Nikko Hotel Buffet

When I friend called on Saturday to know if I would like to go to a lunch buffet yesterday, I agreed…only for your sake, of course!

Nikko in TST East was the place chosen and the boy and I arrived more or less on time. Unfortunately, my friends had warned me that they would be a touch late… I don’t mind a bit of tardiness but the buffet was calling me…taunting me with its promise of deliciousness. I had been awake for a good 4 hours prior to the lunch and had only a tiny bowl of muesli to keep me going until this buffet (see, good buffet strategizing…too hungry and you load up too much too soon, too full and you don’t get your money’s worth). I prowled around the buffet just to ‘check it out’. I did it again. I couldn’t stand it. I said I’d get a small bowl of soup first. I stood up and lo and behold, here came my friends. Who thought I was just being ultra polite in standing at their arrival. And who berated me for not starting first. (D’oh!)

So off we went. The buffet was not large but was had very promising stations. There was the beef station, cooked foods station, sashimi station with chilled shellfish, a paratha station with a Malay chef making the parathas fresh (along with some truly delicious ginger chai tea), a noodle station and a desert station with fresh made crepes and an ice cream machine. Although the lack of chocolate fountain was a slight oversight, it was more than made up for by the quality of food available.

I started of (of course) with a plate of oysters and chilled soba noodles. These thin (more like somen to me) pink noodles were cooked well, without any mushiness flavored delicately with sakura (I think) flowers. Beautiful and deliciously fresh.


The oysters were sweet but did not taste as sea fresh as I would have liked.


The sashimi available was the ubiquitous salmon and tuna. These were ok but not anything spectacular. I paired it with a unnamed sushi piece and amaebi sushi. The rice was not well formed and fell apart with my chopsticks. The other sushi piece was full of mayonnaise. So I turned my attention elsewhere for the rest of the buffet.

I had a slice of what I believe is prime rib rather than roast beef. It was deliciously tender and served with horseradish (definite plus points for having horseradish rather than just mustard even though it was not fresh and tasted like it came from a jar).

The next dish I tried was oden. I lurrrrve oden. It is a Japanese soy soup base with lots of add ins such as konjaku (a slightly gelatinous foodstuffs made from yam starch, incredibly healthy and can be a substitute for simple carbs like pasta as they come in all different shapes including thin noodle like strands), turnip, fish balls, and various others. This is a very simple dish but I love it. In Taiwan this is eaten a lot with tien-bu-la and pig-blood-rice-cake. This version was ok but I was impressed that they had it at a buffet but given that Nikko is part of a Japanese hotel chain, I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised.

I was then in the mood for noods. I love noodle soup as well, although I rarely find a noodle station at a buffet I like. I feel that they rarely use good stock and good quality noodles. I tempted fate and ordered the wonton type noodles with the Japanese pork bone broth (a little milky and should be assertively fragrant with porky goodness) with add ins such as: gai lan, Japanese preserved bamboo shoots (definite plus!!), faux shredded crab meat, that pretty but weird flowery fish cake with pink swirl, and chicken and mushroom wontons. With it of course, was a small bowl of vinegar and chili sauce. It was yum. Very yum. The noodles were “song” in that they crunched with good tooth-yield and the soup base was very nice although weaker than I would have liked. The only disappointment was the gai lan which was tough and past its prime. I have to say this is the best noodle station at a buffet that I’ve ever had, which is saying something!

Finally I had to yield to dessert. I had a small trio of three. A chocolate one (of course), a walnut mille feuille and a raspberry tart.

The raspberry tart was fantastic, beautifully presented, it rested not on a bed of cheap cream as is often the case, but unctuous dark chocolate ganache. The chocolate square was divine as well. Not too sweet, I could discern only about 1 millimeter of cake at the bottom and centre, with the rest filled with dense chocolate mousse. It was also covered in a shiny thin coating of ganache. The mille feuille was forgettable, didn’t crunch beneath my fork and didn’t have the layers which is its namesake.

The ginger chai tea with sweet paratha (peanut butter, butter, sugar and flaked coconut) was a fabulous finish. Especially since the lovely cheery Malay chef made it especially spicy for me.

Overall the buffet was very good, high quality although some people may find the selection a bit small than they would have liked. However, this is the best bit. ..the price.

Outstanding value at $184+10% service and including a drink.

We lucked out even more as one of our party had a 20% discount card!

