Ramadhan Buffet KL – Melting Pot, Concorde Hotel, KL

This was my FIRST Ramadan buffet of the YEAR! Yes I know it seems premature isn’t it? 🙂

Anyhow I’ll never say “ No” to festive seasons and food.
Also, this is my first visit to Melting Pot, Concorde KL, of which I have heard many positive feedback on its food by a close friend of mine who is a regular here due to her work. So I was quite worked up with anticipation! 🙂

Let me start with one of my favourite dish that evening; the Nasi Kerabu with ALL of the essential elements of the dish; from the  ‘budu’  (a thick pungent fish sauce) in belacan to the dry grated coconut, everything was available for a complete authentic plate of Nasi Kerabu.

As with every buffet, we all want to know how much do we pay (price), how much will we get (variety) and how much more (our stomach capacity) can we eat for the amount paid.

I’ll give the Ramadan Buffet at Melting Pot a solid 7/10 for variety and another 8/10 for price (RM89++/adult); which I personally felt is a fair price for a buffet in KL city.
As for stomach capacity, the dining hours are from 7pm til 10.30pm; the usual 3.5 hours of dining duration for you to partake to your heart’s wish.

Below: Gulai Tempoyak Ikan Keli.

For an even better deal, you can opt for the Ramadan buffet served at Ballroom with a special Bazaar theme.
Yes, Concorde KL has 2 venues for you to break fast this coming Ramadan!
Priced at RM75.00++/adult, ‘Teratak Chef Abbas’ is another concept at Concorde Ballroom introduced for the first time. It is a bazaar concept serving various dishes hawker stalls.
Quite an original idea  I’ll say, with endless choices of food in an ala ‘kampung’ atmosphere with AIR – CONDITIONING!

Ramadan Bazaars will always have a special place in our hearts, no doubt about that, but the weather and non-availability of dining areas may be a deterrent for some. For “Teratak Chef Abas”, Chef Abbas and his team will be seen busy cooking and whipping up delicious dishes a la minute.

For this session, I sampled the fare at Melting Pot Cafe itself.

Everything looked good to me, which says a lot about the presentation. Chef Abbas has continuously amazed diners with his culinary skills, having cooked for dignitaries and royal families. Some of his signature items which are only served during the Ramadan season such as sup gear box, shawarma specials, whole roast lamb with flavourful briyani and ikan merah percik bermadu were present that night.

Sup Gear Box. This is a portion for ONE! With the bone marrow too…slurppssss! 🙂

The whole roast lamb with flavourful briyani. My favourite!

It was reduced to a ladder of ribs pretty quick, so I guess all the other guests agreed with my verdict. Oh no no, I didn’t finish it myself, though I do think I could! 😛

The shawarma station.

What’s more,Chef Abbas has included the best tastes from 11 states of Peninsular Malaysia. At the spread I salivated over Penang style curries of all sorts and also feasted on authentic dishes from the East Coast – nasi kerabu biru and gulai ikan tongkol, Johor’s favourites like sotong  masak hitam, botok-botok (a wrapped otak-otak like creation), Negeri’s spicy ketam berlado, rendang ayam pucuk ubi and telur itik masak lemak belimbing.

The curries!

Seafood is expensive, but I’m pleased to note that Melting Pot did not sting on the spread! There were not only quantity, but quality as well.
Below are the Steamed Fish with Ginger – fresh and sweet, and another was the whole Siakap (I think, can’t recall.. too much food!).

Other than the cooked seafood, the ice station offers shell mussels, fresh flower crabs, tiger prawns and fresh oysters.

The whole fish below, having had its body nicely filleted and then having had the fillets tucked into the body again was really visually pleasing!
This was at the teppanyaki station (which is called “Teppan Theatre”) where prawns, salmon, chicken, beef and squid are cooked to order.

Moving on, here’s the Island Buffet, where the cold appetisers are.

Summer Roll, Tandoori Spiced Chicken Galantine, Smoked Duck Breast with Mango and Asparagus, Thai Seafood Salad, Roasted Tomato and Pasta, Salad with Pesto, Crab Salad with Green Mango, Roasted Cherry Tomato and Chicken, Shrimp and Rice Noodle Salad, Roast Beef and Spinach Salad with Horseradish Cream, Seared Tuna with White Bean, Grilled Tofu with Broccoli and Sesame Dressing, Calamari Salad with Salsa Verde, Kerabu Udang Thai, Kerabu Mangga, Kerabu Isi Kerang, Kerabu Ayam Berkerisik, Kerabu Pucuk Ubi, Kerabu Hati, Kerabu Limau Bali, Telur Ikan Goreng, Jelatah Harian, Acar Rampai, Kerepak Pisang, Kerepak Ubi Pedas, Kerepak Ubi, Keropok Ikan, Jeruk Buah-Buahan, Ulam-Ulam Kampung, Spicy Papadam.

It is one of my favourite section of any buffet, especially so during the Ramadan season; where the medley of ulam, kerabu and sambals is simply mouthwatering. Alright, most of you may not be as fond as I am for hot, piquant chilli pastes with raw vegetables, but I’m an absolute fan! 🙂

More cold appetisers, all fresh and tasty. Yup, I did try a bit of each!

