One… two… three… action!
April 12, 2018
Just a short flight of steps up
from The Westin KL’s main entrance, The Living Room is buzzing with action. Everywhere
I look, I see chefs carving, blanching, boiling, roasting and pulling dough.
A
lot of the food is cooked a la minute but for those who cannot wait, there’s
always something to fill your plate with.
This Ramadan, The Living Room could
well represent the kampung community kitchen for its Juadah Iftar Kampung
Buffet. Even tables are decorated with a dried banana flower petal filled with
jering (dogfruit), long bean, four angled bean, petai (stinky bean), onion, hard
boiled salted egg and deepfried salted fish.
In one corner, a 3-piece traditional
Malay band strums and drums to entertain diners.
But wait, let’s start with cold
drinks. Take your pick of soya bean milk, tembikai susu (honeydew), Bandung
Cincau, Selasih (basil seeds) or sugar cane juice as well as hot tea/coffee.
 |
| Acar-acar (from left) Jelatah, Rampai and Fruit Acar |
Then move on to the appetisers.
There’s nothing to awaken the tastebuds after a long day of fasting like crispy
salted fish and sambal or pickles such as Fruit Acar, Acar Jelatah and Acar
Rampai, Fried Tempe & Tofu, Keropok
Inang-Inang and Keropok Ubi Kayu (tapioca). Crunch! Crunch! Deepfried quails
make easy picking too.
 |
| Vietnamese Spring Rolls |
Goi Cuon (Vietnamese spring rolls)
disappeared almost immediately. Definitely a crowd favourite though some prefer
ulam-ulam with sambal, Gado-gado, Rojak Mamak, Fruit Rojak and the range of
kerabu such as Kerabu Pucuk Paku, Kerabu Perut with Glass Noodles, Kerabu
Daging Salai and Kerabu Limau Bali.
 |
| Chinese Corner with (from left) yong tofu, fresh cockles and Hainanese Chicken Rice |
 |
| Char Kway Teow with prawn, egg and chives |
Cauldrons keep soup hot. These
include Sup Tulang Rawan, Creamy Chicken Soup and Sichuan Soup.
On one side, the Indian and
Chinese kitchen chefs are busy spinning dough for roti bomb, blanching yong
tofu and fresh cockles, frying char kway teow and chopping chicken for
Hainanese Chicken Rice.
 |
| Variety of condiments and sauces at the Mee Celup and Nasi Air Berlauk Station |
I am fascinated by the Mee Celup,
Curry Laksa and Nasi Air Berlauk station. For Mee Celup, a Kelantan specialty, diners
pick their choice of noodles (kway teow, wantan noodles, yellow mee,
vermicelli) and condiments which are blanched and beef/chicken soup added. Then
they can add more cooked condiments such as sliced chicken & beans,
turmeric squid and tripe.
Nasi Air Berlauk is grainy rice
congee that you add your favourite condiments to, such as beef lung, tripe,
turmeric beef, turmeric squid, salted egg, fried dace, anchovies, salted fish,
kangkung, crispy garlic flakes, scallions, sesame oil, and more.
 |
| Take your pick of ingredients and the chef will cook it for you in Asam Pedas sauce |
Another action station worth
queueing at is Claypot Asam Pedas, with 3 choices: Asam Pedas Tempoyak, Asam
Pedas Nyonya and Asam Pedas Johor. Haven’t tried the first two but the Johor
version has the right piquancy. Diners also get to choose the ingredients
from the line-up of prawn, mussel, chicken, fish, salted vegetable, spinach,
mushroom, tomato and lady finger.
 |
| Fish Head Curry |
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| Green Sambal Chicken |
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| Hot Clams |
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| Stirfried turmeric cabbage |
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| Labu Pucuk Manis |
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| Ketam Masak Lemak Nenas in giant kawah |
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| Row of kawah filled with curries and more including Sambal Petai Prawn |
 |
| Satay Celup |
If you are not bothered to wait
for your food to cook, fill your plate with Chicken & Beef Satay Celup,
Kuah Kacang, Chicken Rendang to go with Nasi Impit, Roti Jala, Lemang and
Ketupat Palas. Add to that Turmeric Fried Cabbage, Fish Head Curry, Honey
Chicken and the specials from the kawah (giant wok) lined up in a row. These
are filled with Stirfried Turmeric Longbean, Labu Pucuk Manis Lemak Putih, Hot
Spicy Clams, Ketam Masak Lemak Nenas, Petai Prawn, Green Sambal Chicken, Gulai
Keting Kambing Keluak.
 |
| Whole Roasted Lamb with biryani and egg |
 |
| Pasta station |
 |
| Salt Crusted Whole Baked Seabass |
 |
| Roasted Chicken with Coconut Sambal |
A Spiced Whole Roasted Lamb is
offered with Nasi Biryani and Boiled Egg while next to the pasta station are BBQ
Beef Ribs with Roasted Vegetables, Salt Crusted Whole Baked Seabass with Hollandaise
sauce and Roasted Chicken with Coconut Sambal.
 |
| Delectable dessert choices |
 |
| Chocolate Banana Cake |
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| Malay kuih muih |
Dessert beckons. Set in a separate
room with the drinks counter are fresh fruit, chocolate fountain, Malay kuih
muih –Kuih Keria, Cendol Jelly, Selasih Jelly, Tapai Pulut, Kuih Bakar, Serimuka, Ketayap, Kuih Talam, Kuih Tako – and more. I love
tapai with vanilla ice cream and this is available just across the aisle
alongside other flavours from Chocolate to Raspberry, Mango, Strawberry and
Yam. Makes a perfect topping for ais kacang too.
Western
dessert items include Cream Caramel with Tropical Fruit, Vanilla Crème Brulee,
Mango Longan Jelly, Mixed Fruit Dacquoise and cakes in all sizes.
For
something hot, try samosa, fried banana, yam and breadfruit, curry puff, lekor,
banana balls and sesame balls or a bowl of steaming red bean soup, black
glutinous rice or pengat durian.
WHERE
The Living
Room
The Westin Kuala Lumpur
199 Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL
Malaysia
Tel: +603-2773 8338
PROMOTION
JUADAH IFTAR
KAMPUNG BUFFET
PRICE
Adults: RM158
nett
Children under 4: Free
Children 5-12:
50% off
Early Bird
Promotion: Buy buffet vouchers before 16 May at RM120 nett.
WHEN
19 May to 12 June 2018
6.30pm to
10.30pm
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