It was a very hectic Friday and I wasn’t particularly impressed having to stuck in the traffic while I was on the way to Novotel KL City Centre for their media preview, but it was worth all the hassle. My family and I were greeted with such a sumptuous Ramadan buffet spread by The Square Restaurant, Novotel KL City Centre Kitchen Crew.

Themed ‘Bazaar Desa’, The Square restaurant offers plenty of delicacies that you can’t get elsewhere in most buffets in KL. They have plenty of dishes that won my heart, but as this is a buffet and I can’t possibly list everything in their spread, I’ll just highlight what’s worth the calories.

Oven Roasted Lamb. This one is not to be missed. It was slow roasted to perfection in the oven. Juicy and naturally flavoured.

Deep fried keropok

Assorted Acar

Taufu Sumbat

Assorted traditional curries to pair with plain or flavoured rice like Nasi Briyani. I’ll just be honest with all of you here. I wasn’t particularly in the mood for anything heavy like rice that day, as I was still quite full from my late lunch, but my husband assured me that the curries and the fresh ulams are pretty much to die for. His recommendation; the Sambal Tumis Sotong. He told me that it was addictively sensational.

Apart from the wide array of curries, you ought to keep a lookout for their live action counter where grilled seafood and satay are prepared ala minute for your gastronomic pleasure.

Grilled Stingray. These are quite a good catch. Very flavourful and still have the taste of the ocean.

Chicken and Beef Satay. Now, I don’t usually fancy satays prepared in hotels as they are not as comparable to those sold by the street as they are usually prepared over hot pan instead of with charcoal over the open fire, but these are as good as those prepared over the open fire. Their preparation method includes caramelizing butter before frying up the skewered meat, resulting to the almost authentic fragrantly ‘burnt’ taste and texture.

Three of Chef’s signature that I think is a must have at this Ramadan buffet; Mee Rebus Tulang Lembu, Soto Goreng and Kacang Pool.

Mee Rebus Tulang Lembu was sensational. Despite of not particularly being tempted for heavy dishes, I had two bowls of this. The meat was fall off the bone tender while the gravy was harmoniously sweet and at the same time, naturally savoury, complementing the bland noodles perfectly.

Soto Goreng was flavourful and delicious. Infused with a myriad of spices, the soto was rather chewy and rather fun to eat too.

Kacang Pool was derived from the Middle Eastern dish known as foul medammas, which was made from fava beans. It was served with a sunny side egg and a side of sandwich bread. All of that was great to sop up the runny egg and sauce of this dish. It was my first time eating it, I thought it reminded me very much of American chilli but with some slightly different spices perhaps. This dish is uniquely Malaysian.

Assorted traditional Malays kuih like tepung talam and kuih ketayap can be found at the dessert section.

Refreshing puddings

Local fruits to cleanse your palate.

Ice cream

Ice Cendol, one of my favourite sweet beverage here at the buffet.

Refreshing Lai Chee Kang is also not to be missed if you want something refreshing after a whole day fasting. This one will surely power you up in a jiffy.

And while you are at the buffet, don’t forget to raid the fridge for these childhood ice cream. :p When I was a little girl these could easily be obtain from the ice cream man for a mere 20 cent but these are pretty much rare these days.

“Bazaar Desa ” dinner buffet is priced at RM95 nett per adult, RM45 nett for children aged 8-12 years old. Early bird voucher is available for sale from now until 19 June 2015 at only RM80 nett per adult and RM40 nett. Accor Plus members enjoy further 10% discount.

For more information and reservations, please call (6 03) 2147 0888 extension 7668 or email [email protected]