Iftar at Bumbu Desa KLCC

This year, the family Iftar was at Bumbu Desa, KLCC. It was yours truly given the task to pick the venue. My first choice was supposed to be Restoran Warisan near Dataran Merdeka. Unfortunately, despite numerous attempt at calling, no one picked up the phone.

I tried my luck with a few other places but they were all fully booked. During lunchtime today, I headed over to KLCC to make the booking as again, nobody answered the restaurant number, nor the supposedly Iftar booking hotline. I went straight to book the tables and made the food order for Iftar as they only cater for ala carte. They did not have a Ramadhan buffet.

Not expecting much, we gathered at the venue just before 7pm, surprised to see that all the order was already on the table. Cold. The place was packed, so we just sat down, ordered drinks and chatted until Iftar time. And that was when the second surprise came in.

The food was actually quite nice. Better than we hoped for as the expectation was rock bottom to start with. They offer Sumatran - Sunda and Padang - cuisine. Most of the item in the menu were already familiar to us. Sufficed to say, even their sambal and vegetable were very well prepared. Their specialty dish was ayam bakar. It looked plain, but the meat was really succulent. They also had a variety of tempeh - a Java offering. There were also grilled prawns which was lightly buttered, again a must-try.

The place had a reputation for bad service. It was packed, but we got what we ordered for. Not much ground for us to complain about service tonight really.

Unfortunately, the lack of a Ramadhan menu made ordering for food rather awkward. There were no starters, and at the end we did not bother to order desserts. They did bot Wen offer dates for us. Room was at a premium. There were not much room to maneuver in and out of our seats. We had to leave early since the surau was five floors down. The children were getting loud by then. And the price was not exactly cheap either.

Even if the food was nice, I wouldn't recommend the venue for Iftar mainly due to the way the menu was set up. Ordering ala carte for Iftar lead you to either under or overestimate the amount of food to order. Plus, you had to order in advance to make sure there weren't any wait for the food. Even Spice of India next door had a special Iftar menu. And don't bother calling the restaurant beforehand to make a booking. Nobody would bother to pick up, and you might as well just come personally you make the booking.

I thought I also include this video taken after Iftar with the children on the ride.

Iftar at Dewan Perdana Felda

I have mentioned before that I was never that keen on Iftar outside the house. I only went if there were special occasions. I went for one last night, at the Dewan Perdana Felda, to join a few of my friends whose children went to same school as my boys.

It was a mixed experience. A packed hall, and we got to our table rather late as our host were stuck in traffic. Managed to get some rice and drinks just in time for the Maghrib azan.

The hall was huge, and Anita been there a couple of times before for weddings. It was my first time. Getting a parking spot was a challenge. There were spaces in the underground parking area, but since we were late, there were queues leading into there as well. We were lucky to find a spot just outside the hall.

There were at least 120 tables, most of them booked, although it was still possible to walk in. Food were arranged on small stations, peppered throughout the hall. The main attraction was roast lamb, but the queue was rather atrocious. Atrocious meaning if you talk the loudest and hassle enough people, you get to be served first! I could not even bother to start. Never been a fan of lamb anyhow.

There were biryani, white rice with Malay dishes, and not to mention the noodles, laksa, and other cookies and kueh. The Malay food there were excellent. Couldn't comment about the lamb though because I did not taste it. The laksa was also nice. The Malay kueh were also quite a find.

The lamb roastAfter it was doneThere were no specific food for children, but the rice and spaghetti should be fine for them. There were ramps for pram and wheelchairs, so access was a doodle. The surau was located in the basement, fully equipped, with a lift if you didn't fancy the stairs. There were even able to accommodate Tarawikh here if you wish. And there were after dinner entertainment as well.

They had a local nasyid group, Uniq, singing a few songs.

We hung around until about 9. Had to leave early since the boys would be in school the next morning. On the whole, food was nice, but lacked variety. The hall was comfortable although the waiters were rather sluggish. The service could have been much better. But if you were desperate to have a night out for iftar, you could do a lot worst then here.

Price? I did not pick up the cheque, but the counter mentioned it was around RM60.

Anniversary Dinner at Favola

The nice welcoming ambiance. Nice seats, dimmed romantic lighting. Expecting a nice meal.Puan Anita and I celebrated our 14th wedding Anniversary last evening. Being Ramadhan, we planned for an Iftar in town, but since it was Saturday, most of places were already fully booked. I wanted to go to Latest Recipe in Le Meridien, but the only seats we could get were by the lift. Not exactly romantic.

