Biba's Cafe@Mandarin Oriental, KL

Demona: I had a nice Sunday brunch with my aunts at Biba's cafe in Mandarin Oriental. It was a very cozy looking all day dining cafe, a dimly lited place with a bit of sunlight coming, decorated with giant paintings on the walls, rattan ironed chairs, wooden tables and sofas with mini pillows.

It was not surprising to me at all that Mandarin Oriental had won the best hotel award. Even if the hotel had came with the best design, offering a wide range of facilities, it would not be impressive at all if its service was poor. The staffs working at the cafe was tip top friendly. I noticed how diligent they were. Always on the look out for the customers, offering help without the customers asking.

The following were the food which I had tried out. Knowing that this was a buffet meal, I obviously had to eliminate certain choices from my tummy shelf. This place offered a wide range of choices in terms of variety of food. They have a chef on stand by for orders for stir fry and grilled food. This place offered local delicacies, a sushi bar, and some western dishes such as pasta, spaghetti and roast meat, and a big counter just for desserts.



Demona: Cheese! I took a piece of cracker and some cheddar, brie and goat's cheese. The brie reminded me of Melbourne. It was the winner among the three choices. It was really smooth, melted in my mouth. SLURPS.



Demona: The smoked salmon was lovely, with a slight hint of salt.



Demona: This was a pict of the "Londeh" dish. Spicy stewed vegetables, comprising of cauliflowers, brinjals, tofus and glass noodles. An interesting dish as well, with its nature being chilli spicy, it opened up my appetite further.



Demona: This was the pict of the spicy marinated baked chicken. It released a strong spicy aroma, which caught my attention. Hence, I took a piece of it. The meat was extremely tender, de-boned and the taste was actually locked in the meat. Very well marinated. What you'd smelt was what you'd gotten.



Demona: This was a pict of the roast beef. The colour turned out reddish because the beef was placed under a yellow light.



Demona: This was the sliced beef from the roast beef above. It was medium cooked, and the meat complemented so well with the pommens mustard (lying next to the meat). It was actually pretty good. I liked it. The grilled tiger prawn with sour cream was lying next to my roast beef. It was grilled to perfection. Very, very tasty.



Demona: This was the pict of the plate with miniature desserts. I tried the first two from the left. The squarish chocolate cake was delicious! It comprised of layers of biscuit, chocolate cream and caramel. HEAVENLY! The yellow layered one tasted downright wierd. Extremely sourish and I could not tell which flavour I should be tasting out.



Demona: This was the pict of all the desserts which were made in cups or glasses. Unfortunately, I only ate the raspberry chocolate and vanilla mousse. My tummy was not able to accomodate any more spaces to try more of these.



Demona: This was a pict of the blueberry cheese cake. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! Whoever the baker was, he/she was very sincere in adding the blueberries in. I could see many blueberries inside the cake with jam swirls. The cheese cake was very dense, with a thinly layered biscuit crust below. The cake practically melted in my mouth. The only word that popped up in my mind was " MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm..............". Then, the next scoop came, and another, and another.



Demona: This was a pict of the chocolate fudge cake. I am a widely known CHOCO-holic. My eyes widened and gleamed when I saw this cake. Juices salivating in me mouth. Alas! MAJOR disappointment. The cake was extremely dry and crumbly. No where near, even average. It had a beautiful outlook, but worth nothing on the inside.



Demona: I took a scoop of coffee ice cream, added in some macadamias, chocolate flakes and drizzled vanilla sauce all over. The coffee ice cream, was... orgasmic. Its texture was so smooth, and the taste of coffee was moderately strong. I was quite thrilled to the fact that most of their desserts were not too sweet. At least, you are able to squeeze in some spaces for more desserts. SMILES. SMILES. SMILES.



Demona: This was a pict of the spread for the ice cream toppings. There were pistachios, biscottis, home made biscuits, MACADAMIAS !! (slurps!), chocolate flakes, cherry, vanilla and blueberry sauce.


Demona: This was a pict of a chocolate and vanilla mousse. This dessert was extremely delicious! The chocolate layer on the top remained melted, thus, when I scooped up a portion, the chocolate flowed in. It had a mild, subtle sweetness, and both mousses practically melted in my mouth. Definitely, a grade A sin to finish it up, but I just could not stop digging in!



Verdict: My aunt picked up the tab. She did not want to reveal the price per pax for this brunch buffet. I am guessing at a range for RM 60 to RM 70 per person. It is not easy to locate a good buffet meal, with many of them being focused on quantity rather than quality. However, Biba's cafe proved this otherwise. Although, I had seen bigger varieties in other buffet meals, this one by far, had most dishes turned out tasting delicious. Want to give this place a try, Dogma?

To end this post, a gorgeous view, at the car park to relax your mind, chill out and ease you on your digestion after a warm and hearty brunch.

