These days, when there are special occasions, and there’s a budget for a small group celebration among family and friends, people go to a buffet restaurant and have a feast. While some special celebrations, such as birthdays, are still spent at home — with home-cooked pancit or spaghetti and a few other dishes, or packed bilaos or meals ordered from a neighborhood caterer — others prefer dining out in a buffet restaurant. After all, you cannot beat the number and variety of dishes that everyone will be able to enjoy in the restaurant, and the food comes with special service and ambiance, too.

This explains why buffet restaurants, especially ones that offer a good food selection at a reasonable price, are always either fully booked or the queue for walk-in diners is long.

And for such a constant demand for good food, such restaurants are always on their toes, not only in keeping their food up to standard but also in developing new dishes to add to the existing menu.

Vikings The Alley, for one, constantly develops new dishes, aiming to introduce new items every month. Despite having 150 to 175 items to choose from on the buffet spread every lunchtime and dinnertime, the buffet restaurant tries to come up with delicious new treats that make use of the particular season’s bounty.

“I try to use as much of what’s available in the market, our pantry and our stocks when conceptualizing new dishes. They must be sustainable in terms of quality and taste and they must appeal to our clients. I like introducing comfort food — food that makes guests happy,” explains Chef Michael Santos, corporate chef for the brand, who emphasizes that this effort is not his alone.

He not just encourages but empowers his kitchen team to come up with their own new dishes. Each branch has a team of talented chefs and cooks who dig into their arsenal of creative food ideas and try them out in the kitchen. They gather their ideas and do R&D. After the kitchen tests, they decide, as a group, what dishes to roll out per branch.

“We have just finished R&D and testing and have chosen 14 new dishes over the past two weeks. We will roll these out in staggered manner at around two to three dishes per week per branch. Yes, they are different per branch,” says Chef Michael.

Among these new dishes, Vikings The Alley-UP Town Center is introducing Lasagna with Spinach in Marinara Sauce, Cioppino, and Raspberry Cheesecake. The Lasagna is special — hearty, flavorful and comforting, with generous layers of pasta, ragu, creamy Béchamel sauce, and spinach in a warm marinara sauce. Cioppino satisfies the cravings of seafood lovers, as it is a hearty seafood stew simmered with fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, and a medley of herbs for a rich, savory finish. Garlic Bread completes the Cioppino experience. For dessert, which is a lot of diners’ favorite part of a meal, the branch offers Raspberry Cheesecake, a luscious cream cheese cake on a crushed graham base, topped with tangy raspberry compote, and finished with whipped cream.

Over at Vikings The Alley-Cloverleaf, new on the menu are Fish Milanese (crispy golden fish fillet served with a creamy caper-butter sauce and paired with a refreshing apple, cucumber, and cherry tomato salad); as well as Chicken Fillet BBQ with Java Rice (tender chicken fillet marinated in a smoky-sweet blend of ketchup, lemongrass, garlic, and lemon juice). The skewered chicken is served with Java rice.

Expect more from Vikings The Alley, which is relentless in its efforts to provide diners with something new, something good all the time.