The Tivoli, Manila / Makati, Philippines
Last Visit: Feb 2008
OVERALL
Wherever Westerners (a nice way to say white people) are found, you'll find restaurants with Italian names. Notice that I didn’t say “Italian restaurants”, but rather just restaurants named like “Pasta House” or “Tuscany”. In Asia, you can pretty much assume that they are not authentic; however, if they are found in hotels like Mandarin Oriental and they cost you $80 a head without alcohol, you can pretty much assume that the quality of food and service will be good – but still no guarantee on authenticity. Tivoli is a solid top-tier fancy restaurant that I struggle to find an identity for..... Let's just say it's a well-managed luxury gourmet restaurant in Philippines, nothing else.
FOOD 
Tivoli is a highly-rated restaurant in Mandarin Oriental, which is actually an Asian chain. They don’t claim to be authentically Italian and their dishes actually have asian (surprise!!), Californian and non-italy-european influence. We had the Valentine’s Day special there, which was an eight-course meal. I can’t say it’s representative of what the restaurant (because if you know how restaurants work, they actually don’t offer the best they can for these occasions, rather what they can mass-produce the quickest).
Overall, every dish we had was good, from the seared raw tuna appetizer and soup, to some delicious entrees. They are small in quantity yet very fulfilling, thanks to the rich and top notch ingredients. The plates are also meticulously garnishes – yes this is not a country known for labor shortage. The filet mignon with blue cheese crust was not as great as one that you would have in the same kind of restaurant in the US, probably because of the beef (very likely Aussie) is just different from what I’m used to, somewhat lack of flavor. The seafood entree was well done but disappointing considering we're surrounded by the sea - the fish was a bit tough, I think it was cooked a long time ago and just reheated.
The biggest disappointment is probably desserts. I think the chef tries TOO hard to be unfilipino, thus the chocolate mousse dessert came out to be uninspiring and too “imitation French”. It looks wonderful, but if you’re paying $100 – and don’t EVEN try to compare that with a Filipino minimum wage - for a meal you want your last dish – dessert - to be spectacular, not just good. Overall, the food was like good cruise ship food, but I'm pretty sure that's because we're having a set menu dinner and everything was pre-made in a mass scale. I am sure if one comes in for dinner any other day, it'll be even better.
SERVICE
It's amazing that we would have ANY issue with service in a top hotel in Asia, but I'm sorry to announce that we've had better service for far less money in far less prestigious establishments in Manila. First of all, for some strange reason the host and waiter never really spoke to us. There was little eye contact either. Their job was to deliver to dish and that was about it. I would think they can afford a few more people to alleviate pressure on the head waiter on such a special occasion, ie Valentine's.
Another strange problem - they never offered us wine menu. Granted I don't have to have wine after my champaigne was gone after ten min, I would imagine they would try to get me another glass of champaigne - which I'd be glad to accept. No word on drink. They didn't even deliver another bottled water when the first one was done.
Finally, there was a long 15-min gap between 1st and 2nd entree and the waiter basically tried his very best to avoid us. He could have explained and we'd accept just about any excuse to sit in that ultra luxurious dining hall for another 15 min, but he was somehow afraid to. Both waiter and busboy looked nervous but most of time they weren't really that busy.
Of course they made up everything with a nice Lancome gift set to my wife - nothing for the guy of course, but they sure know whom to smooze on Valentine's.....
AMBIENCE
Just like most of the Asian top-tier restaurants, Tivoli is a beautifully and again meticulously decorated restaurant which is slightly over-done. There was too much glasses, flowers and more glasses – reflective ones too! They tried hard to look western, but there are still signs here and there that you are NOT in Europe - or LA or HK. It is nevertheless one of the most comfortable and "unpretentious" gourmet experience I've had - it's just one nice place to enjoy the evening. Of course the piano and singing helped but I'm not sure if they have it every evening or just for special occasions....
VALUE
You would be completely CRAZY - or clueless - if you walk into a Mandarin Oriental and expect a great bargain on a meal. You come in for the extravagant and opulent Hong Kong brand Asia-Meets-West food, hospitality and attention to detail on everything. Considering the overall quality and amount of effort that went into executing the whole experience, Tivoli is actually a pretty good deal. I have been to other parts of the world where they charge you the same kind of money but delivery FAR less in terms of quality and quantity.
BOTTOMLINE
Like I said earlier, I believe the whole dining experience would have been better IF we were there on a special day. But then again, it was already impressive. It once again demonstrated that Asia can deliver a high-quality European-style feast without breaking your bank. It's no Fleur de Lys, then who would want Fleur de Lys type of pretentiousness when they are traveling.... You'll be happy with the food and have a plain good time here.
BTW
While the service here was mediocre, the hotel's service was no less than SPECTACULAR. I mean, the number of hosts/hostesses type of people they throw into the lobby and on the phone was ridiculous. They make sure that your every need was addressed quickly and with a smiling face. This is Asian style hospitality at its best. It just didn't really make it to the restaurant, that's all......
