Categories: Malaysia

Cafe BLD Buffet, Renaissance Johor Bahru Hotel Review

If you’re looking to drop by Johor Bahru for a short getaway during the weekends, Cafe BLD at the newly opened Renaissance Hotel would identify as a buffet worth busting your calorie limits for. It offers a spanking wide variety of delectable local and international cuisines.

Highlights of our 3D2N Trip at Hotel Renaissance & Legoland

Open Kitchen Concept

With a central open-concept kitchen in the heart of the restaurant, take delight in watching the friendly chefs cook up a storm right before your very eyes. Panning different sides of the central kitchen would be the different international food counters ranging from Chinese, Malay & Indian goodies to Western and Japanese ones.

Although the international cuisines sound pretty typical, the presentation of the food line was intricately prepared and the number of awesome sounding choices would have you finding it hard to select what to eat first.

Noodle & Dim Sum Stations

There was a nice spread at the Tom Yam noodle counter where you can customize your own bowl of contents before handing it over to a chef to cook it up for you. Add as much toppings as you like!

Their dimsum corner was stacked with piping hot bamboo baskets, each containing quintessential dimsum favourites such as har gow (prawn dumplings), siew mai (dumplings) & char siew baos.

This was one of my favourite items in the whole buffet spread itself. It tasted as good as authentic Hong Kong roasted duck, if not better. Of course, I had second helpings to this, and later found out that this roast duck is one of the signature dishes at Renaissance’s own Cantonese restaurant, Wan Li, as well. Definitely something to look out for when you drop by.

Seafood Station

The seafood section – generous, fresh and almost as if you could literally taste the sea on your palates

Dip these prawns in the various number of dressings they have – I had a couple with the wasabi mayo, my favourite!

Plump oysters that were thoughtfully served with slices of lemon

Local Favourites

Succulently cooked Malay cuisines in earthy claypots which kept the food inside warm and ready to serve your gluttony. There was the classic spicy ayam dishes cooked in savory chili oil. Top it with fried ikan and sliced cucumbers to dish out an ambrosial plate of Southeast Asia.

Barbecue / Satay Station

Gratifying Asian favourites – Satay, Sambal Prawns & Sotong

Indian Cuisine Station

Chicken Kali Mirch from the Indian cuisine section, which is essentially marinated chicken doused in the distinctive flavours of ground black pepper corn and curry leaves

All intricately cooked, other Indian dishes included Lamb Rogan Dosh, a much loved curry of Persian-origin that is spicy and aromatic

The Japanese food counter lined up with sushi made on the spot

Salad Counter

A separate section from the central island encompasses the salad and dessert counters. Toss up your own salad bowl of mesclun and rocket leaves in the mixing bowl provided, or select from the ready made ones as shown in the picture above. Cold cut lovers will be happy to know that these cold meats are available as well.

Dessert Counter

There is always room for desserts in everyone! Savoury food aside, it is now time for these sweet selections to shine. I was pleasantly surprised by the items they had, which even included red velvet cake nibbles and slices of prune cake. It is not common to see buffets serving up the classic red velvet and it was to my surprise pretty good as well.

Carrot cake, another pleasantly surprising item too

Fluffy cheese cake that gratifies any cheesecake fan

Traditional Malay kueh

My favorite part of the delectable buffet experience would definitely go to the dessert section. For one, the savory international cuisines were palatable and delightful. It was thus extra nice to find out that they had not neglected their desserts at the same time, and trust me when I say that they are worth the indulgence.

This was a good dining experience overall, and Cafe BLD would definitely rake up as an ideal option if you are looking at treating yourself to a good spread with large variety. The menu at Cafe BLD is altered regularly, so do check out their website and facebook page for any updates to their offerings. Here is some information you might need: