The festive season is once again upon us, and in conjunction with Ramadan and Raya, the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur offers a spectacular feast, dubbed “Santapan Warisan Melayu”, which rediscovers the Malay Sultanate era, running from 23rd March to 22nd April 2023.
The buffet features specialty dishes from each of the 13 states of Malaysia, highlighting the essence of each state’s culture and traditions. The hotel’s signature buka puasa will showcase a mingling of flavours across the country, with a unique blend of traditional as well as modern dishes. Developed by Sous Chef Saiful Asrul bin Sadin, the menu reflects the different aspects of Malaysia’s culinary history, presenting a variety of dishes from different states such as, Udang Galah Lemak Asam Nenas from Perak, Siput Sedut Lemak Kuning from Negeri Sembilan, Puyuh Goreng Berempah Bonda from Perlis, and many more.
Luckily, we got to attend the Buka Puasa buffet preview and got taste of everything “Santapan Warisan Melayu” has to offer. Here’s what you can look forward to:
To start off the night, we treated ourselves to some Kambing Golek Rempah paired with Nasi Ulam drizzled with some curry sauce, which made the perfect combination. The lamb was tender, and, just by looking at the picture above, you can imagine how much spice there was with each bite. And of course, a Ramadan feast would not be complete without Rendang, which was savoury and rich in flavour.
Before we could even finish our ‘first’ meal, we were already craving for seconds. This time, we went back for some Popiah Basah Padu, and unlike the usual fried Popiah, this one was soft and coated with some sweet & sour dressing with a hint of spice. The chefs were generous with the filling, as we were already almost full when we finished them. Though our stomachs were almost filled, we were determined to try everything at the buffet.
Since we were still craving some roast chicken, we got ourselves some Ayam Bakar Percik, along with some Otak-otak, and let’s just say all of our cravings were satisfied! Of course, you know we HAD to try out their Goreng Pisang, Ubi Getuk, and Cempedak Goreng to add some sweetness to our savoury feast.
The buffet also included a soup station, where we got to make our own chicken soup topped with different ingredients like fish cakes, onions and different kinds of peppers to make our very own ‘chicken soup for the soul’!
Moving on to dessert, we made sure that we made plenty of room for that! From tropical fruits to sweet coconut milk, we tried a little bit of everything at the dessert aisle! Our favourite would have to be the Bubur cha cha, since it was creamy, sweet (but not too sweet), with just the right amount of yam and taro that gave us some childhood nostalgia.
Aside from the decadent and mouth-watering dishes, the hotel itself was decorated thematically, which added to the overall experience. The hotel reflected the colourful history of the Malay Sultanate era, with its adornments of traditional art at the entrance of the dining venues. At the same time, hotel guests will also be able to enjoy live Gamelan performances at the hotel lobby from 6:30pm to 9:00pm daily, to truly encapsulate the Sultanate experience.
The Santapan Warisan Melayu buffet will commence on 23rd of March, and will be served from 6pm to 10:30pm daily; and priced at RM298 nett.
For those looking for gifts during this auspicious month, The Mandarin Cake Shop will be featuring an array of local favourites like dried fruits, pineapple tarts, semperit, an assortment of Raya cookies, marzipan dates, dodol, and a variety of Raya cakes such as Dates Salter Caramel Kek Lapis, Nutella Orange Kek Lapis and Lapis Rolls. These goodies are available in store and online (kualalumpur.mandarinorientalshop.com) from 13 March onwards and must be ordered 48 hours in advance.
The hotel is also running a special early bird promotion, where reservations between 15 February and 19 March 2023 allow diners to enjoy up to 25% discount on the total bill.
