MyDuaCents

“25 days, 130 chefs, 210 spices, 800 dishes, 1200 ingredients, thousands of memories.”

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Really????

I don’t think so…

And how did they come up with those numbers?

Anyway,

We went to The Living Room at The Westin Hotel to try the Santapan Ramadhan buffet.

Price per pax is RM108++.

Note that it is the same price as the buka puasa buffet at The Mosaic, Mandarin Oriental.

I called The Westin in advance to place my reservation, after being informed by Intercontinental Hotel and Le Meridien that they’re fully booked.

In fact, Le Meridien is fully booked until Friday.

The buffet there must be really good.

It’s before 7.00pm.

The Living Room was still empty.

Air zam zam for all diners.

Tried a piece.

It’s quite nice and meat was tender.

I read in some blogs that they have oysters at the Seafood On Ice section.

Well, nope.

There’s none in sight.

Just mussels, squids, prawns and crabs.

Sorry to say this but I suppose oysters were only available for invited guests and bloggers during the preview of the buffet in July 2012.

Guess that’s the difference between a preview and a paid buffet.

Or maybe because it’s the last week of puasa.

So no more oysters (me bersangka baik….lol).

(but seriously, Westin? no oysters? At RM108++ per person?)

Love the catchy name.

Love that it’s wrapped like the ones sold at makciks’ stalls.

The rice was good, cukup lemak.

Sambal was just mediocre though.

Varieties of kerabu.

Kerabu sotong (bottom left) was my favourite.

Done nicely.

Japanese section.

Tempeh….delicious.

Chinese style fried rice.

Kerang.

This is something that you won’t find in other buffets.

And they were big.

Maybe it’s me….but I like my kerang (cockles) to be half cooked/ half raw.

Here, the kerang were left on a steamer all the time that they’re 90% cooked.

So the kerang were dry and not juicy.

Such a waste of good kerangs  🙁

Desserts were all placed in a separate room.

Lots of choices.

Do try the durian ice cream.

They even have ice cream potong  🙂

Only 1 complaint….please ensure that there’s enough clean plates and bowls.

I wanted to try the Thai pamelo with mango thingy (sorry I can’t remember the name).

But there was no clean bowl.

I walked around the room a few times but I couldn’t find any.

In the end, I gave up.

No mango thingy for me  🙁

Rubbery squids 🙁

The stingray (ikan pari) was ok.

Mussels can be improved.

In the bowl, that’s Tulang Rawan Masak Asam Pedas.

It was good….a must try.

Such a waste…such a waste.

Mr. Chef, why lah you left the kerangs on the steamer?

(but don’t worry, we ate all of them. Dipped them in air asam)

Briyani Westin, lamb briyani, chicken rice.

I was happy with the rice. I enjoyed eating them  🙂

Verdict: Gosh….where should I start?

After reading some blogs and the high praises given by food bloggers, our expectations were high. Besides that, we were expecting the best from The Westin…a 5 star hotel. Plus, it’s RM108++ per pax. So the food and service must come with high quality.

I like that they have many types of rice available. They even have nasi dagang and pulut kuning. Love the many kawahs of different gulai, masak pedas etc. Feels like a kenduri in kampung….lol.

I overheard a lady telling her friend that she thought there would be more food. I have no complaints on the number of dishes available on that night (though BF said need more variety of food), but by claiming that you have 800 dishes, people will expect huge arrays of food.

Much can be improved especially at the grill station. Make sure empty trays and drink containers are refilled. And prepare enough of clean plates and bowls, please. I looked like a lost child when I was walking around searching for a bowl.

I’m surprised that for a 5 star hotel, a simple dish of cockles was done wrongly. Come on….you have 130 chefs. You could do better than this. Though you guys made an excellent air asam.

Also, please provide some space for diners to place the covers of the steamers. Otherwise, station one or two staff to serve the diners so that they don’t have to struggle with the heavy and hot covers. I guess due to the covers, most diners could not be bothered to try the pulut kuning and cockles.

A special mention to Tam, our waiter, for working tirelessly that night. Empty plates were cleared quickly. And oh…he looks like a young Jit Murad  😛

Overall, I feel that the price tag is a little high and not worth compared to the quality food that they offered. At the same price, the Ramadhan buffet in Mandarin Oriental fared so much better in terms of all aspects.

Hopefully The Westin would make room for improvement…..though I’m not sure I would return next year. Lesson learnt….high praises sing by bloggers can sometimes be too good to be true….