As an alternative, I booked a table at Favola, the place where I had a superb lunch a couple of weeks ago. It was a true Italian affair, with nice motifs and decorations. The seats and ambiance were very welcoming, and we had our seat overlooking the kitchen, and was able to see how the food were prepared. The lighting were suitably dimmed, and the waitresses were kind and attentive. We arrived early, and made our orders for the food for Iftar. We then took a stroll around the hotel lobby.

The place promised much, but unfortunately for the evening, it did not deliver. We were left disappointed. The entre and pizza were delicious, but unfortunately, the same could not be said about the main dishes. This was a similar complaint I had when I had the lunch there previously. The antipasta was superb, but not the mains.

For starters, I has grilled peach with buffalo mozzarella and rocket salad. Anita had some seafood salad - calimari and clams basically, all served with Italian bread. The bread and the salad were excellent.

My buffalo mozzerella and rocket salad. Definitely something to order again should I return.Now you see it ...... now you don'tNext came the pizza. It was not bad. But the wood-fired pizza at Alexis Ampang - my children favorite - was much better. And this was the chef's specialty pizza - called Favola.

Then came the disappointing main dishes. Anita ordered spaghetti marinara. It was on the dry side to start with, and despite adding tobacco Tabasco (thanks Jools!) and sliced parmesan, she still did not finish her meal. The pasta tasted bland, and was overpowered by the overspiced thick marinara sauce. I suspected that there too much olive oil as well. By the end of the meal, when the pasta cooled down, it started to absorb the oil and became soggy. Thumbs down unfortunately.

Anita's main dish, the marinara. The least we say about it, the better.The top layer was crisp. Blowtorch may be?If you think that the pasta was bad, I ordered another chef's recommendation in a lasagna for my main meal. It was well overcooked, and the top crust layer was more or less as crisp as a piece of wood. It was burned, while the minced meat at the bottom still tasted rare! A basic culinary mistake I must say, and one I did not expect from such a prestigious outlet! The top burnt layer tasted bitter and …… burnt, while the oily bottom layer tasted like ….. olive oil. You can see the herbs still separated from the minced meat, as if they were added in as an afterthought. Did they use a blowtorch to burn the top layer?

To cap things off, my mango juice smelt as if they were fresh ….. out from a box. We did not bother to order dessert or coffee. We would rather head home and see what our boys were up to.

The meal experience could have been much better .... if the meal was as good as the ambiance.The main lobby at Le Meridien. Nice and compact.Well, Favola may be a nice place to have afternoon tea and salad, but that was just about it. The main meals were disappointing, despite me picking up the chef's specialties. The ambiance was nice and the waitresses were competent and attentive, but this did not make up for the disappointment in terms of the overall gastronomic experience. We were expecting better.

Favola was located on the 8th floor of Le Meridien, on the level of the swimming pool and the Grand Salon. The official Le Meridien website featured the restaurant here. Remember to show your FourSquare check-in to claim your 10% discount! Sorry about the quality of the snaps since the lights were dim, too dim for my iPhone.

Iftar at Sudu

Earlier this evening, I was treated for Iftar at Hilton Kuala Lumpur, after attending a meeting there prior. The meeting ended just about Maghrib time, and I was served with dates at the conference room before being ushered down to the restaurant for the meal. When I was invited down, the usher asked me, "Dr Haris, would you like to come with me. We are taking the lift downstairs to Sudu for your meal." What? Sudu? Sudu literally translated as 'spoon' in Malay. Surely the could have come up with a more catchy name.

But anyhow, to Sudu I went. It was a buffet, and since I was already late, they have had a table reserved for our party, and the rest of the crowd has already been sat, starting their dinner already. Getting food was a breeze.

The restaurant itself, to be honest lacked real estate. It was pretty cramped, and we had to tussle to get to some of the corners to pick up our food. They had separate areas for starters, main meal, desserts and drinks. For starters, I had some beef kebab and satay, plus some kueh before moving on the the mains.

For the mains, I had some biryani with some chicken. I must say that the satay was a lot better than I expected. There was also lemming lemang but according to a friend of mine, it was rather too soft in the middle. The peanut sauce however was very tasty. The biryani was on the dry side, but was not bad at all.

After a good chat, I went for the dessert. And this was when I came across the sushi corner. Why not? Half a dozen slices of sashimi later, I was back to have some fruits and guess what? Some sotong kangkung as well. It was never going to be as nice as the one from Penang. In fact, it was pretty bad.

