Restaurants in Cebu City Open on New Year's Eve

Cebu City Marriott Hotel is one of the hotels that open their doors to guests for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Offering a panoramic view of the garden of the hotel, the Garden Café of the Marriott serves Indian, Thai, and Filipino food. On Christmas Eve, guests can expect traditional Noche Buena fare including Christmas ham, macaroni salad, keso de bola (Edam cheese), paella (Valencian rice dish), and lechon (roasted suckling pig). Aside from traditional Filipino holiday menu, guests can also expect to see international dishes on the buffet table. A choir typically sings Christmas songs to enhance the guests' dining experience.

On New Year’s Eve, the buffet table at the Garden Café of the Marriott will be filled with international dishes. To spice up the evening, the hotel staff organizes games as well as a raffle where guests can win gift certificates for an overnight stay at the hotel. Live entertainment is also provided by a well-known DJ as guests party while waiting for the final countdown for the New Year.

It is advisable to reserve a table since the two occasions are among the most popular events at the hotel.

Read: The Culinary Paradise of Cebu: Where to Begin? (Part 1)

The Montebello Villa Hotel is the only garden hotel and resort in the middle of Cebu City. On Christmas Eve, the La Terraza and Café Bougainvillea of the hotel will be open to those who want to celebrate the occasion in a hacienda (estate) reflecting the Hispanic heritage of Cebu. The Montebello Villa Hotel will have traditional Filipino Christmas dishes on their buffet table.

Read: Happy for the Holidays: Where to Spend A Christmas Staycation in Cebu

The restaurants of the hotel are also open on New Year’s Eve and guests can join the countdown to the New Year. A dinner buffet will be served together with a glass of wine and iced tea. Guests can dine and dance the night away while waiting for the final countdown of the year. Moreover, there will be a fireworks display to greet the New Year. Guests also have the chance to win an overnight stay with breakfast at the garden hotel.

It is also advisable to secure a reservation before the two events at the hotel since the tables may get filled up early.

The late Elvis Presley may have spent a blue Christmas without someone he loved but at Radisson Blu Cebu, Christmas will be anything but blue. The hotel is located close to the international port and right beside a major mall in the city. Guests can wrap up their holiday shopping before heading off to the hotel to spend quality time with their family over a feast of good food.

Aside from traditional Filipino dishes such as keso de bola, macaroni, bibingka (traditional Filipino rice cake) and puto bumbong (cylindrical Filipino rice cake), Feria Restaurant also offers a variety of international dishes whipped up by the best chefs of the restaurant. The close proximity of the hotel to a major mall also gives guests a great view of the fireworks display at the said mall.

For New Year’s Eve, the hotel typically holds a party filled with music and drinks for its guests. Feria Restaurant offers both Filipino and international cuisine that can satisfy anyone's cravings.

One of the places where beach lovers can celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve is at the Plantation Bay Resort & Spa. Holidays at the resort is filled not only with good food but also with fun and games.

All the restaurants in Plantation Bay are open on Christmas Eve. Each restaurant serves different cuisine from all around the world. Kilimanjaro Kafe offers Filipino and international dishes while the Fiji restaurant offers mainly Asian dishes, including Japanese and Korean cuisine. For a taste of Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, guests can dine at the Palermo Café-Bar while meat lovers will have the time of their lives at the Savannah Grill. For dessert, the Alien Abduction ice cream parlor is the best place to stay at the Plantation Bay Resort & Spa.

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Guests can celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Kilimanjaro Kafe since the other restaurants will be closed for the occasion. The restaurant offers a dinner buffet for its guests to celebrate the New Year.

Since these restaurants offer eat-all-you can buffet, here are some tips to enjoy fully the smorgasbord of Filipino and international food:

• Check out the food available on the buffet. The choices can be overwhelming and you may tend to get food items close to your table. Try those that are not usually available in other restaurants.

• Take small portions so that you get to taste most of the dishes.

• Reduce or avoid carbohydrates altogether. Rice and pasta can easily make you full. It is advisable to start with the meat to get the most out of the buffet.

• Savor the food on your plate and enjoy the buffet dinner.

• Whether you eat at home or at a restaurant on New Year's Eve, what is important is to enjoy the company of family and friends.