Ramadan Buffet 2012 @ Hilton Petaling Jaya, Selangor

During the month of Ramadan, Paya Serai in Hilton Petaling Jaya is showcasing an extravagant spread of over 100 local as well as international delights for berbuka puasa (break fast). The buffet menus (a total of 4 different ones) are rotated daily hence there is something new to try everyday.

Paya Serai's brigade of talented chefs led by Chef Noor Hisham has created a range of authentic local "kampung" delights and Malay Ramadan dishes to Indian, Chinese, hawker and a range of International cuisine. Live cooking stations mimicking a gourmet Ramadan bazaar stalls are also set-up such as assam laksa, appam balik, satay, putu piring, roti canai, nasi kandar, Japanese tempura and Chinese lok lok steamboat where you pick the ingredients and watch the chef prepare them a la minute.

Paya Serai at Hilton PJ

Gourmet Ramadan bazaar-style stalls

The restaurant interior

The food were all ver! y nicely presented and looked absolutely mouthwatering. The cold appetizers that I tried were very good - I particularly liked the kerabu pucuk paku, kerabu soo hoon (glass noodle salad), and kerabu perut (beef tripe salad). There is also an assortment of scrumptious salads, pickles and sambal.

Kerabu pucuk paku

Kerabu soo hoon

Kerabu perut

Petai and ulam

One of the favorite sections for many locals is the seafood on ice, featuring fresh oysters, prawns, mussels and crab.

Crabs

Fresh oysters

Mussels

Fresh prawns

I gave the seafood a miss, since I wanted to concentrate on the local delights - especially this gorgeous roasted lamb. Roasted lamb is commonly found in a Ramadan buffet, where the meat is carved in front of diners. Sometimes, as many as 3-4 lambs can be devoured in a night. I love the tender meat, and if you can get some of the crispy skin too, all the better! I went for several helpings of the roasted lamb.

Chicken wings is also another favourite of mine

Beef satay

I was also happy to see lemang here, which goes well with all the different rendang and curries. I have to say, I was really impressed with the rendang daging - very delicious. I'm pretty sure my mum would have enjoyed the lemang and rendang. There was even slipper lobster, cooked Malay style - slipper lobster masak lemak belimbing - which was good. Another item which we enjoyed very much was the prawn tempura - nice and crisp.

Lemang

Serunding ayam

Rendang daging

Kari Mutton

Lala tumis bersantan

Slipper lobster masak lemak belimbing

Rendang ayam

Black pepper beef from Chinese section

Ikan pari bakar

Ikan senangin

Pucuk Manis Masak Lemak

< b>Telur Itek Masak Lemak

Nasi briyani

Ketupat palas

Some of the gourmet Ramadan bazaar stalls

Assam laksa

Shawarma

Roti canai

Putu piring

Appam balik

Local fruits galore

Nangka, mangosteen, langsat, rambutan,papaya

The dessert section was pretty impressive, and I helped myself to many of the colorful kuihs. I especially liked the kuih seri muka and kuih lapis pelangi (the irresistible rainbow kuih). There is also a good selection of local fruits such as rambutan, pulasan, mangosteen, langsat, longan, cempedak and nangka. From the hot kettle, there are bubur cha cha, bubur jagung and a serawa durian for the durian lovers out there. Of course there are also Western cakes and desserts such as chocolate strawberry tart, and bread and butter pudding. There is also a chocolate fountain and Turkish ice cream station (with flavours such as yam, durian and chocolate).

Malay kuihs

Kuih lapis pelangi

Dates

Turkish ice cream - yam flavour

Bread and butter pudding

Verdict: Excellent spread, good quality buffet. Loved the cold appetizers, roasted lamb, rendang and kuihs the most.



The Ramadan Buffet at Paya Serai is available from 7pm to 10.30pm. It is priced at RM99++ per adult on the first week, and RM129++ per adult on following days. Children below the age of 12 enjoy 50% discount.

Location:Paya Serai, Lobby Level, Hilton Petaling Jaya, 2 Jalan Barat, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Te! l: 03-79 55 9122

Website: http://www.zestpj.com/

GPS Coordinates: 3.102164, 101.640573

*This is an invited review.

Shanghai: Hai Di Lao Hot Pot

One morning, we walked to Yi's office to check out the little restaurant at the corner. It is the only restaurant in the area and Yi often eats there on the way to work.


The economy rice buffet looked rather poor.




Goutie and shuijiao in China are thicker-skinned than the ones we get in Malaysia. I like both types.


Didn't notice until I posted this photo that the goutie were placed on newspapers. I just like the way my Olympus four thirds camera shoots. Pretty good eh?


Goutie. Yum.


Xiaolong bao. Yum too.
Y i arranged to meet us at Hai Di Lao('deep sea trawl')at 468 Changshou Lu, a popular steamboat chain restaurant. When we got there, people were playing board games, girls were having their hands massaged, others were having their nails done and yet others were just sitting around sipping tea while waiting for their tables. All FOC. We were served Chinese tea and slices of oranges while we waited. I should've checked out the bathrooms because Yi said the service is so amazing that the attendants will open the doors for you, make sure it's closed properly, switch the tap on for you, tear the paper for drying your hands for you...the only thing you do is ease yourself.







Hai Di Lao has many chain restaurants all over China and is popular with young people because the choices of steamboat ingredients are endless and the service is what I'd describe as intense. A waitress stood at our table most of the time, ever ready to serve drinks or help us cook. She wasn't overbearing though, just very friendly and well-trained and ever so polite and ready to get us anything. For such a huge restaurant, the number of staff must be astounding because there was a waitress to every table.



The highlight of the meal, other than the service fit for an empress, was the dancing noodles. A guy in a white track suit (I'd like to know why) came to the table and starts pulling a piece of dough, stretching until it is like a long flat ribbon. He turned and twirled, never stopping and the ribbon of dough became so long I thought it would touch the floor but it didn't. Within 30 seconds, the dough was done and he tore the long ribbon into short lengths and dropped them into our pot of soup. The noodles were slippery-smooth with an el dente bite and very delicious and cost incredibly cheap, only RMB7/RM3.50/USD1.10.







Two types of soup base, a Sichuan hot oil peppercorn soup and an herbal mushroom soup. Both were good but I prefer the herbal soup because the Sichuan hot oil soup made everything taste the same.

Hai Di Lao wasn't as cheap as it looked on the menu because with so many items, and the portions were small, we ordered quite a bit and that added up to a hefty bill. But Yi paid for dinner and it felt good to have a kid who's working, finally.