Sunday Brunch Buffet at Spice Market Cafe @ Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang. ~ Σαteяlaηd

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Spice Market Cafe which is housed by Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resot and Spa, Penang not only offers authentic Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya-Baba, Japanese, Thai, Western and international cuisines but also provides Asian spice education at Spice Boutique, a corner near its entrance where clients actually get to know more than 100 varieties of dried herbs and spices, you can even purchase some of them.
Apart from that, there is also an extensive collection of antique utensils such as biscuits tins, manual ice shaver (ice kacang machine) and some breathtaking wood carving masterpieces.

To celebrate the 54th Malaysia Independence Day, the cafe has launched a Buy 1 Free 1 brunch buffet promotion which means with only RM80+ + for adult and RM40++ for children, you can share the joy, the food with your loved ones from 12pm to 3pm on Sundays in August.
In conjunction with that, Gourmet Garden is holding a contest in which a total of 24 bloggers will be picked to dine for free, 6 at a time on every Sunday in the month of August and guest what? I was chosen to be one of them!
Do take note that the cafe is located at the Garden Wing of the large hotel, just next to the freeform swimming pools which is shaded as well as surrounded by a canopy of 100-plus-year-old gigantic rain trees.
The cafe has an impressive capacity of 250 people if counting in the indoor air-conditioned seatings and outdoor Malaysian style thatched gazebos.
Other than that, this green kingdom traps the sounds of rolling sea waves and sea breeze then it creates an utmost relaxing atmosphere for resort clients plus cafe patrons.

The diversity in food offered reflects the cultural diversity in this multiracial country.
In other words, there are 7 stations: Appetizer, Western cuisine, Sushi booth, Malay, Chinese, Indian cuisine along with desserts corner which altogether tally the food choices up to more than 100.
According to the banquet sous chef, Chef Anthony, the buffet theme is changed once a week and yesterday's theme was fish.
You will be greeted by a number of colourful Maki Sushi, salmon Sushi, tuna Sushi, shrimp Sushi and fried tofu, not forgetting an awesome green Wasabi sculpture.
I, along with the other bloggers and Gourmet Garden owners were also treated to a Sashimi plate which consists of thick-sliced luscious fresh raw sliced shrimp, salmon, cuttlefish as well as octopus, spectacular!

Wasabi sculpture.

Fried tofu.

Maki Sushi.

Salmon Sushi, tuna Sushi & shrimp Sushi.

Sashimi plate.

Moving on, it was the appetizer section which occupies the centre of the buffet area.
You could design your own salad with the broad spectrum of fresh green vegetables, colourful fruits and dressings available.
If that is too energy-consuming for you, there is also a wide spread of healthy salads, roasted fruits and grilled mushrooms.
An abundance of aromatic sesame seed dinner rolls and crunchy grissini was there and i eventually savoured them after coupling them with different varieties of cheese.
They also offered a weird purple juicy dish, Shiba Chike (i have got no Google result on it) which tasted sweet followed by an intense sourness.
Beyond that, i managed to locate Asian appetizers such as Kimchi, Chuka Kurage and stuffed vine leaves.
Appetizers which impressed me most were the wonderful cold cuts which are precooked or cured meat that are sliced, served cold as well as the tempting seafood delights.

Salad bar.

Pasta salad with poached salmon.

Tomato salad with basil.

Chicken salad.

Cucumber with shrimp salad.

Roasted pumpkin.

Roasted eggplant.

Roasted tomatoes.

Grilled mushrooms.

Dinner rolls & grissini.

4 types of cheeses: Brie Cheese, Edam Cheese, Emmental Cheese & i forgot about the last one.

Peculiar pink/purple coloured Shiba Chike.

Traditional fermented Korean dish, Kimchi.

Chuka Kurage, Japanese style seasoned jellyfish.

Stuffed vine leaves a.k.a Dolma.

A terrine is a French forcemeat loaf made with more coarsely chopped ingredients.
In this case, the Chicken Terrine was moist, cold, chewy but the flavours could be stronger.

The Roasted Beef was succulent and tender with just enough flavour.

Well, the dry Roasted Lamb Leg was gamey but the texture was fantastic, so did the taste.

