In my books, Christmas can never arrive early enough (yes, I’m a Christmas nutter and am known to put up our tree way too early, or so others say). So, I was really excited when we were invited to Shangri-La’s Festive Wonderland buffet preview.
Lemon Garden has been one of our favourite restaurants for weekend and dinner buffets pre-MCO times, as the spread is vast and the food scrumptious. It was with this memory that we went with high expectations of filling our bellies with good food.
What’s on offer?
A walk through the buffet line showed us that there was a mix of local and western cuisines to partake in. This is great as it gives options to families with selective eaters (my dad comes to mind as he simply loves local food but not so much western food).
After viewing what’s on offer, armed and ready (well…. not so much armed as it’s an assisted buffet, where the chefs plate our food from behind the glass partition and hands the plate to us at the end of the line), we made a beeline to the western counter. We were there for Christmas after all! All the items at this counter hit the right spots. Yes, I tried each and every item here.
The turkey was moist, which was really surprising as turkey tends to be really dry. And I had asked for only a tiny portion! Thank goodness it was a buffet. The beef sirloin was tender and juicy, oven baked fish fresh and flaky, and the smoked duck breast tender, moist and fatty, just the way it should be. The only item that missed the mark for me was the grilled beef steak. I found it rather dry but the other half loved it. To each his own I say.
The Malay and Indian fare that was available was simply superb. If you think that good, authentic fare can only be found at nasi kandar outlets, you’ll be sorely mistaken. The smells wafting from this counter was absolutely drool worthy. The husband concurred.
As per any buffet, there were also salads and cold cuts, sushi and fresh seafood as well as pasta and pizza stations. We didn’t sample anything from these stations, as we were already quite stuffed and we simply had to leave room for the best station of all: dessert! My absolute favourite was the coconut mousse shaped like a bauble. I could’ve happily gobbled all of them up.
Mulled wine, anyone?
The buffet at Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur comes with mulled wine or spiced chocolate drink. The first time I had mulled wine, I was completely turned off by it, as I had it in our Malaysian heat in a non a/c room. I was sweating buckets! But I have to say that mulled wine is really rather yummy. You just need the right conditions to enjoy it and I certainly did at Lemon Garden.
With the glass partitions and the chefs plating our food for us, it really did feel safer and cleaner. It gave us peace of mind. Plus, we didn’t have to wear disposable gloves while at the buffet cos we weren’t serving ourselves. Yay to less plastic!
The buffet is available on 24, 25 and 26 December, 31 December and 1 January 2022. Costs are between RM228-298 per adult and between RM114-149 per child, depending on the day you’re attending the buffet. Lunch is from 12 – 3pm, while dinner is from 6 – 10pm. More info here on their website.
If you’re keen to check out more buffets in KL, have a look here at our listicle!
We were invited to the buffet. As always, our opinion is honest and our own.
