Special thanks to Royale Chulan Penang for extending this food review invitation.
Sri Tanjung Cafe is an all-day dining restaurant in Royale Chulan Penang. It is located at the ground floor of the historic Boustead Building. Although the restaurant is offering festive buffets during the upcoming Chinese New Year season, this is not the reason that I am visiting today.
Starting this month, Sri Tanjung Cafe is serving Saturday Seafood Buffet from 6:30pm to 10:00pm every Saturday. This replaces the Saturday Night Hawkers Delights that was in place since 2016. Meanwhile, the Friday Night Poolside BBQ and Sunday High Tea are still ongoing as scheduled.
The most eye-catching aspect of the Saturday Seafood Buffet is the seafood on ice. Spanner crabs and flower crabs are served this evening. Meanwhile, the large grouper at the center is meant for display purpose only.
Other chilled shellfishes include Australian yabbies, New Zealand mussels and bay mussels. Chilled seafood is often paired with creamy condiments like cocktail sauce and lemon vinaigrette.
Meanwhile from the wok, Chili Crab is the recommended choice. The flower crabs are stir-fried with sweet and spicy chili sauce, which makes them finger licking good. The crabs are best consumed while they are hot.
The charcoal grill outside the restaurant produces an endless flow of stingrays, seafood pot luck, chicken and beef satay, lok lok skewers and prawns & vegetable skewers. My personal favorite item is the seafood pot luck where seasoned fish, squid and shrimps are cooked in aluminium foil.
Steamed Fish Fillet is one of the signature dishes this evening. The red lion fish is cooked with chili and ginger sauce to accentuate its natural freshness. The fish is garnished with coriander and sliced upfront to be served more easily.
Gulai Udang Nenas is a curry dish that takes advantage of sweet-tangy pineapple juice. The gravy has a rather heavy taste, so it is best consumed with rice. Meanwhile, chopped chili peppers and onions enhance the dish’s flavor.
Another signature dish that the chef recommended is Ikan Patin Masak Gulai Tempoyak. The fish is called shark catfish, but it is not related to actual sharks. This freshwater fish is notorious for having an “earthy” odor, so it relies on heavy seasoning to mask its unpleasant smell. This explains the use of tempoyak, a strong condiment made from fermented durians.
Western-style seafood is represented by Grilled Salmon Fish. The fish is cooked in creamy butter sauce, while dill serves to improve their aroma and flavor.
Fish & Chips is an English comfort food. Dory fish is the fish of choice, which is quite common due to its affordable cost and acceptable texture. The fillets are battered and fried to scrumptious crispiness. Fish & Chips is typically eaten with tartar sauce.
Ocean View Lasagna consists of several layers of pasta with tomato sauce and cheese between individual layers. I think the lasagna can use more cheese.
The salad bar offers ready-made salads such as fruit cocktail salad, three bean salad, tomato & mozzarella salad and Asian coleslaw. Diners can also mix their own salads using ingredients like mesclun, radicchio, capsicum, red cabbage and cherry tomatoes.
Moving to the pastry section, the Red Velvet Cake is sweeter that what I expected. I think it is better to reduce the amount of sugar to allow cream cheese to take the center stage. Surrounding the Red Velvet Cake is a colorful assortment of petits fours.
Chocolate Mousse and Mini Crème Caramel are meant to delight one’s sweet tooth, but I am more impressed by their captivating decorations.
I particularly like Mango Pudding due to its cooling sensation on the tongue. Other similar desserts this evening are Fruit Jelly and Sago Gula Melaka. The latter is sweetened with coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar).
Raisin Bread & Butter Pudding is a popular dessert in Britain. The pudding comprises of bread slices baked in egg custard. As per tradition, the pudding is served with vanilla sauce. The fragrance of chocolate chips on top is extremely captivating.
Pengat Pisang Sago is the hotel’s signature dessert. Suspended in the creamy soup are slices of banana and sago pearls. The level of sweetness is just about right. This warm dessert is the perfect finale of this evening’s dinner.
The Saturday Seafood Buffet is priced at RM88.00 net per adult. Child and senior citizens enjoy half price, while in-house guests get 20% discount. Also for every 4 paying adults, the 5th person dines for free. Only one offer is applicable per bill, and applies to the adult price only.
Name: Sri Tanjung Cafe
Address: 1 & 2, Pengkalan Weld, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-259-8888
Business hours: 7:00am-10:30pm
Website: http://www.royalechulan-penang.com/dining
Coordinates: 5.41700 N, 100.34401 E
Directions: From the ferry terminal at George Town, turn right and drive along Weld Quay (Pengkalan Weld). Royale Chulan Penang is located shortly on the left, at the same block as Via Pre and Made in Penang Interactive 3D Museum. There is a small lane right after the hotel, which leads to the main entrance and multi-level car park. Guests who dine in Sri Tanjung Cafe can get their parking tickets validated for a flat rate of RM5.00 per entry.
