Iftar at Marriott Slideshow

The slideshow from the recent iftar at JW Marriott hotel

Walking around Starhill

The last time I walked around Starhill Gallery must be about a couple of years back. I went to the cafe on the ground floor since then, but that was about it. Not really my cup of the this place with its imposing architecture and much more imposing price tag on the items on show, not really a place for a weekend shopping trip.

The Debenhams here was still going strong, plenty of items, much like the chain in the UK. But that was almost all that I could afford. Plenty of boutiques and high end restaurant here, plus some really rediculously expensive home furnishing items occupying the upper floors! Complete madness.

Intimidating no matter which angle you look at it ....Are those edible?We were there killing time before berbuka at Marriott next door. Even window shopping gave me headache here ...... But in terms of ambiance, the place was top notch. A place to meet and be met, especially at the cafes downstairs.

Return to Marriott

Since we had the voucher after the mishap a couple of weeks back, we returned to the scene of the crime for berbuka. This time, we were seated indoors, but the marquee where Anita had the fall remained unchanged. I guessed they never quite took heed to what happened.

Anyhow, apart from a slight variation, the spread remained the same. The satay was overcooked this time however. And the place was just as packed, that being Sunday and all. And with that, almost every table had children coming along - ours included. No privacy if you were coming here for a date!

Food was well topped-up and I tried some other stuff, mainly noodles as I wasn't in the mood for rice - been having rice for berbuka almost every day. The queue for roast lamb remained long, so again I gave that a miss. But the highlight remained the fruits and pudding. Idlan had two helping of chocolate cakes - he was right hyper in the end! Big mistake.

We didn't hang around for too long this time as we had already made reservations for Despicable Me across town.

Compared to most places, the buffet here remained the most reasonable price-wise, although the spread was limited tonmainly local Malay cuisine. Well worth checking out, but make sure you were seated indoors.

Iftar at Marriott part II

From part I ...

The food were actually well prepared. The satay especially was very nice. The grilled fish were rather overcooked. The most popular dish that evening was the roast lamb. The queue was long and since I wasn't that much if a fan, I gave that a miss.

For the mains, I had some chicken rice and then went for asam laksa. By the time i went for my Maghrib prayers, I finished most of the starters. I was already full by then. My boys had satay and Irfan had some Indian food. That kept them occupied before going hyper from all the dessert.

Unfortunately, while getting out of her seat, Anita stepped off the platform onto a wet flooring behind our table and slipped. She knocked her knees falling flat on the floor, leaving her with a nice bruise. Her brother went to complaint and after finding out what happened, the Duty Manager arrived. To cut a long story shot, we got the dinner refunded. But since the payment had been made during booking, we received vouchers to return.

Another problem with the place was the surau - prayer room or musalla. They didn't have a proper place for absolution, which for such a hotel was rather sad. We had to do our cleansing at a toilet. But at least the room they prepared for praying was comfortable.

On the whole, the food was actually quite good. Price-wise, compared to other hotel of similar stature, the price here was among the most reasonable. You could cut cost further if you have the dinner at the banquet hall rather than the poolside.

Would we be coming back? Well, we didn't have much of a choice really since we got the vouchers. Would I recommend it? Yes, most definitely. But parking would be a nightmare if you were to arrive late. Traffic to and from the hotel was also notorious.

Iftar at Marriott part I

My brother-in-law took us out for iftar last night. We went to JW Marriott in town, just opposite Pavilion. They served local delicacies at their buffet, so since my Mum-in-law preferred local food, that was what he picked.

The place tended to get pretty jammed up in the afternoon, and hence we left early. We were lucky that the place was still quiet. We made our way to the sixth floor where the buffet was located. It was at an open-aired poolside terrace. There was an alternative venue on the fourth floor where the buffet was served in a banquet hall. We decided to go for the pool, although we had to pay extra.

We took our seat just after seven, and was given a table at the end of a make-shift platform. It was raining but we were well shielded from the elements thanks to a tent.

The spread was pretty good. We had satay, Indian food, the usual noodles, fried rice, chicken rice and those were just for starters. The spread were mainly local, although the desserts were decidedly western.

More in part II ....