Ramadan Mubarak to all my Muslim readers!

My parents were huge fans of what used to be the best buffet in Kuala Lumpur from ‘X’ Hotel, but after many disappointing meals there, I’ve succeeded in converting them to becoming fans of Latest Recipe in Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur – one of the best buffet in town in my opinion.

Dates to break the fast

rif and I are regular diners at this restaurant, for the food selection is extensive and consistently good. When I received an invitation from Fauzy Wahab to review their Ramadan Special (Redefining Traditional Malay Cuisine with Chef Zubir), I knew I was in for a treat.

Kerabu and other traditional salads

Pineapple and Cucumber Pickle Salad

Malay selection

On top of their current Indian, Western, Pasta, Chinese and Japanese live cooking counters, I got to sample local dishes prepared by Chef Zubir. These dishes are inspired by his mother’s cooking and Chef Zubir wanted to share them with us this festive month.

Oysters

Boiled prawns

One of the notable things at Latest Recipe is the seafood bar – the oysters are never shucked in bulk as the restaurant insists on serving the freshest of these aphrodisiacs possible. The oysters I had were fresh and sweet with a mild, briny aftertaste. I had half a dozen of these.

Bamboo clams

Assorted ulam

Acar

Salted egg

Beef and chicken serunding

Fans of ulam can tuck into plenty of fresh petai and leafy selection with piquant sambal belacan. I rather enjoyed the seafood kerabu with glass noodles – tangy, spicy and lightly seasoned to tickle your palate. And there were also two large platters of serunding – beef and chicken – nicely toasted and aromatic from the spices used. I liked the beef better.

Roast Baby Lamb

Roast lamb, tandoori lamb, tandoori chicken and mutton curry

The roast baby lamb was a popular and fast moving item that night and rightfully so. I found the meat very juicy with just a mild gaminess. The seasoning was just right so it didn’t overpower the delicate flavour of the young lamb. Good stuff!

Prawn tikka, Kerala fish curry, more tandoori chicken and roast lamb

Indian section

From the Indian selection, the Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Lamb and Prawn Tikka stood out. Latest Recipe is known for its Indian food selection and I’ve enjoyed most of the offerings thus far. If you ever spot butter chicken on the spread, help yourself to more! The Kerala fish curry was decent – rif liked it.

Bubur Lambuk

Asam Laksa

Squid Ink Pasta Carbonara

I also had a small portion of bubur lambuk, a must-have during Ramadan, and it was quite tasty. Flavours were well balance and this congee was justly thick and fragrant from the fried shallots. My asam laksa from the local noodle station wasn’t great, but the carbonara with squid ink pasta was noteworthy.

Oven baked layered chicken terrine with quail egg and peas

Round 5, maybe?

Pasembur

The special of the day – Oven baked layered chicken terrine with quail egg and peas – was not bad, though it paled in comparison to the lamb. There was also a Penang pasembur corner where you can ‘design’ your own rojak with chilli cuttlefish.

Teppanyaki Counter

Teppanyaki — prawn, chicken, salmon & beef

When you’re at Latest Recipe, you must and I have to repeat this again…you must have the teppanyaki prawns. All the teppenyaki items were good, but the prawns were fantastic. Plump, succulent, fresh and sweet, these were cooked with cream sauce and served with a pinch of black pepper.

Must try!

The chicken pieces were crisp around the edges and tender within, while the beef cubes were juicy throughout. Even the butterfish and salmon were lovely. rif and I ate 4 servings of teppanyaki because it was that good. Better than the teppanyaki at many Japanese restaurants in KL.

Butterfish and salmon sashimi

Handroll — tasty and generously filled with salmon and avocado

The sashimi – butterfish and salmon – was fresh, firm and sweet, with the former being very juicy and lightly savoury. I also enjoyed the salmon as it had a smooth and almost buttery texture. I even asked for extra to put into my salmon and avocado handroll.

Cheesecake

Opera cake

Chocolate marble cheesecake

Sweet Roti Jala

Putu piring and putu mayam

Grated coconut and brown sugar

I was too full to tuck into all the desserts available that night, and only managed a quarter waffle, peanut butter crumble, onde onde and kuih talam. Of the lot, the peanut butter crumble was my favourite. The onde onde could have done with a bit more palm sugar while the kuah talam was pretty decent. I found the waffle just alright, after being spoilt by the awesome waffles at Favola.

Waffle and peanut butter crumble

Kuih talam and onde onde

Fried banana, jackfruit and tapioca

I haven’t been to any other Ramadan buffets in KL so far, but the quality, quantity and consistency of the spread at Latest Recipe is quite hard to beat. Thank you Fauzy, for extending the invite to rif and I. 🙂

Spacious

The Ramadan buffet dinner at Latest Recipe is available from 23rd July to 17 August 2012. Pricing is as below:

6.30pm – 10.30pm
Monday – Friday
RM 128 (adult) RM 64 (child)

Saturday + Sunday
RM 118 (adult) RM 59 (chld)

9pm onwards
Monday -Thursday
RM 88 (adult) RM 44 (child)

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Ambiance: 7/10
Price: 5/10 (7/10 with Starwood/CIMB Infinite card)
Food: 8/10 (halal)
Verdict: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — this is one of the best buffets in Kuala Lumpur.

Latest Recipe
Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur, 50470,
Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 03-2263 7434