Buffet...

Roasted potatoes and it was unanimous that these were among of the best roasted potatoes we've taken anywhere. You know how much kids love potato wedges. Well, this is even better than any of the wedges that we've taken.

And these potato pieces topped my boy's list of food taken the most times for this particular food outing. Spicy, soft and juicy, I found them delicious. I think honey is one of the ingredients used in its preparations but the combination of herbs and everything else the chef put in seem to make them taste very good.

And they were part of this buffet spread made up of really yummy displays. They tasted just as good as they looked!

The makan place was the g Cafe at Gurney Drive. I like the decor; chic urban modern. The dining area is spacious and one gets a view of the happenings around Gurney Plaza. I have always liked the way the big old trees were preserved when they built this place and sitting in a concrete building with lots of windows looking into the greens amidst a park-like feel was rather relaxing. And we were in no rush to do other things except to eat. 8)

Penang is a hawker haven. You get really good food; cheap and delicious almost everywhere. Eating in Penang is an adventure of its own. Because you get good food everywhere, hotel food pales in comparison. After all, hotel food is usually just that... hotel food; which is almost predictable. But this spread was a different hotel food experience.

My salad mix... I was spoilt for choices. Mixed bean salad, mussels which were really succulent, and generally everything was nice. They had more than enough types of salad dressings to keep me happy. I tried 4 before giving up. My stomach isn't just as it used to be... which is one reason why we generally don't go for buffets. My kids are small eaters too. But we decided to do something different for a change this time.

This buffet had a really nice spread... Irish stew, Money Bags, egg foo yong, salmon, chicken.. the list is just so long that everyone will find a few things they like. The prawns were really yummy; really moist and soft. My girl took a small hill of them and I stuffed in quite a few too! 8) Even Other Half who usually steer clear of prawns couldn't resist taking a bite! I notice that the portions they put out on the buffet spread were small, which meant that the chef was constantly replenishing them. It makes the food taste like a sit-down meal.

The soups were good. This is the lotus soup. The soup was soothing and everything else in it nicely cooked. Really clear soup.... really sweet too.

This was the carrot and coriander soup. See the Mickey in it??? Other Half added a big dash of parmesan into it. The breads were nice and fresh. With a little butter on them, and this soup as the dip, it was another winner. Basically I've not much to complain about except for this little one thing. The watermelon we took was, I think, too ripe or perhaps cut and left too long there. It had a 'sourish' taste to it.

Not forgetting too the desserts. There were just too many to even begin but suffice to say, they kept both my kids and Jov happy. I had wanted to give Jov a nice treat for her willingness to come and sit with my girl and help her with her lessons before going off for her studies these last few months. I also wanted for her (and us) to have something nice as memories. She made me realize that my girl needed extra coaching for some of her subjects and had taught me a thing of two how to make the connections in Mandarin. And the outing was a nice one. Anyway, the cakes were actually good. Most hotel (even some 5-star ones) have cakes which taste too dry and not rich enough. Most of the sweet stuff they had there were yummy enough to make you go for seconds!

I tried almost all the major items but left out Murtabak, crackers and many of the desserts. My final 'food' was a cup of rather strong coffee that was delivered to the table steaming hot.

Priced at RM58 per person; children below 12 get a 50% discount, this buffet is good enough to make us think of going back to try their other culinary adventures. Saturday lunch deal is the Family Lunch. There are different themes for different days and meals like Surf and Turf, Indian Curries, Shell, etc, etc.. all priced differently. As for me, this is one buffet that didn't taste like a hotel buffet. Definitely a good experience cos you get so many nice stuff in one sitting.