Overeating during Lunar New Year 2009 #2

As indicated in my previous post #1, eating is the order of the day throughout the Chinese New Year festive season.

Eating out is always more exciting and enjoyable than labouring at home with cooking, cleaning and washing, as well as trying hard to be the perfect hostess. Free too from planning the menu of the day, marketing and endless preparation for just a handful of our signature dishes. Anyway, John and I aren't in the best of health to cope with such long hours of toiling in the kitchen.

Hence, we feel so blessed and thankful to have the option of eating out, where one is spoilt for choices, especially at buffets. That was what we did for the first day of the New Year of The Ox...eating out. We had ceased altogether the endless hours of preparation and entertaining relatives and friends as was done previously for 30+ years since 1970, gave up the open-house concept for quite many years now.

Our family of nine members plus my sister and niece gathered at Benteng Coffee House, Quality Hote1 City Centre, located along Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur (facing opposite Bangunan Medan MARA) for a sumptuous halal CNY buffet hi-tea. Wonderful spread that included yee sang, fried rice and noodles, roasted lamb and duck, fried chicken, mee laksa, dim sum, sashimi, popiah, veggie and salad, soups, cold dishes, fruit rojak, waffle, cakes and deserts, ice-kacang and ice-cream, and lots more.

On the whole, food tasted good, very satisfying and ample as there were less than 30 diners in all. No need to queue and can select food with ease and at one's leisure. No rush too as one can dine from 12 noon to 4pm. We even overshot the time to almost 4.20pm as Darren, Yanti and Dylea could not resist repeating some of their favorite desserts. Waiters were quite accommodating, though John and I felt a little embarrassed by our late exit.

What a lovely bonding time spent with our family, chattering and eating with a free flow of food/drinks for the taking. Haha...all prepared, cooked and laid out by others, isn't that great! Moreover, it was affordable and pretty cheap, I'd say. Bill totaled just RM282/= (RM38++ per adult, RM20++ per senior citizen and child).

Not many photos to share here. I was enjoying myself in eating, yaking and observing... that by the time I wanted to photograph the food-fare, most of the dishes were almost empty and uninteresting to capture for display here! ;-)





Continuing at post #3.