Banzai goes beyond Japanese for Christmas

MANILA -- Christmas comes to Banzai at the SM Mall of Asia complex, as the country’s biggest Japanese buffet offers its new holiday menu starting on Saturday, December 20.

Aside from its extensive Japanese offerings, which include sushi, sashimi, ramen and noodles, tonkatsu, tempura, yakitori, takoyaki, and even Japanese pizza, the expanded Christmas menu will have other cuisines from the sister restaurants of Banzai in the Sumo Sam group.

Menu additions to their salad section include the Smoked Chicken with Fuji Apple and Walnuts, as well as Marble Potatoes with Crispy Panchetta.

Main courses will include an array of chilled seafood like prawns, mussels and clams; the porchetta, which is their version of the ever popular belly roll with spices of rosemary and fennel; the roast stuffed turkey with bread stuffing and turkey gravy; homemade slow-cooked meatloaf with mushroom gravy; and the Mediterranean favorite, moussaka, layered with eggplant and cheese.

Other Asian influences are also present with roast Peking duck crepe, peach-glazed chicken and honey-glazed pork.

Christmas cheer comes to the dessert table with the green pistachio cheesecake; the cute and festive cherry blossom cake; the matcha and black sesame cake; strawberry green tea mousse; and strawberry butter sponge cake.

Sister restaurants Dekada and Balboa will also be adding to the Banzai spread.

Balboa, which serves Italian food, will be offering four pizzas (all meat, seafood, pesto, four cheese) as well as four sauces (alfredo, aglio olio, truffle mushroom, puttanesca) with twp choices of pasta (penne and spaghettini).

Dekada, meanwhile, will serve Filipino favorites such as sinigang na miso, adobo rice, Bicol express, kare-kare and, for dessert, Filipino misa de gallo favorites bibingka, puto bumbong and palitaw.

OFW promo

In addition, Banzai has a welcome promo for overseas Filipino workers who are home for the holidays.

OFWs, who are accompanied by at least three full paying guests, can eat for free. They just have to show their passport and a valid ID.

 Other promos include the 5+1 promo (one free for a group of six), the birthday promo (birthday celebrants eat for free in a group of four), and the senior promo (an additional 30% discount to their 20% discount).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Martilyo Gang attacks SM Mall of Asia

MANILA -- An employee of an ice cream kiosk was reported hurt in the shooting incident inside the SM Mall of Asia Complex at past 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The victim, who sustained a grazing wound, was brought to the hospital for treatment, Director Erwin Villacorte of the Southern Police District said.

One of the suspects, identified as Ryan Wansiawan, 23, from Cotabato, was arrested inside the mall. A caliber .45 was recovered from him.

According to Villacorte, the suspects targeted the jewelry counter of the SM department store, which is located at the ground floor of the mall. One of the suspects fired his gun, which caused the commotion.

Villacorte believes that there were around four to six suspects involved in the incident but that the other suspects have already left the building..

But the police have yet to confirm whether they are members of the Martilyo Gang.

However, a mall executive pointed to the notorious gang as behind the incident.

Steven Tan, senior vice president for mall operations of SM Supermalls, identified the Martilyo Gang in a tweet message. "At 7:14pm this evening the martilyo gang had struck a jewelry counter at The SM Store in MOA. The police are already present in the area to conduct a thorough investigation. The mall is working closely with the pnp to resolve this," Tan posted on the SM Supermalls official Twitter account,

Amor Virata, a shopper, said in a radio interview that she was inside a store near the mall's south wing when people suddenly panicked and ran towards the exit at around 7:30 p.m.

Virata also said she saw a man running while holding a gun, prompting them to hide.

"At about 7:30 p.m., kasalukuyang nasa bilihan ako ng blouse ng biglang nag-panic, nagtaklbuhan o nag-stampede sa kinalalagayan ko may nakita kami lalaki na tumatakbo may hawak na baril," she said in an interview over radio dzMM.

Security guards have prohibited people from going near the perimeter of the mall's main building.

Police have cordoned off Pacific Drive at MOA Complex following the shooting incident.

As of this posting, there were no reported hurt or injured in the incident -- report from Eric Dastas, Ricky Velasco, and Junry Hidalgo, DZMM

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com