Eccucino,
Prince Hotel and Residence Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2170 8888
Fax: 03-2170 8999
For further enquiries,
visit the hotel’s website www.princehotelkl.com
PRINCE Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur will be holding their Balik Kampung buffet dinners at their international Eccucino restaurant, this Ramadan.
With over 100 dishes for diners to choose from, it won’t be just traditional Ramadan Malay specialties, as the hotel also caters to a large Arab clientele. As such, diners will get to sample Middle Eastern selections such as Eccucino’s mezze (appetiser) bar and Morroccan harira.
As the review took place on a Friday, guests were also treated to the restaurant’s Friday theme of “Silk Road” dishes, which served as a delightful complement to the Ramadan buffet menu for that evening.
Main chef for the Ramadan buffet, Shahrom Saari, said one of the main reasons for the inclusion of Middle Eastern cuisine this time was to give their Arab guests a taste of home while on vacation.
“We discovered that our foreign guests were somewhat unable to take our spicier Ramadan dishes, and that left them with little choice, especially after you’ve been out touring Kuala Lumpur the whole day and are hungry from the walkabout and fasting.”
Dip the chocolate: A range of desserts ranging from East to West at Eccucino, Prince Hotel this fasting season, with examples such as this chocolate fondue, with marshmallow and fruit dips at the ready
“So we have cooked up some common Gulf dishes such as dolmah (stuffed vegetables), baba ghanoush and also lamb kabseh (Iranian-style stewed lamb with briyani rice), since it’s about home-cooked memories,” said Shahrom.
A dish to look out for is the harira soup mentioned above. As a tomato-based mixture thickened with chickpeas and holding a generous amount bite-sized lamb chunks, diners can also add their own topical seasonings for added fragrance and taste. Otherwise, there’s also the laksa station, with three varieties of Laksa Johor, Curry Laksa and northern Peninsular Laksam if noodle soup is more of the diner’s choice.
Aside from the requisite bubur lambok (beef-flavoured), there’s also roast whole lamb kuzi with briyani rice. Somewhat similar to the lamb kabseh, the soft meat, infused with spice aromas, deliciously complements the rice accompaniment.
Generally while most rendangs are spicy hot, Eccucino’s beef and chicken rendang lean towards spicy-sweet and for added variety, there’s also serunding ayam and daging (beef and chicken floss). The same station also holds bamboo-cooked lemang and coconut-wrapped ketupat to accompany the meat dishes.
The lamb kabseh’s rice accompaniment tastes pretty much like most other briyani rice, but then again, you’re supposed to spoon both rice and the stewed lamb chunks together, the aroma of spices and the slow-cooking process ensures that the meat chunks hold a lot of flavour and is moist and tender.
As it was “Silk Road” night, we also sampled some of the theme dishes, and in particular, I should probably single out the baked mussels (flavoured with tomato cubes, feta cheese and a generous scattering of capers) and lamb moussaka for attention. The moussaka in particular was rich and savoury without being overbearing, although one should not overindulge when there’s such a variety of buffet dishes to choose from.
No Ramadan buffet is complete without its desserts, and guests are spoilt for choice here. Aside from an ice-cream counter with your choice of toppings and sauces, there’s also glassesof mousse, French pastries and fruits. For the more traditional, there’s tapai pulut dan ubi (fermented glutinous rice with tapioca), pengat nangka (jackfruit stew with coconut and palm sugar) and dodol.
For those who want the Middle Eastern and beyond touch, there is also baklava and gulab jamun to satisfy one’s sweet tooth. And for the health conscious, fresh tropical fruits and a selection of dates to round off the dinner.
Priced at RM108++ per diner, children under 12 dine compliments of the restaurant. In addition, the restaurant is also holding early-bird booking offers, priced at RM75++ for diners from today to July 26.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