To top things off, I had some ais kacang and more fruits. I knew that I was piling up the calories, but at least I did not sample the lamb roast - or kambing golek! I'd probably have a coronary if I did so.

Yes, the place was cramped, and we were seated outside the actual restaurant, but in a comfortable corner. The service however was excellent. The waiters and waitresses were very attentive, and nothing was too much to ask. The tables where cleaned and plates were cleared without being asked, and they addressed us very professionally. They had staff manning all the stations, from kebab - which were freshly sliced and prepared to our request, to the nice ladies behind the ais kacang and sotong kangkung counters. But I was sure that that quality of service came with a price. According to my cousin who commented on Facebook, it would likely be more than RM100 per head. The dinner was not exactly extravagant, but I can see why it could cost that much.

There was limited information on this joint from the hotel website here, but the reviews online has not been too kind. Would I recommend it? Not really especially with the excellent Latest Recipe next door at Le Meridien. The combination of low lights and cramped space did not make for good photographing opportunity unfortunately.

Iftar at Nikko

Finally, the family decided to have berbuka outside. This would have been the only second time we had berbuka outside as a group, the last being at Flamingo. This time around, it was for Puan Anita’s birthday. It was also the final iftar for this year’s Ramadhan. So it would be Aidilfitri the next day. Anita’s brother was also back from Turkmenistan for the Eid, so it was a nice occasion for the family.

Nice serene surroundingThe grills at the balcony areaSince it was a day before Eid, I got the usual flowers and cards for Anita, but she wanted to delay her presents until after the Eid break. Not really sure what she wanted, but she did hint on an iPad. I’ll leave her to make her mind up. So back to the berbuka vanue this time, Hotel Nikko, in Jalan Ampang.

The main entrance to the hotelHotel Nikko was infamous for its Ramadhan buffet, mainly because it was damn expensive and it was notoriously crowded and popular among the corporate types. I remember a couple of years ago, people were making a fuss about it. It cost more than RM100 per head to get in. I didn’t how much it cost this time around as it was not me who footed the bill. Since it was the final evening of Ramadhan, there were only a handful of people at the restaurant. We were left to our selves to enjoy the food.

Puan Anita and his brother, RazakI will talk about the iftar in three parts, first, the venue. It was located on the ground floor and as my parents-in-law were also there, access was not an issue. We dropped them off at the main entrance, and went to park our cars at the basement. There were no stairs for them. 50m later and they were already on their seats. The venue was I think their main restaurant. Nice seating area, spacious area for food display and efficient waiters.

The second would be the spread for the buffet. It was a varied selection. We have the grilled section on the balcony, with the smoking area. They had roast lamb, satay, chicken kebab, biryani and other Indian selections. Coming inside, the main spread consisted of sweets for breaking fast, rice and curries, mini pizza, dim sum, spaghetti, some sushi and salads. There was also chicken rice and other main dishes. Next, by the entrance were a few stalls doing apom balik, rojak, yong tau foo and sweets. There was also the obligatory chocolate fountains - a hit with the boys.

More stalls on the sidesA rather lame attempt at apom balik actually - the dough did not set properlyPart three - ambiance. Since the eatery was the main food outlet for the hotel - I was sure the breakfast were served there everyday - transforming the whole place would be impossible. What the management did was to put in elements of Ramadhan here and there. That being the final evening, and Eid was the next day, the decor was almost complete. At the balcony, there were torches. The staffs were dressed in traditional costumes already. 

Finally, was it worth the asking price when we talk about the quality of food. A resounding NO! That did not mean the food was bad. There were just nothing special. According to my brother-in-law who was there a couple of evening previously with his friends, the food selection was different. That meant that the menu was rotated, which is good. Less chance of left-overs slipping through. But considering the stature of this establishment, I would not expect this to be so.

The roast was overdone. The biryani was so and so. Rojak was a disaster. Sweets were nothing special. Basically, it was just above average. A safe bet if you were bringing a business associate to impress but if you took a girl for a date, there was no guarantee that you would have wooed her. It was not exactly Harrod, although you were paying for a similar price.

Since the place was only half filled on the evening, getting a seat and parking spot was never a hassle. Would I go there again next year? Not unless somebody drove me there, book a table and pay for the tab. Would I recommend it to somebody else? If you were paying on a corporate account, then why not? I would have preferred my Mum’s cooking.