South African Food Festival at Spiral, Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel

I was invited to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Press Conference last June 3, 2010 at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel. Those who know me know that I’m the farthest thing from a sports buff, but Spiral was also launching its South African Food Festival that day in conjunction with its FIFA 2010 roster of activities. Since I’ve never really had South African food, I was pretty excited. 😀

FIFA 2010’s official mascot, Zakumi the leopard, stands where the South African portion of Spiral’s buffet spread begins.

I tried the Fried Plantains with pepper coulis and ground peanuts (pictured above). It was nice, the bananas were not greasy despite being fried. 😀

Next up was the Hakuna Matata Chicken (pictured above), which is barbecued chicken with roasted corn-apricot salsa. It had a very slight curry flavor.

My favorite dish is definitely Khebad with Jollof Rice (pictured above). Big cubes of juicy beef in skewers are served with spicy tomato rice. I couldn’t get over how sweet the vegetables in between the beef cubes were. Yummy! 😀

I tried two kinds of soup that day, first was Congo Chicken (pictured above), a hot and hearty soup made of chicken and ground peanuts. It was delicious.

I kind of liked the cold soup better though — Cucumber and Yoghurt (pictured above). 😀

For dessert I had the Melktert (pictured above) which is Milk Tart. Creamy milk um… pudding? on a sweet flour-based tart is topped with cinnamon, whipped cream, and fresh fruits.