Marriott Cafe

Last night’s buffet was a doozy. I don’t even know where to begin.

Let’s begin with ribbing our guests. One guest, whom we shall refer to as Thin, went for the piled-high plate route, thus ending up with only three plates total. Other guest, J’s Brother From The Same Mother, also had three plates, but with an average amount of food for each. Oh sure he was a lot of talk, but let me tell you the eating was few and far between.



The setting was very nice, with high ceilings and wall to wall windows, giving you a feeling of space hard won in this city and a panoramic view. In the middle of the lounge was a tea display in the Old Chinese style, with hefty jars of tea lining shelves and a step ladder for the proprietor (really a fancily dressed waiter) to fetch the tea. All in all, a great atmosphere for enjoying good food and conversation.

But there’s always a catch. All night, music was blaring from the inexplicably proximate little night club for tourists. Lounge acts wearing flesh-toned skimpy dresses, which were not only stretchy but also cinchable in all strategic areas (leading J to remark, “Mariah Carey”) covered everything from the Carpenters to the Enrique Eglesias (the lesser Eglesias). It was noise pollution.



The food made up for it all. With clean displays and thoughtfully pre-arranged portions, the food was pleasing to the eye as well to the palate. Even the staff were friendly and well informed.



First Plate: Thanks to sound buffet strategy, I arrived (late) with a stomach ready to go. I was hungry and that fact was reflected in my first plate; a mish mash of stuff that would make food combining adherents shrink back in horror. Mold-riddled brie (yum) with a paper-thin bread product, a slice of Chorizo sausage, a chocolate drenched profiterole, duck slices on a bed of lettuce, and a hot beef tamale with guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Everything was fresh tasting and delectable. Both the tamale and Chorizo could have been spicier, but



Second Plate: I decided to re-visit my roots and make selections from the Asian spread. It was a mix of sushi and dim sum housed in giant steamers. I sampled a few hunks of sushi, including California roll, but concentrated largely on the dim sum. This included a steamed pork bun, Shanghai dumplings with red vinegar sauce, steamed glutinous rice (my favorite), a shark fin dumpling and steamed fish bits with rice attractively packaged in a round bamboo container. I was widely disparaged for choosing the glutinous rice for being an anti-buffet stomach filler, but I could not resist. Some dishes, whenever and wherever you see them, you have to have.

Overall this plate was satisfying, but as individual selections, not so much. The pork bun seemed to have raw bits inside. It was tasty, but easily abandoned. The dumplings were not as soupy as they could have been. The shark fin dumpling was just an anomaly and chosen out of curiosity. The steamed fish was very, very good – moist and tasty. However, the bed of rice on which it lounged was a little nubby.



Third Plate: The obligatory dessert break. Guest Thin objected strongly to this concept, but was simply reassured that he was brainwashed by the Western Powers that be - the same people responsible for that ridiculous Food Pyramid. Three chocolate drenched profiteroles, a dish of strawberries and blueberries with a dollop of cream, something called a terrine (just a generic pastry), one spoonful of tiramisu and one spoonful of bitter sweet chocolate mousse. They know how to do dessert around these parts. The profiteroles were a keeper, as evidenced by my repeat tastings (more to come). The berry dish was refreshing, with cream that was just milky sweet enough but not overwhelming. The terrine was the only inconsequential dish – like the guy in the office who does his job but otherwise doesn’t make a difference and goes largely unnoticed. The bittersweet chocolate was a Holy Grail of chocolates. It was just pure chocolate. It made me feel like one of the characters on those Japanese cookery cartoons who bites into something and immediately goes into a reverie, with the backdrop falling away to reveal a scenic lake while they wax poetic about the taste sensations. The ideal dish for those periodic chocolate cravings. The tiramisu was nice and fluffy.



Fourth Plate: Tapas time. Black olives, carrot dip, unidentified dip, roasted squash, grilled mushroom, toasted baguette slices and a slice of pita. The tapas spread was very nice looking, being flanked by an assortment of olive oils. Most of the tapas were very good, especially the juicy mushroom, but I officially think that olive lovers are weird. Olives are just sour, thoroughly unpleasant things.

Fifth Plate: Mini lamb chop on a scoop of mashed potatoes, garlic mussel in clam shell and hot beef tamale. The scrumptious tamale deserved another go. The mussel was very nice, flavorful and small. The lamb was average, but the mashed potatoes were nice and savory.



Around this time, we discovered that the buffet package included the fine teas served by the Lounge, which made it a very good deal indeed. Thin ordered a very British Earl Grey, J had some blended concoction, J’s bro had a fancy Chinese Jasmine tea that had to be poured twice and I chose the China Black Rose tea. Do not order the China Black Rose tea. Although I am amenable to most teas, this one was just strange. I ended up cultivating a subconscious desire for Thin’s tea, culminating in pouring myself a full cup of it right under his nose. But do not let this deter you. The selection of teas here is varied and wonderful.



Sixth Plate: The final plate – desserts. Chocolate-made dish with custardy cream, another dish of berries, cheese cake, berry cake and one final profiterole. Having been done in by all those profiteroles, I only had a dainty sample of the chocolate dish with the generous helping of cream. It was very satisfying, the cream not too sweet or heavy and just the right complement for the chocolate shell. The cheese cake seemed to be quite nicely done, but by that time my taste buds were a little numb. The fruits were appropriately refreshing at this time.

While I put the finishing touches on this marathon meal, J was already in full recline mode. Thankfully, the chairs were big and comfy – very conducive to buffet eating. In total, we had been eating for 3 hours straight, and it was all we could do to stop from passing out in our seats.

Although we were quite obviously in Hong Kong, the Western dishes far bested the Asian ones. The overall quality was the best we had experienced so far, and I would like to ordain this as our default buffet. It definitely merits a second visit.