Saturday, September 10, 2011

Seafood and Japanese Buffet Dinner @ Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Penang.

***Unlike E&O Hotel, Evergreen Laurel Hotel does not allowed me to take photographs on their displayed food, instead, I was asked to take the photos on my own place. So since that's the rule, I guess nothing helps but to follow.... so the quality of the photos might not be too appealing.***

Evergreen Laurel Hotel is a 5-star international hotel that situated in the strategic location in Penang, which is also one of the famous tourist attractions-- Gurney Drive. It is also a well-known place for quality buffet. Coincidentally, there was a promotion offering seafood buffet from Groupon, with Rm 45, we get to enjoy this buffet which worth Rm80 in total. What makes the Friday buffet stands out compared to the other days' buffet was the offering of seafood and japanese food. We get to enjoy some scrumptious and fresh seafood such as scallops, cray fish, prawns and even salmons. On the japanese side, we can get ourselves some sushi rolls, sashimi (salmon, white tuna, tuna and squid) and some japanese fried udon.

The sashimi were very fresh, especially the salmon which they will slice it upon order. The white tuna were very fresh and sweet, they just dissolved in my mouth without any chewing. The tuna was just okay only, probably I am not a big fan of tuna. The variety for sushi rolls was quite limited but the taste and texture were fine enough.

I always got myself a bowl of hot soup before I get my hands on those raw sashimi. This was their "shark fin" soup, made from some fish slices, prawns, fish maw, mushrooms etc....the taste was very similar to the  real shark fin soup. One can opt to pour in some vinegar to bring the flavor to a higher level too. Beside this shark fin soup, cream of mushroom soup was available either. There were some breads and buns beside too, just in case you might want to have some bread with the soup.

These were what made the buffet so special and worth the money -- fresh seafood. These seafood were freshly prepared at a booth for customers to pick up. Generous amount of  fresh seafood (salmon, scallops, cray fish and prawns) will be added for you as shown in the photos above. 

Aside from those grilled seafood and sashimi, tempura prawns and squid rings were offered too but they were rather oily and the batter coated was too thick for my liking. Nonetheless, the seafood were very fresh indeed.

Scalded prawns. The prawns come in very huge sizes and they were very very fresh too. Simply squeeze some lemon juice on top of those prawns and they are perfect to go.

Although there were not a lot of choices for fresh vegetables on the salad bar, but the dressings were simply impressive. Other than those usual dressings like Thousand Island Sauce, they offered some unique dressings such as balsamic dressings and lemongrass dressings etc.

Some cold platters, kerabu (Thai style of having salad) jellyfish, mixed prawns and squid rings with zucchini, roasted chicken breast with spices etc. The aromatic chicken breast was a bit dried out but it was decent overall, the prawns and squid rings were very fresh too tho there was not much taste on that dish, together with capsicum and zucchini, simply refreshing after those oily and salty food.

Move on to the main course, there were seafood fried rice, stew curry octopus, fried fish (with Thai sauce ?), lamb teriyaki, some garden pizza, mixed stir fried vegetables (mushrooms) and stir fried mussels in garlic and chilies.

Otak-otak which was some cakes made of fish and being wrapped in a banana leaf. The otak-otak was best while served hot. Knowing this clearly, they had a steamer ready and to maintain the otak-otak at their most suitable temperature (to keep them warm). The texture was very good indeed, smooth and full of coconut milk's flavor. However, I would still prefer the one in Ivy's Nyonya Kitchen.

Managed to shoot around the dessert area, so the table was fulled with those mouth watering cakes. Since I am not a big fan of those fattening cakes, I just tried the fruit tart. The fruit tart was generously filled with fresh fruits and custard. It was just nice for being not too sweet and not too big in size, just perfect for a mouthful. As for the fruits, there were quite a lot of choices too, namely jackfruit, watermelon, honeydew, oranges, apples and even longan !

Ice cream and sherbets were available too, there was a notice being pasted on the wall too, where it says the sherbet was made from the chef where they used fresh fruit juice only and they are absolutely fat free ! Definitely suit those health-concerned customers.


Ratings:
Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 7/10 (According to normal price--Rm69++)
Parking: 7.5/10
Service Charge: Yes 
Government Tax: Yes (both totaled 16%)

Additional Information:
Address: Cafe Laurel, Ground floor of Evergreen Laurel Hotel Penang. 53, Pesiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang
Phone Number: 604- 226 9988
For their Seafood and Japanese Buffet: Available on Friday and Saturday 7pm - 10pm (Rm 69++ for adults)
For their International Buffet: Available on Sunday to Thursday 7pm - 10pm (Rm 56++)
Email: elhpen@evergreen-hotels.com
Evergreen Laurel Hotel Penang, Penang, 10250, Café Laurel, Ground Floor, Evergreen Laurel Hotel Penang, 53, Persiaran Gurney 

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! Like your blog very much. The foods looks delicious..But will the foods being top up fast? Sure there was many people. Where you park your car? Just by the roadside?

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  2. Thank you Chiu Yin, hope you continue to support my blog. Yea, there were quite many people around there and yea, they do refill the food in a fast manner. I parked my car at the road side of gurney drive, its advisable to reach there by 6:30pm, would be less crowded. Hope you enjoyr your meal there. =)

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  3. Oh..I thought the buffet start at 7pm. Yea, I am going to the buffet tonight, haha. Very anticipated to go there. Sashimi, mussels, prawns..I am coming =)

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  4. yea, it starts at 7pm, but its better to reach there earlier right to avoid jam ;D

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  5. The foods served during the buffet are really nice. But I think the cafe have not enough staffs to cater such a big crowd of patrons. There was certain moments where no appetizers were served while more and more diners were coming. But i did noticed their efforts in topping up the foods as soon as they can. But overall the dining experience in Laurel Cafe is satisfying.

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  6. Hi Chiu Yin, glad to know you had a pleasant dining experience. Hope you continue to support my blog always. =)

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