Cafe Serena
1st floor, Hotel Nikko Hongkong,
72 Mody Road,
Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon.
Tel: +852 2313 4222

Lunch Buffet (12:00 nn - 2:30 pm)
Monday to Friday
Adult : HK$170 Child : HK$130
Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays
Adult : HK$185 Child : HK$145

Dinner Buffet (6:30 pm - 9:30 pm)
Monday to Thursday
Adult : HK$308 Child : HK$198
Friday to Sunday and Public Holidays
Adult : HK$338 Child : HK$218

All prices are subject to 10% service charge
Free parking (1 hour)

Nomads

Preparation for today’s buffet began with a lunch time belly dancing session at the Oasis Dance Centre (shout out to Mey Jen!). It’s been a long time since we’ve done this, and I figured I needed some sort of physical conditioning.

Today’s buffet setting was chosen, perhaps unwisely, with the help of a coupon book. Unable to resist a 2-for-1 buffet, we hiked deep into TST to find Nomads, nestled among a bunch of bridal boutiques. The busy kitchen, an integral part of this buffet experience, was on full view to passers-by.



Upon entering the establishment, we were greeted with the appetite-reducing sight of a kitchen staff worker sorting salad with both a gloved and ungloved hand. The buffet spread was meager and a little dull looking. I had to adjust to the fact that what was billed as a ‘Mongolian buffet’ simply meant make your own pizza and noodles, and have some appetizers and dessert while you’re at it.





The décor was halfway interesting, with animal hide lampshades, fur draped chairs and other outbacky touches.





First plate: Unappetizing appetizers. Corn and bean salad, pumpkin, Japanese seaweed salad (can’t remember what this is called), rice ball topped with eel and a tiny preserved octopus doused with sauce - I only took this because it looked cute tucked into its own little bowl.




Second plate: First pizza. Still confused at the decidedly non-Mongolian food, I tentatively took a shot at creating my own pizza. I took a pan from the pizza base stand, and layered on standard pizza fare such as tomatoes, mushrooms and a dash of garlic. Placing the pizza pan and a tag number at the kitchen counter, I retreated back to my table for the wait. Approximately 10 minutes later, a freshly baked pie arrived. Flavours were not bad.




Tiny dessert break: Custard cups with sake (couldn’t taste no sake) and little green tea cheesecake cubes. The cheesecakes tasted a little powdery.

Third plate: Bored already, I decided that the only way to go was to make crrraaaazzy pizzas. My first source of inspiration was to sculpt a pizza likeness of someone I know. Quite a convincing likeness, if I do say so myself. Arguably, it could also be someone you know.


Fourth plate: Garlic madness pizza. I boldly approached the bowl of minced garlic meant only for flavouring and proceeded to heap it on. And they baked that crazy shit.


Stuffed to the hilt with pizza, I had to stop. My partner-in-buffet matched me plate for plate, and maybe more, in noodle bowls.

I wasn’t feeling in the mood for noodly fry-ups, but they seem to be the better choice at this restaurant. There is quite a healthy range of meats and sauces, although nothing particularly interesting for a foodie. At close to $200 per buffet, you should have a serious noodle craving to feast here and feel satisfied.

Alternatively, you might be 5 years old and carrying all sorts of ideas for crrraaazzy pizzas around in your head, but with no outlet. Nomads is for you.

Any ideas to reconcile the pizza and noodles as Mongolian buffet phenomenon greatly appreciated.

Korean cheap but not so chic

Last night, I lead some friends into a foray for cheap canto-Korean oinkfest buffet. HK$108 and it was all you could eat with 3 types of drink (sour plum juice, honey dew melon juice and soy bean drink).



The buffet was split into about 4 categories. On the right side of the buffet was all the raw food designed for the grill in the middle of our table. The left side of the buffet contained all the cooked food. On top of the sneeze guard (useless in this instance), was all the sushi (which went regrettably unnoticed by one of our group until the very end) and the right and left of the main buffet was flanked with the extras, such as desserts, including a freezer full of ice cream, and soup.


The night began innocently enough as it was only me and an old friend with a small platter of bites including some florescent green marinated Japanese style seaweed with sesame seeds, some stir fried Korean vermicelli with vegetables, marinated radish and cukes.

Then, as more people joined us, the oinkfest really got underway. Platters of marinated meat was brought over to the grill, including marinated spicy pork, pork neck meat (incredibly fatty but tender), fish, salmon head, beef,
squid tentacles,



baby whole squid, cheese sausages (?!?), fake crab sticks (which I learnt is called seafood extenders!), curry chicken wings, pork ribs, a variety of fish balls,

“Dor Chun Yu” (literally many roe fish)



and many others.






We ate.

and ate.

and ate.

and ate.

Until we could eat no more.

Except for ice cream........ Huge bowls of ice cream rounded off the meal nicely.

Hugs all around as I rolled my buffetbuff belly home.

Korean Restaurant (not sure of the English name)
467 Hennessy Road
(Multiple Locations)

So Wrong

Children pay buffet fee by weight
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-29 08:48

A buffet restaurant in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District recently introduced a new type of charging standard.

