The Ramadhan feast at JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur boasts 138 nenek’s traditional recipes, handed down by the grandmothers of the chefs. While this is my first Ramadhan review at JW Marriott, it wasn’t the first time I had the Ramadhan buffet here. My former manager is a fan of the masakan kampung here so our Ramadhan dinners have always been at this hotel.
Like the previous two years, the buffet selection offers a large variety of local delights and the decor of rustic wooded stalls add to the overall kampung feel. Favourites like satay, ikan bakar, nasi dagang, nasi kandar, ulam, assorted kerabu, mee kari, roti jala and roast lamb were snapped up within minutes.
The assorted kerabu was a good starter; I liked the kerabu pucuk paku best. The roast lamb stall was the busiest that night, and rightly so. I found the lamb aromatic, well seasoned with spices used and juicy, right down to the centre.
Also worth trying is the terung masak sambal cili, sambal udang and tonkeng ayam goreng cili. By the way, tongkeng ayam is actually the bishop nose and cholesterol aside, I love eating it when it’s deep fried. The satay stall was also very popular — these meat skewers were a case of “now you see it, now you don’t!
Good thing the crowd died down after 8.30pm and I got to indulge in as many sticks as I wanted. Between the chicken and beef, I liked the latter better for it had a rim of tasty fat for added flavour.

My massive plate of nasi dagang with ikan tongkol, chicken curry, murtabak, tempeh goreng cili and roast lamb. :D
Soup lovers will enjoy the sup kambing. Adequately thick and robust in flavour, the bits of meat were meltingly tender from the hours of cooking. The mee kari was also pretty decent — richly spicy and aromatic from the assorted spices used.
If you have more stomach space to spare, try the nasi kandar with fish and mutton curry. I had mine with some long beans and fried egg for extra oomph.
It is important that you leave a bit of space for dessert for you wouldn’t want to miss out on the bread & butter pudding, made using vanilla pods. This was oh-so-good, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I also liked the moist chocolate cake, which I topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
They also serve traditional desserts like bubur kacang hijau, bubur cha cha, pengat pisang and pengat nangka. I called it a night after a big bowl of ais kacang with all the works. The JW Marriott Ramadhan buffet is priced at RM65++ per pax, from 7pm to 10.30pm, till 7th August 2013. For reservations, call 03-2719 8666 or email [email protected].
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Ambiance: 6.5/10
Price: 6/10
Food: 7.5/10 (halal)
Verdict: Good local spread and very reasonably priced considering the variety.
JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur
183 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: 03-2719 8666
GPS Coordinates: N 3 08.865 E 101 42.831