BORACAY — Crimson Resorts and Spa Boracay invites foodies to enjoy “Weekend of Flavors,” featuring four-hands dinners and a sample of the culinary delights Station Zero has to offer.

In Boracay, Station 1 gets all the glory for the best places to go in Boracay. But Station Zero at the further side of the island has its own charm and foodie attractions.

Crimson Resorts and Spa has one of the most gorgeous sites on the island. Guests get to enjoy a semi-secluded beach that looks like it’s cuddled up in its own cove when coming in by boat.

Leading the culinary attractions is the newly rebranded Azure Beach Club. Wherever there is a Crimson by the beach, there’s an Azure. After Mactan’s Azure Beach Club was reconstructed from the ground up, it also went through a rebrand and the rest of the Azure Beach Clubs followed suit.

Guest enjoy the foam party during 'Booze. Bubbles. Beats.' Jeeves de Veyra

The fun part of the culinary weekend is “Booze. Bubbles. Beats.” where guests get to try out the Azure Beach Club’s cocktails while soaking at Crimson’s legendary foam pool parties with chilled beats courtesy of DJ Eva Smalls.

Who doesn’t daydream of having a cocktail by the beach as the sun goes down? Azure’s mixologists and bartenders will be just happy to oblige to shake up Crimson’s own cocktails in their own custom drinkware.

The bar at Azure Beach Club. Jeeves de Veyra 

For first-timers, the drinks to get first are the ones in the tall tiki mugs, the Jungle Boracay and the Boulder Breeze. The ones in the bird shaped stemmed glasses are the Fly High, and the one I really liked the super potent Revolution Revolution served in a spherical glass.

For the BBB, guests can come in as early as 10 a.m. to enjoy the resort facilities and can get sunset canapes, passarounds and unlimited drinks from 3-6 p.m.

Azure Beach Club is the resort's go-to restaurant. Jeeves de Veyra 

The Azure Beach Club is the resort’s go-to restaurant as it is literally a step away from the beach and the main pool.

Some of the appetizers at Azure. Jeeves de Veyra 

The Azure Beach Club’s food is Asian forward with a strong Indian section. This one in Boracay is no different. These baked oysters, spicy Chinese tofu skin, and Punjabi samosas were a great introduction to the menu. The Punjabi samosas, in particular, delighted the table. When the strips of flour soaked up the yogurt sauce, it took on the texture of noodles.

Chicken Tikka at Azure. Jeeves de Veyra 

As with its sister restaurant in Mactan, Azure Boracay has a strong Indian section. You know a restaurant with its curries, biryanis, and Indian breads when they’ve got their own pair of tandoori ovens proudly displayed front and center to properly make chicken tikka. Have this alongside Indian staples like butter chicken and biryani.

Teriyaki Glazed Short Ribs. Jeeves de Veyra 

Normally, one would expect the Japanese featured dish to be sushi or a don. In this case, the steak course was the Japanese course. This 72-hour teriyaki sous-vide short rib was massive and because of its sweet umami, it almost tasted like ham.

Azure beachside at night. Jeeves de Veyra 

When the sun goes down, the beach becomes an extension of the Azure Beach Club. Guests can opt to eat in or request special arrangements by the beach complete with tables, chairs, and string lights, perfect for romantic dates or proposals.

The restaurant occasionally stokes the grill for barbecues by the beach. Here, Azure head chef Philip Aroza, Crimson Boracay general manager Didier Belmonte, and Crimson Boracay’s executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov take a quick break from the charcoal.

 Azure head chef Phillip Arroza, Crimson Boracay general manager Didier Belmonte, and Crimson Boracay executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov. Jeeves de Veyra 

As this was on the beach, fresh seafood is to be expected. These fresh jumbo shrimps hot off the grill were sweet and tender paired with grilled mojos and shiitake caps. They do have pork and beef for those who aren’t into seafood.

The Culinary Weekend is Crimson Boracay’s way of welcoming the new Davao to Caticlan flights that recently started up. Azure chef Ranjit Singh Panhwar will be cooking with chef Jeramie Go from Davao restaurant Pilgrim for Savor The Sunset: A Four-Hands Beach Dinner at Azure.

Mosaic is the resort's Latin American steakhouse. Jeeves de Veyra 

The other half of the Culinary Weekend adventure is Mosaic, Crimson Boracay’s Latin American steakhouse up on the podium level.

The balcony on the edge is one of the best places to watch the Boracay sunset. The interiors were cleverly designed to feel like the inside of a jewelry box with the walls reflecting the gem shaped lights to make the space feel bigger on the inside.

The Latin American in the description isn’t just in name. They do get ingredients rarely seen here like the Peruvian blue corn kernels used in this ceviche. I think the kernels are very lightly boiled, adding an earthy note to this creamy ceviche. It’s good to take a spoonful, some corn, and spread on top of a banana chip to take a bite.

Mosaic's Steak and Salt. Jeeves de Veyra 

Mosaic is where Crimson executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov shows off his respect for simple salt as the best seasoning for steak. While the steak we were served had chimichurri, there was an option of just sprinkling salt to get the best out of the steak.

Mosaic has a huge selection of salt but in my opinion, the ones to try are our local artisanal salts that are pretty hard to come by. Slice up the steak and add dashes of the ostrich-egg shaped asin tibuok, tultul from Guimaras and the Buy-o salt from Zambales.

Mosaic will have guest chef Sau Del Rosario cook together with Stoyanov for Flavor Fusion: A Four Hands Wine Pairing for the culinary weekend.

The best way to chill out and eat during these two days is to just stay at the resort for a full gastronomic escape. Crimson Resorts is one of the few establishments that have their own jetty on Caticlan and have their own speedboats. When the waters are calm, the boats can even drop off passengers on a floating jetty by the beach.

A room Crimson Boracay. Jeeves de Veyra 

One can spend just the whole day walking around the resort, soaking in the three pools, cooling off at the beach, or even exploring the whole of Station Zero. Or just spend the time in the room chilling out.

The all-day dining restaurant Saffron. Jeeves de Veyra

Breakfast at the resort’s all-day dining outlet, Saffron, could occupy a slot in the Weekend of Flavors. I thought it had one of the best curated breakfast spreads. Not only do they have a DIY taco section but properly crispy bacon along with have unusual entrees like spicy Mala dishes and curries, as well as the Mindanao street food staple patil as options.

Quality is consistently high as Stoyanov is always around during the breakfast rush making sure everything’s up to par.

For the Weekend of Flavors happening on November 29 and 30, guests can opt to attend the events separately – BBB (P1,900 net per person), Savor The Sunset: A Four Hands Beach Dinner at Azure (P3,000 net per  person), and Flavor Fusion 4 Hands Dinner at Mosaic (P3,500 net per person).

All of these include a day pass to enjoy the resort's pools and beach from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An additional beverage add-on is available for visitors who'd want free-flowing non-alcoholic drinks outside the events. All-in day packages which include BBB and the dinners, and Gastronomic Escape deals with accommodations included are also available.

Crimson Hotel & Spa Boracay is located at Punta Bunga Cove, Boracay Island.