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.