About The Spread at The Gardens Hotel
From 2nd July to 23rd July 2014, The Spread situated at level 6 of The Gardens Hotel & Residences-St Giles Grand Hotel will have a special Buka Puasa Ramadhan Buffet starting from 6.45pm till 10.30pm nightly. Although mainly focused on bringing the best of Malay cuisines, there are also Indian and Western dishes among others.
When I got to my table, I noticed there were little packets of dates and dodols. It was like a welcoming gift of sorts, which I found to be a nice touch. Every table has one. Being a hopeless romantic, I adore little gifts like these.
The Food at The Gardens Hotel
To kick things off, there’s an array of Malay local delights prepared for buka puasa featuring 4 different types of dates. Personally I find the fresh dates to be the best. I wanted to try out the food wrapped in banana leaf, but I forgot (I don’t know what happened). So if you do try it out, let me know, okay?
And then just beside that, there’s a corner that serves customizable rojak station with 8 different fruits and vegetables to choose from and also 2 keropoks.
Main Dishes
Most of the main dishes are best paired with rice.
Notable dishes, in my opinion, are Brussels Sprout with Belacan Petai, Daging Masak Merah and Steam Grouper with Ginger. I’m not really a fan of petai, but this one actually tasted pretty good. It wasn’t overly bitter, instead it tasted fresh and crunchy. The Daging Masak Merah’s beef was tender and was moderately spicy, very on point, and the Steam Grouper with Ginger was tangy and had a strong lemongrass scent to it, which I found to be aromatic, not overpowering.
I looked forward to the Butter Prawns, but it was a bit of a let down. It tasted plain and the butter wasn’t really noticeable either.
From the left: Acar Rampai, Hati Masak Kicap and Lala Singgang.
The acar tasted refreshing, while the hati really hit home. The lala however was a bit bland.
The Naan paired with Fish Tikka is a good combination, although the fish itself was a little dry and can be a tad salty if eaten on its own. The Naan however was nice and chewy. I was most excited about the Honey Chicken Wings as it looked nice and juicy, upon tasting it however I felt it wasn’t seasoned enough, though the honey did shine through.
The Grilled Salmon was fresh and nicely grilled, the Butter Fish next to it tasted fishy but it was moist and thoroughly seasoned.
The beef wellington tasted as good as it looked, but it’s a shame as it was a bit on the dry side.
I also tried their spaghetti and penne pasta, one with creamy mixed mushroom sauce and the other with napolitana sauce. The napolitana tasted sourish and tomato-ish, which I personally am not really fond of, while I absolutely loved the mushroom sauce.
Fresh oysters, tiger prawns, mussels and lobsters served on ice, all of them fresh and juicy. If you love seafood, you will love this.
There’s also an ulam station where you can customize your own ulam. I love how they paid attention to the presentation.
And a salad bar with various toppings and salmon sashimi.
A variety of sushi and sashimi are also available to choose from, which were all fresh.
Outdoor dining area
This had to be my favourite part – Grilled lamb and beef and chicken satays, all cooked on the spot. The grilled lamb was awesomely grilled and the sauce that goes with it matched perfectly. If eaten with the skin, it just adds to the flavour profile.
Both the beef and chicken satays were also spot on, juicy and tasty.
Chicken kebab is also served outdoors, along with char kuey teow that’s cooked upon request. There’s also rojak kangkung sotong just beside it.
Another station I found really appealing was this: Local fruits fresh from dusun. All of them can only be consumed outdoors, but hey I don’t mind, chairs and tables are provided anyways.
Desserts
Assorted Malay kuihs, and an ice kacang station at the back.
Desserts, the best part of any meal in my opinion. When I made my way there it was pretty late and the desserts were already raided so I didn’t get to try that many. One of the chocolate cakes I had was a bit dense, but taste wise it had a perfect balance of sweetness and a tinge of bitterness to it. The banana chocolate cake I tried was lovely.
I’m not usually a fan of banana cakes, but this was quite good, the banana wasn’t too overbearing. The half cheese, half chocolate cake though, was just exquisite. The chocolate part of it was soft and fluffy, while the cheese was smooth and creamy. A great combo.
They also had a waffle station where the chef would make a new batch every so often. It was light and fluffy, and there were 8 toppings to choose from, so that was great. I also enjoyed the teh tarik flavoured ice cream. It literally tasted like teh tarik.
Our Verdict
The Spread’s Buka Puasa Ramadhan Buffet is perfect for those craving for a good Malay-style buffet, but also expecting variety at the same time. Its authenticity clearly shines through, kind of reminds me of the times where I had Malay food at my own kampung. The difference is that the spiciness here is toned down a bit, as it is better suited for everyone.
The menu here is also rotated, so what you see here might not be what you get if you decide to visit the place, but I personally think it brings a nice element of surprise. With over 100 dishes available, I believe you’ll be spoilt for choices.
Getting to The Spread’s Buka Puasa Ramadhan Buffet
Address:
The Gardens Hotel & Residences-St Giles Grand Hotel, Mid Valley City Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03- 2268 1188 ext. 6123
Prices:
Buka Puasa Buffet (Dinner) (6.45pm – 10.30pm)
Adult – RM 115.00++ per person Children (6-12) – RM 57.50++
Special Promotion: For every 10 full paying adults, the 11th guest dines for FREE.
Sahur Buffet (4.00am – 6.00am)
Adult – RM 38++ per person
*The price is subject to 6% government tax and 10% service charge.
This post was brought to you by The Gardens Hotel & Residences-St Giles Grand Hotel.