Mountains of mussels, scallops, shrimps and orange shiny yabbies piled up on a bed of ice cubes.
The mussels were disappointing as they were dry or was it only my problem as i always prefer fresh raw juicy ones?
Besides, the scallops were small in size but they were mildly sweet accompanied by a soft and easy-to-chew texture.
I bascially had a fight with the yabby corpses, it was tough to remove their shell to savour their fresh sweet less moist flesh.

It is not neccessary for you to travel towards West just for authentic Western cuisine, Spice Market Cafe has it all.

Seafood corn chowder.

Quessadillass.

Beef stew.

Spiced potato wedges.

Breakfast frittata.

Seafood with Tarraggon cream sauce.

Fish cakes with roasted bananas.

Cajun spiced fish fillets with orange sauce and pecans.

Living up to its name, the cafe utilised the exotic spices they have by introducing local Malay cuisine.

Whole baked fish was fine. The skin was tremendously amazing as its flavours exploded in my mouth while the flesh was more mildly flavoured.

Malay hot and sour fish soup.

Deep fried chicken wings with Malay spices.

Beef rendang.

Potato Goreng Berempah, meaning spiced fried potatoes.

Next, it was the Chinese corner where the noodle station is and also where you could intoxicate yourself with the scrumptious local Chinese dishes which went very well with white rice as well as fried noodles.

At the noodle station, you get to choose everything you want including the ingredients, soup and the chef will produce a bowl of delectable Ramen for you.

Mouth-watering Chinese snacks, Dim Sum.

White rice or stir fried noodles? Your call.

Mixed vegetable.

Vegetable parcelsin spring roll skin.

Last but not least, the Indian cuisine offered consists of the foods and dishes of India which are characterized by the extensive use of various spices and herbs.

Well, i dare not say that Satay is an Indian dish but since it was placed at the Indian section, i will classify it under Indian cuisine for now.

Papadum is a thin, crisp Indian cracker and the ones made by the cafe were simply top class with an incredible crispiness despite exposing to air.

Pita or Chapati pieces? But it was definitely pleasant-tasting.

Mushroom Jalfrezi (Jalfrezi is a type of curry in which marinated pieces of meat or vegetables are fried in oil and spices to produce a dry, thick sauce).

Mushroom curry.

Lamb Korma, Korma is made with yogurt, cream, nut and seed pastes or coconut milk.

Tandoori chicken was available and so did Tandoori lamb.

Finally, it is time to introduce you the sinful desserts which got me longing for more that day.
Every cake was like a piece of heaven no matter it was a big one or it was a mini one.
I guess no words can express the ultimate dessert experience and there is only one way to share it with you, via pictures.
Did you realise that the cakes are exactly irresistable tempations?

Vitamin-rich fruit is a great subsitute for a dessert? Nah!

Breakfast cereals plus palatable toppings.

Nyonya and Malay Kuih which are not distintive enough to be differentiated.

Spotted an endless waterfall of warm chocolate along with dips such as marshmallows, cookies and this orange unknown thing.

Individual sized cakes.

Many a little makes a mickle, my stomach just can't tolerate every slice of them, it was too much!

Apparently, the cafe is providing refreshing fruit juices, black tea and black coffee only.
They should do better than that.

Other than the splendid meal, we were entertainted by this female clown who addresses herself as Cream Puff and she even claimed that she has a brother named Curry Puff.
She undoubtedly is also a balloon twister as she performed at the cafe, she twisted and shaped the balloons into any shape specified by the guests such as bicycle, camera, alien gun etc.

We then called it a day with an interview session with three of the main chefs who are extremely friendly.
Every question was very well-answered and they even supplied us with some information regarding the cafe, hotel, food quality control and kitchen hygiene maintenance.

Grab it or lose it?
You still have one very last Saturday to relish this awe-inspiring eat all you can buffet but make sure you don't waste any food even though they don't charge you for left over food.
Reservations prior to your visit are suggested as an estimation of 230 patrons stormed the cafe when i was there.

Address:
Batu Feringgi Beach, 11100 Penang.
[google map]

Operation hours:
Open Daily : 7am - 11pm
Breakfast Buffet : 7am-10.30am
Dinner Buffet : 6.30pm-10.30pm

Contact no.:
04 - 888 8888, Ext: 6830

Website:
[click here]