The standards are set pretty high this Ramadhan when it comes to hotel and restaurant offers for the breaking of fast. Prices are competitive, with all you can eat buffets featuring a variety of local traditional cuisines to fusion and international delights.
Recently I got invited to the Macam2 Ada Ramadhan Buffet at Grand Margherita Hotel, Kuching, along with about 7 other bloggers. Arriving late was a mistake, as I missed a whole lot of photo ops, so I made do with my own plated presentation. That said, as much as I want to plate all of the yummies, I have to eat them in the end, and thus I plated only a bunch of them.
What's special?
Macam2 Ada is macam-macam indeed! We're talking about local Sarawak dishes - Laksa Sarawak, Bubur Pedas, Ice Cream Gula Apong - and Malaysian food in general - Laksa Penang, Penang Char Kueh Tiaw, Mee Udang (Prawn Noodle) - and International cuisines - Japanese, Indonesian, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indian - soooo many!
I especially enjoyed the chicken and beef, followed by the sambal terasi and bubur pedas. Usually I would enjoy begedil too - but made with tofu - it's a taste I have yet to acquire. But if you're into those, I'm sure you would enjoy it.
Eh, I have to say the sate was really good - tender and juicy. I silently regret having taken only a couple, but then my fellow blogger came in with a whole plate I was secretly jumping up and down inside! LOL!
The Venue?
Our table for 10 was seated just next to the pool. Pro? We're quite away from the food stations so we don't have as many people walking by our table (believe it or not, I get motion sickness from that. Weird huh?) Con? We'll we're outside in the heat next to the pool which releases heat slowly throughout the night. The hotel is also just beside the river, so the heat is something if you're not used to it.
What about Desset?
What about it? Haha! If you've heard about the hype on Ice Cream Gula Apong, yeap, Grand Margherita is in on the hype too! and no, this is not the traditional Open Air style Ice Cream Gula Apong where it is a vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pandan flavored ice cream with gula apong on it - the one that Grand Margherita has incorporates gula apong into vanilla based ice cream. It was good! Pro-tip: Probably because of the weather, you should pump the ice cream from the machine, add your favourite toppings and run Forest, run! to your table to snap a photo for your insta. Otherwise, if you dilly dally and take your time, your ice cream will melt.
Of course, the next best thing to that, especially on a hot day is a cool bowl of ABC. There are all kind of assortments of cakes and pastries and cookies - which my friends took a whole bunch for the table too, mostly generic cakes.
Last Thoughts?
We're still in the middle of Ramadhan, and for Muslims who wishes to catch Tarawih, Masjid Bahagian is nearby. There is also an in-house prayer room provided as well. The facilities are great, the host and staffs, although overloaded with dishes and trays are always smiling, the food keeps coming and the setting is generally ok.
Given that this year is the hottest year so far in Malaysian history of recorded temperature (I think I just made that up) dining al-fresco feels like dining whilst on a 10km marathon (you sweat, you literally sweat a lot!) but everything else is just peachy. 7.5 out of 10 would recommend.
*The following photos are credited to their rightful owners. Clicking on the photos will like you to them. Read their entry while you're there.
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