That Yearly Event

Every Ramadan, the Cellsafe Group would have a Berbuka with the staff and this year it was right at the end of Ramadan. This year it was at InterContinental, a hotel used to be known as Niko before.

In fact this was the only time Anita and I had the berbuka at a hotel, something that we loathe to do. But being the end of Ramadan, it was not as crowded as before. There was no real jostling for food and there was plenty to go about in the end.

The selection was OK, but I remembered that it was a better spot during the Niko days when the tables were lined up up to the main lobby.

None the less, it was great company and nice food. But it didn’t change my mind about having Berbuka at a hotel just yet. It was just too much hassle still ....

Great Company

I didn't go out for berbuka that much this year - at least compared to before. It was more convenient to break my fast at home, there wasn't a need to dash into traffic late on and then fight for food at the buffet tables. At home, things were more organised, plus I sometimes only reach home late after work and didn't have time to organise things.

Luckily our maid had been a great help, sorting out the berbuka and sahur for us and the boys.

But once a year, I would be joining the staffs at Cellsafe for their own berbuka event. This year it was at Park Royal, near Bukit Bintang At an outlet called Chatz Brasseries. Surprisingly driving in and out of there was easy for us coming from Bangsar - plus the fact that Anita insisted on us leaving early.

This should be borderline illegal!Gout-inducing I was sure ...Some fresh fishSatay. Straight from the grill.The food there was awesome! Definitely better than the meal I had at KL Hilton a few weeks back. And the crowd there - even though it was close to full house - was very civilised. It helped that the management did not fill the restaurant up to the brim!

The food choice was excellent and they were very generous when it came to drinks. I counted that there were at least 8 different kinds free for us to choose. And my favourite - the Chef Recommendation - was called "Janda Pulang". Now, don't get me wrong, although there was innuendo there, but it was basically a combination of coconut juice and "gula melaka", a special kind of sugar syrup. Dynamite!

This drink was gorgeousThey even have cencalok!For a more traditional selectionDone with dinner ....The grills were nice with plenty of fresh seafood. We had a great time chatting on until it was almost 10 pm with some teh tarik on hand of course. And was after numerous trips to the buffet table for top-ups. A place I would definitely recommend.

Iftar at Marriott Slideshow

The slideshow from the recent iftar at JW Marriott hotel

Berbuka at Latest Recipe

Last week, I confirmed an invitation for iftar from a Pharmaceutical company. The problem was, the iftar would be on a post call evening. And that particular call happened to be a busy one. But being Ramadan, I didn't really mind the extra hours I was awake. I was munching away most of the time I was up.

When it was finally time for iftar, I was already very tired and grumpy. All I wanted was to be in bed. At home.

It turned out to be great, with great company. And the food was good.

Clever way to present the fruits

The iftar was at Latest Recipe, one of my favourite hotel cafe. It was at Le Meridien, KL Sentral. It had local, Indian, Japanese and a bit of fusion food. But what was great was despite the number of people, there were food aplenty, and the crowd control was good. The cafe itself was relatively small and we were seated by the lift.

What did I have? I started out with some sashimi. If you think that was bad, there were some on my table who opened with oysters. Next, I had some chicken rice - which was nog great. The Indian selection was good, so was the teppanyaki and pasta.

But the highlight was definitely the afters. There was plenty of local fruits - I had a feast of rambutan. Puddings, ice cream, ais kacang. You get the picture.

Those are not test tubes! They contain the dressing for the salad.A surprise birthday cakeWe also had a surprise birthday for one of the Pharmaceutical Rep. Cakes and all. Plus the hearthy singing from my Boss.

This wasn't the first time I had iftar at Latest Recipe. The standard was still up there as far as food was concerned. Crowd was always a challenge and reserving a seat can be difficult. If somebody were to offer me iftar in town, Latest Recipe would definitely be high on my list.

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.