Tonight is an exciting evening for the newly-opened Hotel Royal Signature. Its Buka Puasa Buffet launch will allow us a sneak preview of what the hotel has in store for the month of Ramadan. The extensive spread of over 200 menu items, carefully curated by Executive Chef Tony Tang and his culinary team, will include both international as well as traditional desa (village) – inspired Malay dishes.
A modern, bright space with a kids’ playroom!
Asian Pot, the hotel’s main restaurant, will offer this special Buka Puasa Buffet. Although it consists of a front and a back section, the latter will be the main room catering to the Ramadan Buffet. It is a nice sizeable space with a modern touch to the interior design. It is well-suited to accommodate bigger crowds and even better for those with smaller children: in the corner there is a separate soft-mat play room for kids aged 2 – 12. This will definitely be a crowd-pleaser!
An amazing spread at Hotel Royal Signature
The buffet offerings were impressive. The appetiser and salad stations included various lauk (side) dishes with the creamy hummus and fried bergedil (a fried potato patty) catching my eye. I wasn’t in the mood to try the deep-fried items such as fish, tofu and tempeh, but had set my sights on the traditional Ramadan classics such as satay, lemang, ketupat, serunding ayam, otak-otak and rendang daging. Both hummus and bergedil were a bit under-seasoned to my taste, but the beef and chicken satay however were super tender and tasted delicious. The rendang daging could have been slightly more tender.
The main hot dishes standing out included tiger prawns, lobster sambal petai, crab berempah, pedal hati ayam masak cili (a dish involving chicken liver), and the itik salai masak lemak api (smoked duck). In another corner you could fill up on Malaysian congee accompanied by chunks of beef oxtail, while a roast kambing golek (lamb) was on display inviting you to dig in. Two big metal pots of kari sauces were placed prominently in the centre of the buffet – condiments to one of the restaurant’s specialties, the Kedah Special Kari Kepala Ikan (fish head curry).
I thoroughly enjoyed sampling these exquisite dishes. However, I found the petai flavour with the lobster slightly overpowering, while the crab berempah was on the salty side. The tiger prawns were succulent and had me craving for more. I managed to try a bowl of fish head curry as well, which had lovely plump pieces of meat in it.
Dessert is a feast for the eyes and taste buds
A colourful and wide selection of traditional Malay desserts beckoned me to try them too. After all the spices and rich flavours my taste buds were indeed yearning for some soothing shaved ice and Malay kuih. A special ais kacang and cendol station was set up where you could tailor-make your own delicious refreshing version of shaved ice with various toppings.
Celebrating togetherness!
The food selection and offerings had certainly been a highlight of my evening. In the background though, special performances by singers Reyhana Yunus and Fareez Fauzi also added to the festive ambiance. Every table had been booked and people were chatting away and enjoying themselves over their meals. If the aim is to get friends and families to sit down together over a lovely Iftar meal, like it aimed for tonight, the Hotel Royal Signature is certainly well on its way to a successful Ramadan experience.
The Sajian Titian Desa Buffet can be booked from 12 March – 6 April 2024. Prices for adults are RM178 nett (a current early bird promotion will run for RM128), RM128 for senior citizens and RM98 for kids between 6 – 12 years. For every buffet sale, the hotel will donate RM1 to charity.
For reservations: fb.secretary@hotelroyalsignature.com or WA: +60 16 808 3188.
If you’re in Petaling Jaya and looking for a Ramadan buffet, Paya Serai in Hilton Petaling Jaya is always a winner!
We were invited by Hotel Royal Signature. As always, our opinions are honest and our own.
