Sand Under My Feet: Four Cuisines in One Place: Four In Love BBQ and Hotpot Buffet

Ahhh LOVE. It is probably the best feeling in the world, right? And who doesn’t want to fall in love? Love is what makes the world go ‘round. It is the ultimate goal. But you know sometimes, love can also cause bad things. Today though, we will not deal with romantic love but the love for food, because all I know is that I’m happy at the moment and loving everything about my life! Let’s talk about the love for food. I looked it up if there’s a specific term for the love of food and Google told me it’s either epicure or gastronome.

You might be wondering why I’m talking about love and food, well, I just visited FOUR IN LOVE last Sunday at SM Manila to witness its grand opening. Four in Love is the newest concept buffet restaurant to hit the shores of Manila. Four in Love wants you to fall in love, hence, they created a place for BBQ and Hot Pot Buffet. And man oh man, they’ve got my favorite cuisines: Japanese (top!), Thai, Chinese and Korean (which I recently starting to like a lot) all in one place.

Four In Love’s refreshing and tantalizing concept jointly invented by 4 top restaurateurs formerly based in Singapore and Thailand and will allow diners to enjoy four different renowned cuisines in just a single visit. Who says meat and eating cultures cannot co-exist? You can now decide which way you want to fall in love. Sumptuous Korean BBQ Samgyeopsal, Steamy Chinese Hotpot Steamboat, Mouthwatering Japanese Yakiniku / Shabu-Shabu and Beautiful Meat in Skillet Thai Mookata. You can prepare the meats the way you like, because the promise is that meat, soup, sauces, love and fun at Four In Love BBQ and Hot Pot are beyond unli-meat-ed!

I’m so excited to share this news with you guys that I don’t know where to start, I’m a little bit overwhelmed, I wanted to blog about this asap after the event but you know life always gets the better of me, or shall I say work and sleep (when I get home from work). Anyhoo, let’s see, well let’s start with sets/price that Four In Love is offering then we will get to the add ons and other details later on.

Four In Love offers 3 sets/prices: Harmony Set, Wealth Set and the Abundance Set. Now let’s break down what comes with the sets:

Harmony Set – priced at PHP 399 per person and includes unlimited Pork slices, Pork in sweet marinade, Pork in spicy marinade but this one is self-service; you have to go to the station to get your fill of meats to be cooked on the grill. Also comes with unlimited six hot dishes, cold dishes, sushi, fresh fruits and desserts of the day.

Wealth Set – this one’s PHP 599 per person and includes unlimited Pork slices, Pork in sweet marinade, Pork in spicy marinade, Premium beef chuck, Premium beef chuck in sweet marinade, Premium beef chuck in spicy marinade, Chicken thigh cut, Chicken thigh in sweet marinade, Chicken thigh in spicy marinade, Pork belly, Beef rib eye, Squid, Mussels, Salmon belly, Shrimp and Korean Spicy noodle. The basic meats are self-served while the others will be served at your table. This set also includes unlimited six hot dishes, cold dishes, sushi, fresh fruits, desserts and melted cheese dip.

Abundance Set – the most luxurious of all the sets and priced at PHP 799 per person. This set includes unlimited Pork slices, Pork in sweet marinade, Pork in spicy marinade, Premium beef chuck, Premium beef chuck in sweet marinade, Premium beef chuck in spicy marinade, Chicken thigh cut, Chicken thigh in sweet marinade, Chicken thigh in spicy marinade, Pork belly, Beef rib eye, Beef short plate, Beef short ribs, Squid, Mussels, Salmon belly, Tuna belly, Shrimp, Korean Spicy noodle and cheese sauce dip. All will be served at your table, but you have to go to the station to get your inclusive unlimited six hot dishes, cold dishes, sushi, fresh fruits and desserts of the day. My friends and I were served the Abundance Set.

And then there’s the Hot Pot. For the hot pot, you have to pay an additional 99 pesos for 1 soup and 159 pesos for 2 soups per table and that is also already unlimited. Available soups are: Sukiyaki, Miso, Mushroom, Tom Yum, Kimchi, Aroi Thai Soup, Chicken Herbal Soup and the Mala Soup. Meanwhile, if you want to try their Shabu-Shabu & Mookata Grill you just add 99 pesos per table. We didn’t get to try the Shabu-Shabu & Mookata Grill since our table and our bellies have no more space for more food.

For our table, the owner suggested that we try the Mala Soup + Chicken Herbal Soup. The chicken herbal soup was ok for me, but the Mala Soup, gosh! As in oh my gosh! That soup was so awesome in every way! I’m not really a fan of spicy food as I can only tolerate a little spiciness, when we were told that it has Sichuan pepper and hot chilli pepper I was like ok I won’t be able to enjoy it that much. When it was placed on our table, the soup was fiery red, like literally! But then the owner taught us how to cook the meat into the soups, we dip and dip and dip the meat onto the boiling soup and when it’s already cooked to our preference that’s the time that we eat the meat. By then, the meat also has absorbed the flavors of the soup. And mygahd! Beef strips cooked in that Mala Soup was incredibly good! The following day, everytime the Mala Soup crosses my mind, I can’t help but salivate over the thought of it and I craved for it. It’s definitely a must try! It aint the annoyingly spicy flavor but a tongue-numbing sensation and then some minty-like after taste later on. That’s the best I can describe it.

Like I said a while back, the sets include unlimited six hot dishes, cold dishes, sushi, fresh fruits and desserts of the day. I came in there not really expecting anything about these other dishes and was just setting my eye and tummy for the meats that I’m going to eat (which my friends will grill ahahaha!) but damn, I was surprised that the dishes at the main station were actually good! Especially that chicken karaage and fried rice that was bomb! Didn’t get to try the desserts as they easily gone in seconds every time the servers do a replenishment. We were full to the brim anyway.

Another thing to rave about Four In Love is their dipping sauce station. I’ve never seen anything like it until that day! I’ve been to many buffet restaurants and this is the first time that I saw a station solely dedicated for sauces and condiments. And mind you, they aren’t the usual stuff, the Thai sauces were legit! The owner and the staff also told us what should be paired with meat and what’s for seafood. I personally loved the Thai sauce both the non-spicy and spicy ones. But you can customize and concoct your own depending on your preference. For someone who loves plain grilled meats, getting to know these dipping sauces add so much dimension to the brawns.