Suria Cafe,
The Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS,
Shah Alam, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7843 1234 ext 6122/4717
Business hours: Daily, 6.00am-11.00pm.
RATHER than serving just typical Ramadan fare alone, The Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur has opted to go the whole nine yards by holding their Aneka Citarasa 7 Periuk until Aug 18.
The buffet is served at the hotel’s Suria Cafe. Patrons will find action stations serving different cuisines, from Italian to Nyonya.
There was even a Japanese food station complete with fresh sashimi from the hotel’s Kogetsu restaurant.
Meaty goodness: Commis chef Syawallizan Basir carves a hunk of roast lamb.Suria Cafe chef de cuisine, Steven Ramasamy said the reason for holding a number of action stations was to give customers variety.
“Given the season, most diners will probably have the same choice of dishes to choose from.
“There will be pretty much the same dishes such as rendang, bubur lambuk, masak pedas for fish and poultry.”
“So we are calling chefs from the other restaurants in Saujana to contribute so that our diners will have more to choose from,” said Steven.
Appetising: Kerabu served with prawn and chicken.
This statement was probably not made in jest, as Steven promised between 180 and 190 dishes, with 30 types of desserts, rotated through seven days. As it was, the array of dishes being served for the review was just a fraction of what diners could expect.
The buffet also has dishes from Sabah and Sarawak such as Sarawak Bamboo Chicken or Manok Pansoh. Cooked in bamboo containers, the chicken was juicy and aromatic after it was flavoured with lemongrass and tapioca leaves in the containers.
For Western dishes, Italian chef Filippo Giunta brought a deft hand to prepare pasta, with sauces ranging from spicy tomato and garlic, to creamy mushroom.
“We will also be including other sauces such as pesto, with crushed pine nuts and basil, and aglio-olio style as an alternate menu, so that diners don’t get bored,” said Giunta.
One stall that shouldn’t be missed is the Nyonya stall headed by chef Christibelle Savage, or “Auntie Belle” as she is more affectionately known.
The Nyonya-style popiah was on par with the better stalls found in Malacca.
If the wrapping feels a little softer, that would be due to the inclusion of eggs in the skin’s production, rather than just wheat dough.
“For the Ramadan season, we are looking at approximately 30kg of turnips each day to prepare the popiah,” said Savage.
In addition, Savage said she would also be serving other Malaccan specialties such as Nyonya Laksa and her own take on Asam Laksa, which by the way, is quite thick with fish and herbs.
The Ramadan Malay fare itself is also quite varied between run-of-the-mill and unusual, such as Spicy Beef Tripe and Chicken Liver Curry.
Additionally, there’s also a Chinese stall which serves familiar fare such as chicken rice and kuey teow soup.
The buffet is priced at RM98++ for adults and RM49++ for children aged six to 12.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
