Raintree Cafe, Hotel Maluri Kuala Lumpur,
1, Jalan Permaisuri,
Taman Maluri Cheras,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
The Ramadan buffet begins after Maghrib prayers, and lasts until 10pm.
PREPARING their Ramadan menu two months ahead of the fasting month, Hotel Maluri’s Raintree Cafe chose a kampung theme to evoke fond home-coming memories for its diners.
Chef Ahmad Kassim, who has worked in the kitchen for 20 years, said the establishment had prepared five different menus for their Ramadan Buka Puasa spread and all would be based on a traditional ‘Suasana Desa’ theme.
“We will rotate the menus daily but the cafe will always have fixtures, such as the ulam and of course, bubur lambuk a la Maluri,” said Ahmad.
Invited guests were given a preview of what was to come in July, with a mix of meat and seafood dishes, as well as a wide selection of local and Western desserts.
Some highlights should not be missed, such as Daging Gulai Kawah (beef chunks swimming in a thick curry, flavoured with 20 local spices and herbs). Simmered in not-too-nuclear gravy, the beef cubes are firm, but not to the point of giving the jaw muscles a workout.
According to Ahmad, the recipe for the Daging Gulai Kawah is based on the Kelantanese culinary tradition, and incorporates traditional spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, as well as crushed coriander seeds.
The other buffet highlight, according to Chef Ahmad, is the Rendang Tok, a sweetish-spicy take on rendang from Perak. For someone used to much wetter versions of rendang, Raintree’s Rendang Tok is rather dry, but apparently this is how the Perak rendang should be cooked and presented.
Hot stuff: Roast lamb and satay are also available on the buffet.With generous dollops of coconut shavings steeped with the aroma of spices, one can see how this is a popular dish with Raintree’s regulars.
There are approximately over 100 dishes, both savoury and sweet, on the menu each day, and diners should probably not miss out on the seafood section. There are prawns cooked with chilli and honey, a nice blend between spicy and subdued sweetness, as well as the traditional East Coast dish Ikan Patin Masak Tempoyak (silver catfish in fermented durian curry).
There are also poolside stalls serving other local favourites, ranging from roast lamb turning on the spit and the satay stall next to it, to char kuey teow and yong tau fu for those hankering for some Chinese-style dishes. There’s even a stall serving just banana and prawn fritters (pisang goreng and cucur udang respectively), along with apam balik (peanut pancake) and curry puffs.
For dinner entertainment, a five-piece band will be playing live ghazal and gamelan performances daily, except for Mondays, at a poolside stage.
This Ramadan buffet will start from July 21 until Aug 17, and each adult diner will be charged RM65 nett. Meanwhile, children (aged five to 12 years old) will be charged RM39 nett, and those below five eat for free.
The Raintree cafe will also be running a few promotions simultaneously for the Ramadan buffet, as diners coming in during the first week of Ramadan (July 21-26) only pay RM52 (adult) and RM31 (children), respectively. Similarly, there will also be a “5+1” promotion, where, for every five paying adult customers, the sixth gets to eat for free. The latter will be running throughout the Ramadan Buka Puasa buffet.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
