‘Cahaya Ramadan’ Buffet @ Riverside Restaurant, PWTC

Price Range : Mid-range  

Cuisine : Malaysian       

Recommended For : A good variety of authentic Malaysian flavours   

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

It’s that time of the year again. With Ramadhan just about to knock on our doors, along comes one of the favourite Malaysian things of the fasting month: Ramadhan buffets.

Now, it needs to be said that we do not condone stuffing yourselves silly at buffets after a whole day of controlling yourself from primal temptations (defeats the purpose of fasting, no?). We personally feel sampling an amazing buffet line is most pleasant when done in moderation. =)

For appetizers, we were blown away by the selection of kerabu dishes on offer. Being the Malay version of raw salads, we could use some good enzymes and loaded up quite a bit on the eight different types of kerabu. Our favourite of the lot are the kerabu perut; stocked with chewy tripe, and kerabu mangga; a sweet-sour-spicy mango salad tossed with chili padi and peanuts in lime juice.

The classic ulam and sambal combos

Some succulent tauhu sumbat for the tofu lover

What a large offering of chutneys and pickles!

For soul-warming soups, take your pick between the Sup Tulang Rusuk or the Creamy Mushroom Soup.

This buffet has the most variety of goreng-goreng treats we’ve ever encountered! Going beyond just banana fritters, other fried items include yam, cempedak, sweet potato, dates, prawn and anchovy. The counter also includes the Terengganu favourite fish fritters, keropok lekor, along with spring rolls, curry puffs and samosas.

Moving on to the mains, here’s a list of the dishes, which can be eaten alongside a choice of fried rice or white rice:

Any contemplations of going strictly vegan went down the drain upon the first taste of the Rusuk Kambing Masak Lemak Cili Api. The tender meat fell right off the ribs and is flavourfully-packed with an intricate mix of quintessential Malay spices.

It’s not easy to find oxtail dishes in just any restaurant nowadays. You can imagine our delight to see one whole tray of piping hot Oxtail Assam Pedas, cooked in its delightful sour-spicy gravy!

If you like your masak lemak with a hint of tempoyak (fermented durian), then you will absolutely love the Pucuk Ubi Masak lemak Cili Api Tempoyak (essentially, tapioca leaves cooked in a deliciously rich and creamy gravy).

For rice fans, the Briyani Rice is a definite must-try! The rice is superb, packed with intricate spice flavours, and can be accompanied with a choice of chicken or mutton. 

Mutton Korma

Chicken Korma

We couldn't resist trying out the Duck Rice, and were we glad we did! The firm pieces of roasted duck are an excellent contrast to the fluffy, buttery rice. There's also a chicken version of the rice. 

If you’re more of a noodles kinda person, perhaps you might find the offerings found at the noodles counter to your liking. 

No Ramadhan buffet is complete without Kambing Golek! The meat was rather flavourful but sadly was a tad bit dry.

A sample of their Aidilfitri selections was enough to trigger blissful childhood Raya memories, from the ubiquitous ketupat, to the decadent lemang to the lesser-known but equally tempting burasak. Burasak is Bugis in origin, where the rice is cooked in coconut milk and then packed in banana leaf and boiled for hours. It is more commonly eaten in the Southern states during Hari Raya.

The desserts spread was astoundingly large, but unfortunately lacked quite a bit in the taste department. They were in no way terrible or anything, but they were not the best we've ever had. 

Out of all the desserts, this Chocolate Mousse is rather decent. 

The buffet per person is priced at an unbelievably reasonable RM50++ per adult and RM15++ per child (7 to 12 years old), which is well worth all the good food! Additionally, senior citizens (above 60 years old) eat FREE (accompanied by one paying adult each)! 

 If you’re a Jamal Abdillah fan, call ahead to ask which night(s) he will be performing at the restaurant. 

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish our Muslim readers a blessed Ramadhan ahead; selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa!

Riverside Restaurant

Putra World Trade Centre

41 Jalan Tun Ismail

50480 Kuala Lumpur

T:  +603 2614 6999

M: +6019 458 8052 (Yazid)

GPS:

3.16869, 101.69141

Parking:

Our usual parking spot when visiting PWTC is at the Hentian Putra Bus Terminal car park right opposite. It used to be RM3 per entry, but now it’s RM1 per hour

(maximum RM10 per day).