The restaurant requires children who are shorter than 140 centimetres to pay according to their weight.

For example, a child who weighs 25 kilograms will be asked to pay 25 yuan (US$3.125) while one who weighs 26 kilograms pay 26 yuan (US$3.25).

Excelsior

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Apologies dear readers, who have been waiting with baited breath about which buffet was to be tackled next.

I went to Excelsior the other day with my extended family. We became the distended family afterwards, having to lug that bloated thing we like to call tummy around town.

First of all, the spread. It was excellent.

Chocolate fountain? Check.
Fresh oysters shucked on demand? Check.
Haagen Daaz ice cream? Check.
Tea and coffee included in the buffet? Check.
Whole salmon carved on demand? Check

I started off modestly with a plate of freshly shucked oysters.

They were goooooooooood (plus they didn't give me the runs afterwards, double score!). I believe they had a few types of oysters from around the world. For an oyster lover like me, it was bliss!!


My second plate consisted of sashimi (loads of salmon was available and I love the fact they were not stingy with it and didn't wait until people whimpered by the sashimi platter before refilling it), fluorescent green seaweed salad, tiny mozza balls with pesto tomatoes and some beef carpaccio which was so tender I had to have a second helping to make sure I was tasting it correctly.

See, this plate had a bit of everything. Repeats of the oyster, salmon and seaweed salad with a bit of freshly sliced smoked salmon dolloped with sour cream, a bit of lamb rogan josh and some curried veg.

What you don't see (because I'm messy and splashed the bowl and plate) is the lobster bisque which was, how do you say it? DIVINE!! No matter that it had chucks of shrimp rather than lobster (which caused me no more than a moment's hesitation due to my allergy to shirmp), it was still creamy, rich and utterly delicious. You know when you really, really want to lick the bowl? It was lick the bowl good.

I had a few small bites in between and then came to my last plate. Chocolate covered pineapple and dragon fruit, bits of cheese and a choco tart. The tart was very average, the fruit and chocolate fab as always and blue cheese, brie and swiss went down very well. I'm not ashamed to say I ate about 3 or 4 more of those chocolate covered fruit sticks. I'm just sad I didn't eat more.


Cafe on the First, The Excelsior,
281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
(852) 2894 8888

Price: HK$338 (I think...I don't quite recall)
But you get the following discounts with HSBC Visa Platinum:
5-12 diners - 30% off
3-4 diners - 25% off
2 diners - 20% off

Imasa - Penninsula Hotel

After reportedly trying for 2 seasons to go for the very popular Imasa Japanese buffet, my Aunt managed to secure a table to celebrate both my birthday as well as her own.

We arrived about 15 minutes after the opening of the buffet and, after having fasted most of the day, my parents, brother and I were ravenous. My Aunt, the original buffetbuff, infamous for eating huge amounts of food while still maintaining her svelte figure, is also famous for loudly berating one in public for not eating enough....especially when its a buffet.....and especially if she's the one paying.....and if it is particularly expensive, which this was. So, all of us, having been cowed into starving half to death was half salivating at the thought of food by the time we walked in. There were about 3/4 tables already occupied and I don't believe that the whole venue could fit more than about 30 tables.

I took a quick look around the buffet for an assessment. The first thing that caught my eye was the luscious, spectacularly impressive and hideously coloured uni. One of my absolute favorites, the rich, sea urchin was fresh, bright and usually prohibitively expensive. And it was there, all laid out in a platter, approximately six little pieces to each of the tiny wood boards which covered the ice filled platter. It was glorious to behold. Next to this was toro, also prohibitively expensive, white, fatty and lots of it!!! The toro melted in the mouth and was so tender and fresh, it was a delight to bite into. The uni I had with everything, pickled ginger, stuffed into my California handroll and even in my congee.

I nearly blanked out the rest but have no fear, loyal readers, I persisted in examining the remaining fare. There were some chewy abalone, decent sized, braised in Sake, lovely miso soup, crab congee, lovely amaebi (fresh sweet shrimp), regular tuna, salmon, hamachi, as well as a small salad bar, hot items such as miso cod (yummm), steamed egg custard with seafood, chicken patties and other Japanese hot foods. On the "to order" menu was bowls of slippery Japanese noodles, hand rolls (including a refreshing California handroll, a fried shark's fin hand roll, and others), fried pork katsu with plum sauce and green tea, black sesame and mandarin orange ice cream. The dessert section had mainly fruit and a small selection of sweets such as green tea cake and crystal mochi.

What can I say? It was small but absolutely delicious. I loved it all but went home feeling rather like a pregnant whale.

Definitely worth a go but only if you love uni and toro enough to offset the cost!

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.