From the Wok: 

Lala with Chilli Butter Milk Sauce
Wok-fried Baby French Beans with Spicy Conpoy Sauce
Stir-fried Prawn with Sweet and Sour Sauce
Home-Made Beancurd with Oriental Greens
Deep-fried Fish Fillet with Portuguese Sauce
Kai Lan with Chilli and Salted Fish

Main Course: 
Botok-Botok
Ayam Bakar Bersantan
Gulai Daging Kerisik Pucuk Pisang
Kari Ikan Bawal
Gulai Tempoyak Ikan Keli
Ikan Asam Keladi
Sotong Masak Hitam
Udang Asam Garam
Siput Sedut Daun Selasih
Sambal Perut Terung Asam
Pucuk Paku Goreng Belacan
Kambing Masak Kacang Pual
Ketam Berlado
Pulut Kuning Sambal Ikan Bilis
Rendang Ayam Pucuk Ubi
Nasi Briyani Burung Puyuh
Nasi Briyani Kepala Ikan
Nasi Briyani Daging Rusa
Nasi Briyani Daging Kerbau
Nasi Briyani Telur

I love the briyani section; there was one with eggs, one with quails and another is fish briyani.

Siput sedut!
I can imagine how my foreign friends would react to this. “Suck, suck harder, almost there, yes yes..”
Haha.. yes it would be fun to bring my foreign friends for a Ramadan buffet for them to have a feel of our local dishes.

Noodle on the Spot: 
Mee Udang
Mee Ketam
Laksa Johor

Karen on the other hand, spoiled herself at the desserts counter. Some were great, some decent while there were some that could do with a little more care in the preparation.

I personally liked the Malay traditional kuih better. Perhaps Malay desserts are more of the kitchen’s forte here.

In an attempt to finish my meal healthy, I opted for more fresh fruits.

Ice cream and ais – kacang were available too. I would normally have my meal with ais kacang; another perennial favourite of mine, but it was pretty hidden, with the machine at the back of the dessert counter so it was sadly overshadowed. By the time I found it I was already sipping on the bandung (pink rose syrup drink).

Here’s more of the rich, creamy Malay desserts, in liquid form. For those who are unfamiliar, these are called “bubur“; in reference to the ingredients and the consistency of the liquid. Cooked with plenty of coconut milk as its base, the below are Bubur Pulut Hitam, Bubur Jagung, Bubur Kacang Hijau.

Three rotation buffet menus will be available (rotates daily). Resident band, Begema 5 Strollers take turns to entertain diners at both venues; Melting Pot as well as Teratak Chef Abas in the Ballroom.

Do drop me a comment if you have any queries about Ramadan buffets this year. I’ll be most delighted to advise! For a start, do check out Melting Pot at Concorde! 🙂

Melting Pot Cafe, Concorde Hotel.

Max pax: 216-seat
Hours of Operation: 24 hours
Capacity: 216
Dress Code: Smart casual
Cuisine served: Asian and Continental
Tel: 03 – 2144 2200 ext 2337
Melting Pot Cafe kitchen is certified HALAL.

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Browse more if you wish:

1. Dorsett Regency, Kuala Lumpur
2. MayTower Hotel & Serviced Residences, KL
3. The Mill, Grand Millennium Hotel, Bukit Bintang 
4. The Lounge, GTower Hotel, KL
5. The Living Room, Westin KL
6. Cinnamon Cafe, One World Hotel
7. Latest Recipe, Le Meridien KL
8. Paya Serai – PJ Hilton

These are for last year Ramadan’s.
I’m running the Becky’s 30 Days 30 Giveaways and for coming days it will be mostly Ramadan buffets for 2 pax. So do visit my page RebeccaSawBlog FB here and stay tuned for the announcement. 🙂

Here’s the round-up for 2012 Ramadan Buffets. I’ll include the links once I published the posts this week. I’m trying to write as fast as I can! 🙂

1. Ramadhan Buffet at Melting Pot Cafe, Concorde Hotel, KL
2. Ramadhan Buffet at Soi 23, Pacific Regency, KL
3. Ramadhan Buffet at Fuzion, Sunway Spa and Resorts
4. Ramadhan Buffet at Checkers Cafe, Dorsett Regency, KL
5. Ramadhan Buffet at Flavors, Swiss Garden Hotel, Pudu KL
6. Ramadhan Buffet at Cinnamon Coffee House, One World Hotel
7. Ramadhan Buffet at Kitchen Art Brasserie, Empire Hotel Subang
8.  Ramadhan Buffet at The Mill, Grand Millenium Hotel, KL
9.  Ramadhan Buffet at JW Marriot, KL
10.Ramadhan Buffet at La Maison, Silka Maytower Hotel & Serviced Residences

11. there’s more for sure… let me eat first and I’ll update! 🙂

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Leave me a comment if you have any enquiries on Ramadhan Buffets this year ok? 🙂