This article is part of my Chinese New Year 2019 compilation.
Special thanks to Lexis Suites Penang for extending this food review invitation.
Lexis Suites Penang is a 5-star hotel in Teluk Kumbar. Roselle Coffee House is the all-day dining restaurant here. For this evening’s Chinese New Year buffet preview, the dining area is decorated with ornaments like cherry blossoms, ceramic koi fish, yuanbao (元宝), Chinese lanterns and mandarin oranges.
For appetizers, many people start with seafood on ice. Today’s choices are scallops, bay mussels, shrimps and yabbies. Lexis Suites is known for serving exceptionally fresh seafood.
Presented over banana leaves, Baked Whole Fish is flavored with Thai-style sweet-and-spicy sauce. Sea bass is a good choice of fish as its texture is reasonably firm. The only downside to sea bass is the prevalence of fine bones.
Meanwhile for Steamed Fish Fillet, the choice of fish is grouper. The fish is served with Japanese soy sauce (醬油). The sharp taste of soy sauce accentuates the scrumptious taste of fish.
Ostrich With Spring Onion, Ginger & Szechuan Sauce is one of the more unusual dishes this evening. The meat of ostrich is firmer than chicken’s, but it is succulent nevertheless. The dish is wok-fried with dried chili peppers for the fiery aroma.
Japanese dishes in today’s buffet are likely inspired by the menu at Umi Japanese Restaurant downstairs. For instance, Negi Stew (ねぎ汁) is cooked with salmon head, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, soft tofu, carrots and green onions (ねぎ). Meanwhile, Oden (おでん) is a pot of dashi broth with assorted fishcakes and hard-boiled eggs.
Baozi (包子), mantou (馒头) and dim sum (点心) are kept warm in steamer baskets. For baozi, there are different fillings such as char siew (叉烧), salted egg yolk (流沙) and red bean paste (豆沙).
Moving to salads, popular choices are Chinese Jelly Fish Salad, Thai Spicy Beef Salad, Japanese Seaweed Salad, Baby Octopus Salad, Honeydew & Sausage Salad and Rojak Buah (fruit salad). There are also fresh vegetables and dressings for diners who prefer to mix their own salads.
Of course, Chinese New Year is also a great opportunity to savor all sorts of festive tidbits. Kuih kapit (love letters), kuih bangkit (tapioca cookies) and biskut kacang (peanut cookies) are presented in glass jars. Other popular delicacies are kuih bakul (年糕), kacang tumbuk (贡糖), walnuts, chocolate coins and pumpkin seeds. As for soupy desserts, Dried Longan With Peach Gum Soup (龙眼桃胶糖水) is recommended.
Mandarin oranges are pleasant gifts during Chinese New Year because the Chinese word for mandarin oranges (柑) sounds like “sweet” (甘). Other fruits that are prepared today are pineapples, honeydew and watermelon.
Lexis Suites’ Chinese New Year Reunion Buffet Dinner is served on 4 February 2019. Throughout the evening, there are a series of stage performances and lucky draws to keep the crowd entertained. To encourage early birds, the hotel is offering 20% discount off the adult price for confirmed bookings by 28 January 2019.
For customers who prefer to spend more time around the dining table, the Prosperous Steamboat Set Dinner is an alternative choice. There are 3 serving sizes: 4 pax (RM360.00), 6 pax (RM500.00), 10 pax (RM988.00). Each option comes with complimentary yee sang.
For the steamboat, customers can choose among 4 types of soup: clear chicken broth, creamy fish stock, Chinese herbal soup and tom yam soup. Steamboat ingredients include fresh seafood, meats, mushrooms, vegetables and noodles.
Lexis Suites also serves 9-course set dinner from 4 February 2019 to 19 February 2019. There are 3 menus to choose from: RM888.00, RM1,088.00 and RM1,388.00 per table of 10 people. In each case, the first course is yee sang (鱼生).
Yee sang is a colorful mixture of ingredients such as crackers, carrots, daikon and jellyfish. The dish also comes with delectable slices of salmon. Fish (鱼) is believed to be auspicious because it is a homonym for “abundance” (余).
The Prosperity Salmon Yee Sang is available for take-away too. Each set is priced at RM108.00 net. Available dates are between 4 February 2019 and 19 February 2019.
Name: Roselle Coffee House
Address: 28, Jalan Teluk Kumbar, 11920 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-628-2888
Business hours: 6:30am-11:00pm
Website: https://www.lexissuitespenang.com/en/dining/overview/roselle-coffee-house
Coordinates: 5.28691 N, 100.23244 E
Directions: From Bayan Lepas, drive along Jalan Teluk Kumbar towards the intersection with Jalan Gertak Sanggul. Lexis Suites Penang is the tall building on the left just before the intersection. As the only building more than 3 floors in Teluk Kumbar, it is impossible to overlook this hotel. Roselle is located at the Mezzanine Floor, just above the lobby atrium.