A little of everything adds up to a lot, especially when the buffet table is lined up with all your favourites, writes TAN BEE HONG.

IF you can’t decide what you’d like to eat for buka puasa, a good buffet spread always seems like the perfect answer.

The first day of Ramadan saw a good crowd at Concorde’s Melting Pot Cafe where the centre of attraction was a whole roast lamb kuzi and the grill action station.

Ikram carves the lamb kuzi stuffed with aromatic rice flavoured with saffron, nuts and raisins.

Diners start with kurma (fresh dates, not the sugar-soaked variety) and a thirst-quenching drink of air tebu, air bandung or air soya before moving on to local and western salads, cold cuts and chilled seafood.

I filled my plate with garden greens, smoked duck breast, Thai chicken feet salad, Arctic clams, raw salmon, kerabu daging panas, tandoori spiced chicken, kerabu udang nonya and acar jantung pisang.

Loved them all except for the jellyfish with nampla dressing which tasted rubbery and completely devoid of taste.

The smell of crustaceans assails our noses as we were cracking claws of chilled flower crabs, peeling fiery red prawns. There are also raw oysters, freshly shucked and mussels in half shells.

But the strong aroma was not coming from the chilled seafood. Rather, it wafted over when someone pried the lid off a steamer at one end of the buffet island to get helpings of prawns steamed in egg white.

Hurriedly, we stuffed the last prawn into our face and made our way there. The smell was that irresistible but personally, I thought the steamed egg white the best part of the dish. The juices of the prawns had given the egg white custard a certain sweetness that defied description. You simply have to feel that smooth and silky custard slip down your throat to know what I mean.

Next to this was a whole seabass, steamed lightly with ginger and scallions. The fish was fresh, its sweetness enhanced by the subtle flavour of ginger.

At the other end of the buffet island, we ladled hot fish soup and chicken congee into bowls. Those who didn’t feel like slurping on the soft congee made their way to the action stations for lok lok, skewers of seafood to be dipped in boiling water and enjoyed with the sweet sauce and chili dip.

I wanted Penang prawn mee. This is not a noodle dish one finds often at buffets as it is difficult to keep the consistency of the soup just right. But I had no fault to find with the one at Melting Pot. The soup was well flavoured and really steaming hot!

Prawn mee soup, if allowed to cool, turns unpalatable and the “fishy” aroma is enough to put one off. Condiments like browned onions, chili, chopped scallions and all are placed on the outer edge of the table and one just helps oneself.

At the hot woks, small portions of foods are topped up constantly rather than being left to idle and cool in huge aluminium trays. Rice is always an option — fried and white — to be eaten with meti lamb kofta (meatballs), ikan patin tempoyak, ayam kasturi pedas, pucuk manis keledek, daging kurma hijau and kepala ikan merah asam pedas for those who need spice and rice. Oh, and the ikan percik madu, made with a huge red snapper, was nothing short of stunning in flavour.

Chinese dishes range from braised chicken and potato in oyster sauce, homemade tofu with vegetables, kai lan with chili and salted fish, stirfried chili prawns and baby french beans with spicy conpoy sauce.

We sauntered over to the deep-fryer for popiah goreng, crispy samosa, prawn tempura and vegetable fritters and to the teppan counter to select prawns, salmon, chicken, beef and squid to be fried a la minute. Skewers of satay and otak-otak nipah were served hot while slabs of chicken fillet turned on a spit at the sharwarma broiler.

At the buffet island, chef Haji Ikram Zulbahrin, 35, sliced the lamb kuzi, letting the stuffing of aromatic rice, flavoured with saffron and cooked with nuts, raisins and caramelised onions, spill out.

“We wanted to offer something different from the usual roast lamb,” he says. “This Middle-Eastern dish is very popular with our customers.”

There was roast beef wellington as well with all the condiments and sauces. Our only problem was to find space in the tummy for all, especially since we couldn’t resist taking a peek at the dessert table earlier.

Fruit tartlets, eclairs, brownies and slices stood like an army on glass trays. There were all types of cakes like opera, banana chocolate, Black Forest, cheese and almond as well as layer cake and madelines.

If it’s kuih muih you fancy, there were shelves lined with kuih lapis, serikaya, tako and ketayap. I enjoyed the banana toffee and sago cream, a new take on the usual sagu gula melaka that was surprisingly good. Next to this were panna cotta, creme brulee and tiramisu. Ice cream, tab tim krob (red ruby chestnuts) and fresh fruit were all available.

The Ramadan buka puasa buffet is priced at RM75++ per person and is available from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. There is also a sahur buffet priced at RM48++. If you’re hosting a buka puasa or open house dinner, a special menu is available from RM78++ per person for a minimum of 20 tables.

MELTING POT CAFE
Concorde Hotel, 2 Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL
Tel: 03-2144-2200