Taman Sari@Hotel Istana, KL.

Demona: My aunt decided to take her sisters, and myself along, for a dinner treat. A belated birthday dinner for me cum family gathering. We had a hearty, tummy filling, glutton-binging buffer dinner at the Taman Sari Brassierie in Istana Hotel, KL.



Demona: My aunt had been good friends with a manager working here, and she managed to pull some strings, getting us a private room to dine in.



Demona: Ample fresh seafood made available. Too bad my tummy was a little weak since morning (bad bad sarawak mee the night before), hence I had to ease on the raw food. I only took an oyster, with lemon and tabasco sauce. SLURPYYYY SLURP!



Demona: I am known to be sugar high. Fail miserably when it comes to resisting desserts. The cheese and chocolate cake slices were chanting to me, "Pick me! Pick me!" Thus, I took one of each. Alas! The chocolate cake was a major let down. One bite of it, was more than enough. Its texture was too powdery and saturated, much like eating a brownie that was left in the freezer for a long, long time. The cheese cake, was so so. Not bad, as it was quite cheesy yet not overly done till it choked down your throat.



Demona: This, rekindled my memories of Sutera Harbour's Five Sails restaurant. The biggie prawns! With tuna bits and fish roe toppings (they were big in size! I actually felt the roe bursting in my mouth), and one half of a passion fruit beneath the prawn.



Demona: Sashimi! DROOLS. I ate the sashimis, but (Naughty, me) I left the sausage layers beneath them behind. The sashimis were quite thickly sliced, and savoury. I enjoyed them very much.



Demona: Chocolate fondue. JENGJENGJENG. Continuous flow of molten chocolate. Any girl's magic potion to happiness.



Demona: I took two sticks ( strawberries and marshmallows) and dipped them in the magic potion. They tasted briliant! I wished that the chocolate was bitter sweet though. I would have taken a few more sticks then.



Demona: This was the roast lamb with mint leaves. When I saw this, uncut, I imagined it to be aromatic, tender, juicy with a combination of crunchy layered skin. Unfortunately, it was a total opposite! The meat was over cooked. Its texture was rubbery, much like chewing down a gum.



Demona: I am a HUGE fan of broccoli and cauliflower. When I saw this dish, I got all excited thinking that this was a cauliflower, cooked in a unique way. I had never seen it looking like this before. I was totally wrong. It was mashed potato, which tasted like dhall.



Demona: ICE CREAM. ICE CREAM. My eyes widened and gleamed when I saw the ice cream section.



Demona: I took a scoop of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Tossed in some chocolate chips, almond flakes, and to top it all, I drizzled over some hot chocolate fudge on top of it. The ice cream was so, so smooth. The experience was orgasmic. What else could be better than smooth, sweet ice cream with crunchy chocolate chips, almond flakes fused with hot fudge melting in your mouth?

Being females.. ONCE, is not enough.

HENCE....

HENCE....

HENCE....

HENCE....



Demona: Second round! This time around, I went over to the main buffet section and threw in the macadamia and almond nuts. (These are not cheap, CHIAK MORE!)



Demona: I was not the only kiasu person around. My uncle, who happens to be a all-time fan of nuts, took a plateful of macadamias, almonds, walnuts and cashew nuts, munching away like a chipmunk. He did not realise that I took a shot of his plate.

Verdict: The buffet cost was RM65++/ pax. My aunt managed to pull some strings, hence the cost per head was much cheaper, and we got our parking fees free of charge. The range of food offered in the buffet meal tonight was skewed more towards Indian dishes (more vegetables) because today was Deepavali.

The dishes tasted alright, slightly above average, but the services offered by the restaurant staff made our meal very enjoyable. The manager in charge (Zel) was very friendly and helpful. Every now and then, he dropped by to our room and made small chats, sharing with us about his work experiences. (Maybe we received this great service, was due to the fact that my aunt had spoken to the manager friend of hers the day before). Nevertheless, whatever reasons they could be, Zel and the other restaurant staffs around did made our meal a happy experience.

Magellan Sutera Harbour@Kota Kinabalu

I have heard so much about this place, and finally, my business trip gave me an opportunity to spend the weekend here. It was a short trip, extremely busy. Sad to say, I had no time at all to scout around the place on my own. I only realised that my room was nearby the gorgeous harbour, filled from little boats, to lovely yachts, when I had a quick swim at 6 am this morning (Mind you, the sun rises at 5.30 am and sets at 6 pm).



I had a drink and a pie with my boss in a local cafe at KLIA, while waiting for the rest to arrive. I swore to finish every last drop of my drink and inch of the pastry, knowing my nescafe tarik cost RM 6.90 and the pie cost RM 9.90 (excluding the ++ taxes).

