Special thanks to Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya and Sunway Hotel Georgetown for extending this food review invitation.
Sunway Hotel is the first hotel in Penang to give a preview of its Christmas meals this year. The festive dishes that the 4-star hotel is presenting today only represents a subset of the actual buffet spread.
Starting at the carving station, the main highlight is Country Style Roasted Turkey. This poultry dish is served with roasted baby potatoes and condiments like cranberry sauce, mustard and mint sauce. On the other hand, diners who prefer red meats can satiate their cravings with the Roasted Whole Lamb.
Roasted Fillet Mignon is derived from the tenderloin, making it among the finest cuts of meat from the cattle. Cut into thin slices, the beef is juicy and succulent throughout. This dish is served with black pepper gravy, mashed potato and edible flowers.
The Pan-Fried Salmon uses Japanese-style teriyaki sauce, which is sweet and savory in taste. While the fish is certainly fresh, I feel that the sauce is way too strong for me. Fortunately, the salmon is topped with shredded vegetables to reduce the sauce’s intensity.
For a taste of Tex-Mex fare, check out the Baked Chicken Fajitas. Rolled in flour tortilla are grilled chicken strips and shredded vegetables. The fajitas are served with thick tomato purée.
Next, Pilaf Rice is cooked with chicken broth to present an appetizing flavor. The use of long-grain basmati rice prevents it from becoming too surfeiting. As for soup, the Apple Pumpkin Soup comes with diced apples, caramelized onion and pine nuts. The soup is satisfying indeed.
My craving for cheese is satisfied by the cheese platter. Today’s selection of cheeses is camembert, feta, Swiss and cheddar. The cheeses go well with fresh grapes, raisins, nuts and crackers.
Terrine is a French-style forcemeat that resembles galantine. This evening’s Liver Terrine goes well with fig chutney. The serving of Smoked Salmon Carpaccio is equally exquisite. The thin slices of fish look similar to Japanese sashimi.
Some of the appetizing salads here are Chicken & Apple Salad, French Bean & Turkey Ham Salad, Beet Root Salad With Orange & Vidalia Onion and Crabmeat & Shrimp Cocktail With Capsicum Aioli.
The pastry section presents iconic festive confections such as the Yule Log. Made from Swiss rolls, the traditional dessert is decorated to look like an actual Yule log. For instance, the surface is covered with chocolate cream and icing sugar to mimic tree bark and snow respectively.
Next, Christmas Stollen is a traditional cake-like bread from Dresden, Germany. It contains candied fruits, nuts and spices. The top surface is dusted with icing sugar to resemble snow. The city of Dresden celebrates Stollenfest every year. During the festival, a large Christmas Stollen is paraded through the streets and is then distributed to the crowd.
Moving on, the Spiced Apple Cake contains thin slices of apple flavored with cinnamon. I personally think that the cake is too sweet for me. I prefer to let the apple’s natural sweetness take the center stage.
Other pastries this evening include Christmas Cookies, Christmas Pudding, Cranberries & Orange Bread Pudding, Fruits Cake, Ginger Tiramisu, Fruits Crumble, Chocolate Éclairs and Cream Puffs.
Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya‘s yuletide dinner is served on Christmas Eve (24 December 2018) and New Year’s Eve (31 December 2018). A similar dinner is also offered at Sunway Hotel Georgetown on Christmas Eve.
The buffet is priced at RM100.00 and RM60.00 net for adults and children respectively. In-house guests, Sunway Pals members and Maybank card holders enjoy 20% discount.
Name: Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya
Address: 11, Lebuh Tenggiri 2, Pusat Bandar Seberang Jaya, 13700 Seberang Jaya, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-370-7788
Business hours: 6:30pm-10:30pm
Website: https://seberangjaya.sunwayhotels.com
Coordinates: 5.39579 N, 100.39788 E
Directions: From Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan (North-South Expressway), take the Seberang Jaya exit and head west. Turn left just before the pedestrian bridge and drive all the way to the end. When the road splits, keep right. Sunway Hotel is further down on the right. There are parking spaces within the hotel’s compound. The parking fee is RM4.00 per entry.