Buka Puasa Di Latest Recipe, Hotel Le Meridien

The recurring annual festivals are a reminder of how quickly time is passing us by. It seemed like yesterday that I was enjoying the Soup Gearbox in The Melting Pot, Concorde, and before you know it, the invitations for Buka Puasa reviews start to flow in again this year. This year however, some hotels have even started previews of the Ramadan fare before the start of the fasting month, I guess perhaps to give the media a headstart as to the available options out there, and believe me, the options are many.

To be honest, I am not a buffet fan. Going to a buffet I feel is like buying a CD. There are rarely more than one or two songs that I usually like in an entire album, and likewise, in that vast cornucopia of food choice, I'll be lucky to stumble across one or two items, and eating in a buffet is like playing culinary russian roulette. So over the years, I've wisened up, and take only very miniscule portions as a reconnaisance move, and IF I like something, at least I wouldn't have been filled to the brim.

The first of such buffets this year that I went for is the one in Latest Recipe. Actually, the buffet here has always been above average, I felt, because the Indian Food section is nice, and I also like the Teppanyaki section, with its Teppanyaki beef. In the days of yore, when Latest Recipe was indeed the Latest, they even had scallops in the Teppanyaki, but I guess that is now but a distant memory.


I love zeroing in on the desserts counter. I loved the fact that this one had vast choice in fruits, and the Chief Food Editor of Malay Mail and I had a wonderful time eating a lot of those lovely lychees, ...the ones with the teeny weeny seed and lots of sweet succulent flesh. The other thing that is quite outstanding in Latest Recipe is their Belgian waffles. Lovely crispy on the outside, and moist and melt in the mouth on the inside.


There are cuisines to represent all the major components of the Barisan Nasional parties, ie, Malay, Indian and Chinese. I love the Gulai Paru, (lung), and the serunding, from the traditional Malay section. As I said earlier, the Indian section is really very very good. For those with an appetite for carbs at dinner, the briyanis and naans are superb.


A lot of vegetable choices too, from Ulams, to stir fried chinese, to make your own Caesar Salads, or any other salads.


The teppenyaki station is definitely not to be missed, and the salmon sashimi is also worth spending the stomach space on.



Chef Zubir, Celebrity Chef (one of the judges of Malaysia Master Chef) shares with the media, and this entire Ramadan spread is themed REDEFINING TRADITIONAL MALAY CUISINE. Other specialty dishes include Sup Jernih Udang Galah, Ikan Kerapu Ranggup, Rusuk Lemby Panggang A La Mongolia, Pengat Durian and much more. He explains that the difference between the roti jala eaten as a savoury, vs eaten as a dessert is the former is usually yellow, whereas the lacy pancake served with the pengat durian is white. Now, THAT was GOOD.

Throughout the fasting month, the buffet is RM128for adults, and RM64 for children, from Mondays to Friday from 6.30-10.30. BUT if you go from 9pm onwards, its only RM88(A)/RM44(K), but only for Mon- Thurs. On Saturday and Sunday, its RM118 and RM59.

Call 03-22637434 to book.