Friday night at Sutera Harbour:

All the meals that we had were hotel buffet food (there were a total pax of 45 for this meeting). Thus, I was careful on my selection of food. When it comes to buffet, you have to manage your calories well. Do not waste them on the lousier dishes. Hence, the plate of smoked sashimis and smoked black pepper tuna.



I took some roast beef, fried fish with sweet and sour sauce, and some stir fried kailans as they looked appealing to me. Never judge a book by its cover. I only managed to finish up the fish. The beef was too chewy and the kailans were a little undercooked. Unfortunately, the pict of the sliced roast lamb with rosemary sauce went missing. This, was the BEST of all dishes served tonight. SLURPS!



Oh wait! I found the pict of the sliced roast lamb! Drooling..

Saturday at SH:

My mind managed to control my motor functions to stop myself from indulging in those sinful pastries/cakes delights on Friday night. Sadly, my motor functions overpowered my "strong-willed" mind. Those pretty cakes will now hibernate with me in my tummy. This is a chocolate cake, with white chocolate swirls in the middle and on top of the smooth, sweet, creamy chocolate cream. This was the best of all cakes served for the night.



This was the baked cheese cake. Very delicious as well, not the best I've tasted though. The biscuit crust on the bottom was a little too salty for my liking. Finished this slice as well.



I have no idea what was the name of this cake, but from my tastebuds, I think it was a walnut cake with chocolate cream. This was bad. The cake was too dry. I left it aside after my first taste of it.



The seafood kebab and barbequed squid was good. Not oily at all, so it would not irritate your digestive system.



This was the lamb kebab, barbequed beef and sting ray wrapped in pandan leaf. The lamb and beef were overcooked! I could hardly chew them down. The barbeque man did an extremely bad job on the meat part. The sting ray, however, was good. Marinated with curry paste, you could not detect any fishy smell (showing it was fresh) and a spicy tangy curry paste blended well with its meat.



This was the apple crusted pie. YUCKed. Left it aside as well after my first tasting attempt.

Sunday at SH:

I have forgotten to snap photos of my breakfast meals. Sorry! But there was nothing to shout about on their breakfast meal servings. I only had toasted wholemeal bread with some salami for both mornings.
The BEST meal in this trip was our Sunday lunch buffet. SEAFOOD. Fresh, fresh, fresh seafood. I love sashimi. Thus, you could see them on my plate, AGAIN. The jelly fish salad next to the sashimi, was really crunchy and they added a really nice dressing to the jelly fish. And, the prawns...THE PRAWNSSSSSSS... They were the size of an average chipsmore cookie (HEAVEN). I had, probably about 6 to 7 prawns.



Check it out. The prawn meat was "oh so sweet!"



This was the fish cake. YUCKed. I only dug out the fish roe, and left the whole fish cake aside. Could barely taste any fish in it. Fully coated with flour.



This next pic (DROOLS), was good as well. The stuffed crab was, let's put it, sincere. The crab meat tasted really strong. The slipper lobster dressed with mushroom sauce, was interesting as well. It tasted a little more oily compared to the prawn, but I liked it. (This was my FIRST time, eating lobster meat). The little bowl behind, was filled with mini octopus mixed with avocado and mango chopped bits. Hard to describe how it exactly tasted like. It was sweet, due to the mayonaise and mango, but the avocado neutralised it a little bit, plus a crunchy, chewy mini octopus texture.



Those were the pile of delicious grilled slipper lobsters!




Here were some non-food picts. Some views of Sutera Harbour's beach. The lunch buffet was held next to this gorgeous view. What more can you have, a hearty meal, nice warm breeze blowing on your face and a scenic view to enjoy your food with.



This brownie like cake was the winner of all the cakes/pastries for today. I gobbled down two of them. It was chewy, and the chocolate was bittersweet. I want to learn how to make this one day.



This was a slice of tiramisu. YUCKed. I left it aside.



Some jelly with fruits on a nice glass. Looked really pretty and delicious. Yet again, never judge a book by its covers. YUCKed.



This was a slice of strawberry yogurt cake. YUCKed.



DROOLS. The rows and rows of prawn decorated on the salad bowls. I just realised there was a fly on one of the prawns after uploading the photographs. Gosh. I hope I won't need to see much of my "throne" tonight.

Verdict:
Due to work, I had no time at all to venture around. However, Sutera Harbour is a really beautiful place. The room, however, was too expensive for me. If the company was not paying for my stay here, I would need to calculate my finances carefully before deciding to come and stay here. My room was RM 300-400 per night. I flew here via MAS airlines, costing me RM 998. The buffet meals were ALRIGHT, as this would probably be standard anywhere else either. Some dishes would be really good, some will hit the negative delicious scale.
Sutera Harbour? Definitely a place, for some quiet, peaceful romancing and sea activities.
TING TING TING TING.