanese cuisine- sushi, sashimi, different maki rolls, tempura and various sauces

Drink station- Exciting fruit juices (tamarind juice, mint lemon lime, lemongrass honey, blueberry lemonade, etc), imported wines, draft beer, sake, cocktails (mojitos, etc), sodas, teas, coffee—all included in the buffet price!

Pan-Asian section- Asian and Filipino dishes like mechado, sayote and carrot soup, chicken pot pie chowder, etc

Chinese cuisine-dumplings, siopao, siomai and lechon macau, among others

Grill station-various meat and seafood like gindara and lapu-lapu. Also, a wide variety of sauces to choose from.

Continental Cuisine- various flavors of Europe—from pizza, stromboli, bruschetta, pasta and unlimited foie gras!

It was just a quick food tour so I was only able to taste the following:

The bite-size lechon macau with cucumber and mustard merits a second round. The bruschetta with ground pork topping and sliced stromboli with creamy dip were okay. But what I liked most is foie gras, of course! The blueberry cheesecake with strawberry topping was good also (but then again, I can appreciate cheesecakes from any restaurant!). The fresh mint lemon lime juice was a little bit weird for my taste.

The short food tour was not really enough so I’m planning to go here again so I could taste the dishes that were not available during the food tour.

Niu By Vikings is open every day 11:00am-2:30pm (lunch) and 5:30pm-10:00pm (dinner). Here are the rates:

For more information, follow their accounts:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/niubyvikings

IG: http://instagram.com/niubyvikings