I was invited to an iftar recently in a place in Bangi and I brought along the fams with me. The Ramadhan buffet was held at Dewan Tengku Zara which is quite abnormal because usually Ramadhan buffets are held in restaurants or hotels but I’m not complaining. So here my take on what they serve and is it worth it?
The Ramadhan buffet at Dewan Tengku Zara is priced at RM55 per adult and RM27.50 for children, that’s literally half the price. They do have a promotion going on that is RM35 per adult but that was only for the first 5 days of Ramadhan. They are open only on Wednesday to Sunday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm and they are serving the food with a stall concept. There are many stalls available and each stalls serves different food.
They focused on traditional malay cuisines as their main course buffet spread but at the same time they do have some international inspired dishes. The beef soup was what I had the most because it tasted so good (in my opinion) and the meat is so soft and tender. It is full of spice flavour that I think is just at the maximum level before it becomes too overwhelming. But I like it and I can’t seem to stop eating the super tender meat. This is rated 9.5/10 in my opinion.
Apart from traditional dishes, they also serve roast lamb (kambing golek arab) with nasi arab that will tease your taste buds even before you put it in your mouth. The lamb is probably one of the most tender and tastiest roast lamb I ever had, and I am being honest here. I have many versions of it but this has to be the most tender of all. I give this lamb a 9/10 rating. If only I can have more of it.
The food that they served are good. The nasi arab is tasty and among the good ones that I’ve had. It goes really well with the lamb. Surprisingly the char kuey teow is really good. I mean, really good. I usually don’t fancy Malay style CKT but this one is cooked to an almost perfect chinese style CKT with loads of fresh cockles in it. I give this CKT a 8.5/10.
I also had the pasta that they serve with bolognaise sauce. The sauce is a little too sweet for my taste but it was good nonetheless. The rojak buah is another good choice to have. Loads of fresh fruits to go with the dark prawn paste sauce.
They also have a selection of noodles available which can be mix with curry soup or assam based soup. As for the main dishes to have with white rice, they have gulai kawah, ikan patin tempoyak, steam ikan patin in king sauce, chicken rice, ikan keli goreng berlada, masak lemak cili api and many other Malay style food. I particularly love the steam ikan patin in king sauce. So nice to just eat it on its own.
Desserts are available and they have many traditional kind of kuehs and even cendol. Wash it all down with a nice hot glass of teh tarik which tasted rich and smooth. Yes, their teh tarik is really nice. I had a few glasses of it.
Verdict
I really like what they serve for their Ramadhan buffet. They have many selections of food available and for the price, I feel that it’s worth it. However, most of the dishes are limited and most of them are finished right after the first round of meal. The only thing they need to do is to pack up extra food for the customers especially when they are expecting large crowds during the weekends.
The kambing golek is definitely not enough for our large crowd the other day. And when you have greedy hungry people, you will upset some of the customers. Hopefully this will be a constructive criticism for the organisers and make it better next round.
On a positive note, the food was good and worth the money spent. Good quality food for half the hotel buffet price. Good job.
The food is made and organised by Azam Pandan Sdn Bhd who are also the caterer for the Ramadhan buffet at Dewan Tengku Zara.
Address
Dewan Tengku Zara
Lot 1513B Batu 18 ½, Jalan Bangi, Kg Sg Tangkas, 43000 Kajang Selangor
For Booking: 03 7840 0516/0657
Price: RM55 (adult), RM27.50 (children), RM1 will be donated to the needy.
