Penang can take pride of having the best food in the world. If you were to combine Kuching and Penang together, you’d be spoilt of choices for the variety of food, and that’s what Pullman Kuching did when they had us bloggers and media at their hotel last week.
I arrived a little around 7PM, and met with the rest. A quick glance around Puzzle revealed that the chefs were already busy at work, making Penang street food much alive at a hotel regarded as Kuching’s best.
Anyway, as this is an ‘all you can eat’ buffet, I decided to be a little picky on what I eat. A man needs to look after his body too, yeah?
So this time around, I didn’t bother to go for the typical sambal which I normally go for, but rather a variety of food which seemed ‘Penang like’.
Leading the buffet line up was of course the Penang Char Kueh Tiaw. However, the Penang Char Kueh Tiaw lacked cockles, in which made me a little disappointed. However, I was later told I could actually request for more cockles if I wanted. I went ‘Whatttt??’ when I heard that, but that was too late because there’s no way I’m ordering another plate with so many dishes yet to be tried.
Next on my list was ‘Ikan Masak Asam Pedas’. Before I go on, I must say that I am a HUGE fan of asam pedas, and so this dish would either break or make it in my books. Thankfully, the Asam Pedas wasn’t that bad, and it was good enough for my taste.
I then moved on to have the ‘Ikan Bilis Sambal Tempe’ which smelled so nice. I don’t favour ‘tempe’, but the smell of this particular dish just made me salivate. The taste was spicy and sour, something like ‘asam pedas’, but for me, the ‘tempe’ sort of spoiled it. Like I said, I’m not a fan of ‘tempe’ and without the ‘tempe’ this would be easily the dish to love!
Also moving into my plate was the ‘Gulai Kepala Ikan’. This curry like dish is expensive, and to get it in a buffet costing only about RM69++ is a super good deal! The taste? Superb! It looks good too. Check out the photo above!
Pullman was also serving lamb, and I bet if you’ve been following my food reviews, you’d know how much I love lamb. Well, this ‘Kambing Bakar Al-Kuzi’ was top notch! It was soft and tender, and with it’s ‘juice’ still visible, it really didn’t need any additional sauce to make it perfect.
Also tried out the ‘Penang Asam Laksa’. Huge fan here, and my bar is pretty high when it comes to my Penang Laksa. I have a unique taste, so please don’t judge me when I say that the best Penang Laksa I’ve ever tried is not made in Penang, but in Kuching. Where and who made it would be my secret. Anyway, the Penang Laksa by Pullman was good. It’s this close *shows you the one inch sign* to being nice. I was full, but I drained the asam soup dry. =P
The appetizers prepared are the usual cakes, chocolate fountain and ABC (mixed fruit ice drinks), but like always, Pullman deserves a pat when it comes to these dishes. They score 9/10 when it comes to appetizers, and I don’t see them being defeated any time soon.
If you are interested to test out the Penang Gourmet at Pullman Kuching, be sure that you visit Puzzle before this 18th March 2012 (My bad for the late post. I was super busy after the food tasting). As said above, it’s priced at RM69++ per person, and RM39++ per child below 12. Bookings are not required, but encouraged, and you can call +082222888 for reservations.
P/S – Taste is subjective, so if you do not agree with me, that’s your right and taste. Cheers!