Honest Review : Sushi Buffet @ Orchid Garden Coffeehouse

What can i say, i simply love buffets and one of the places i do go to occasionally is their seasonal themed luncheon or dinner buffets at Orchid Garden Coffeehouse, Grand Margherita Hotel Kuching.  Last November, i had to opportunity to try out the Japanese or Sushi-themed luncheon and i was really excited. I was thinking of all the grilled eels, tempura and sashimi i could devour.

Selection of fried rice and grilled fish. I don't understand how chinese fried rice topped with Japanese dried tuna flakes is Japanese cuisine. 

Cold japenese soba noodles, baby octopus, jellyfish and sushi rolls

Selection of tempuras and meat skewers. And no, they are not yakitoris. 

Grilled salmon

Cakes and desserts

Sashimi of eel, tuna, and octopus

Udon

Temaki-California roll

Soba noodles

Chef of the day?

Dragonfruit

More Cakes

Generally i was left with a bad taste in my mouth not from the flavor of the food but the big disappointment as most of the food were a let down. 

1. I felt that the food design and menu is very poorly thought out and is very basic. Sushi rolls, tempura , udon and soba are of course signature dishes but there are so much more to the Japanese cuisine. Where are the okonomiyakis , yakitoris, miso soup , mochis, green tea desserts and etc? Green tea wasn't even served !

2. Basic food are alright but do them well. The usage of sushi rice flavouring was minimal but what irked me the most is the non-usage of sushi rice and fillings. I expected more variety other than just cucumber, crab sticks , tuna and egg. How about caviar, prawns, avocado, crab, and radishes? Most meats were overcooked including the fish which is hard to eat.  Not only that, the sashimi slices were very thin and not enjoyable. I felt like i was eating fish garnishes instead

3. The saving grace i would say is the tiramisu (sounds japanese but it isn't japanese) and the udon. I love the udon as the basic soup stock was right and noodles were cooked well.

4. Tempura wasn't tempura as the coating is for banana fritters. 

5. Cold dishes were great but i can buy that from any supermarket in Kuching

6. Jellies were HORRENDOUS. Please don't make them anymore, you are doing Kuching a favour.

In a nutshell, any Japanese who walks into this buffet would probably throw sake all over the restaurant , burn the place down and then proceed to do a harakiri. I'm afraid it gives a bad name to the Japanese cuisine which is full of flavour and technicalities. Unless you are rich and is willing to spend approx RM50-60++ for cold dishes and udon , be my guest .

To end positively, the restaurant and toilet is clean .

p/s: Try their western or Ramadhan buffet instead. Those are way WAY better.

Rating of Japanese Menu: 3/10
Rating of restaurant: 7/10 (service can be slow at times)

Orchid Garden Coffeehouse
Grand Margherita Hotel 
Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, 
P.O. Box 2362, 93100 Kuching, 
Sarawak, Malaysia.

Tel: (6082)423111 
Fax: (6082)426169
Email: contact@gmh.my

Quick Bites #5 (sort of) : BREAKFAST

Char Kueh

Venue : Woon Lam Cafe (behind Secret Recipe in town)
No. 189, Ground Floor, Jln Song Thian Cheok,
93100 Kuching,
Sarawak

Rating : 7.5/10

RM 4.00

Woon Lam Cafe is famous for its char kueh, kueh chap and laksa. The char kueh has a distinct crispiness that outclasses most char kueh's in Kuching. It's served sweet, salty or mixed with homemade sambal/chilli sauce. I personally prefer the salty one (as shown in the picture).

As the laksa at Woon Lam had finished selling, we decided to head to Chong Choon Cafe in town.

 Teh C Peng (medium, but it's HUGE)

Venue : Chong Choon Cafe

Rating : 8/10 (according to an average score from 4 people)

RM 4.00

Sarawak Laksa

Venue : Chong Choon Cafe
 Lot 121, Jalan Abell, Section 3, 93100, Kuching, Sarawak, 93100

Rating : 8/10

RM 4.00 (small)

RM 5.00 (special)

One of the best laksa in Kuching. Be sure to go there early if you want the special. When we arrived, they had run out of their "special" ingredient to be added in their special. Nevertheless, the small bowl was superbly yummy too.

Quick Bites #4 :Pork Porridge @ Ciak Pa Boi

"Have you Eaten? ", is the translation of this interesting biker inspired cafe, Ciak Pa Boi. It was a rainy morning and we decided to check this place out. 

Rm 6.00 Pork Porridge

Two thumbs up!
Rate 8.5/10

Out of the many stalls that was available to patronize , i decided to try the pork porridge on a whim. I wasn't having any high expectations and have never heard any recommendations about it, but i was absolutely blown away by the amazing taste every grain of rice it gives. It's truly a testament to our blog's motto where peasant food like a bowl of rice gruel can be served to a King.  The pork balls were juicy and flavorful and they were so generous with their century egg. The only downside is that i wished i could have a larger bowl for the price compared to other porridge places in town. Mark my words, this porridge rocks your socks way higher than the ones served in  Open Air market  Kuching. If you like "juicy pork balls" and creamy porridge , this is the place for you. 

Did i mentioned we were treated like Kings?

They had a dedicated umbrella guy to escort you from your car to the cafe and back FOC! Excellent service and attitude more cafes in Kuching should have . Thank you unknown stranger if you are reading this post.

Visit this amazing cafe at G/F, 521-522, S/L 1, Jln Datuk Tawi Sli, Kuching, Sarawak 93250, Malaysia

Other things you should check out are their charcoal grilled toast :) 

p/s: They have clean tissue-loaded toilets :)