Lemon Garden Cafe,
Lobby level,
Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur,
11, Jalan Sultan Ismail,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2074 3900
Business hours: 7.00pm to 10.30pm
Pork free.
Buka puasa spread features dishes ranging from Malay and Chinese to Middle Eastern favourites.
WITH an impressive array of between 200 and 300 dishes daily, the Ramadan buffet dinner spread at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur’s Lemon Garden Cafe will certainly never bore diners even if they were to revisit it every day.
First-time diners will undoubtedly feel a little lost at the choices, so hotel executive sous chef Khalil Zakhem narrowed down some “must-try” dishes at this year’s buffet.
“Our spread this year highlights Middle Eastern cuisine. We have an open-air barbeque section where the popular dishes include the chicken shawarma stuffed in fresh pita bread and kebab,” the Syrian said.
He noted that such food was steadily becoming more popular with locals and only added to the attraction of an international buffet spread as Shangri-La’s.
Khalil said the roast lamb shank was so popular that they sometimes go through up to five of it a night.
Another favourite with their diners is the fresh seafood counter that is placed prominently in the centre of the cafe where rows upon rows of oysters, blanched prawns sit on beds of ice for a short period before disappearing onto dinner plates.
Tasty treat: Hotel executive sous chefs Khalil (right) and Hairy Ismail A. Rahman (left) showing off some of the Ramadan buffet highlights at Lemon Garden Cafe.
At the buffet, dishes are loosely grouped within the larger categories of Malay, Chinese, Indian with a dash of Western and Italian, making it easy to quickly zoom in on one’s personal favourites.
But when a favourite comes in variety as well, like the five types of jeruk (preserved fruit), four types of keropok (crackers) not including the three types of papadum, or four dim sum buns to name some, one could also easily find their plates ending up as a hodgepodge of flavours.
If you are into spice-rich food, the various curries and traditional food including the Kari Kepala Ikan, Kupang Masak Kari Kering and Rendang Pipi Lembu will not disappoint.
Even plain rice can be spiced up various ways by mixing in any of the four types of sambal or three types of serunding though diners also have the option of heading straight to the more interesting rice dishes such as Nasi Bokhari — Basmati rice with Malay spices and diced chicken.
Dessert fans should leave some room in the stomach for their favourite section of the buffet that is almost like a mini international spread on its own.
One will find local favourites such as ABC, fried cempedak, apam balik, bubur pengat or pulut and an assortment of Malay kuih in addition to macaroons, cakes, ice cream and even the unusual fudge dates-glazed cake that is crispy and sticky without being too sweet.
There is also a chocolate fountain and a recommended caramel fountain as well.
The buffet available until tomorrow, is priced at RM115++ per adult and RM56.50++ for children between six to 12 years old while seafood night on Saturday is priced RM135++ and RM67.50++ respectively.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by Star Metro.
