Special thanks to The Northam All Suite Hotel for extending this food review invitation.
Update: This business has ceased its operations.
This evening, The Northam All Suite Hotel gives a preview of its upcoming Ramadan buffet menu. The dinner event is held at the Coffee House. Due to overwhelming response, the buffet spread covers the entire lobby too.
The buffet theme this year is “Juadah Citarasa P. Ramlee Style”. Indeed, the decoration pays homage to the late Malaysian artist, P. Ramlee (1929-1973). The ambience is also filled with oldies from the 1950s. Evoking nostalgia from the yesteryears, The Northam has also erected a wooden shack in the lobby.
The venue is lined with food stalls that serve local delicacies such as Lok-Lok, Asam Laksa, Kambing Golek, Pisang Goreng and Ais Kacang. Many of these stalls have names that pay tribute to P. Ramlee.
Just beyond the hotel’s entrance is a live action stall where Char Koay Teow is cooked to order. This iconic Penang dish uses flat rice noodle. It is stir-fried with bean sprouts, garlic chives, eggs, chili paste and soy sauce.
Bubur Lambuk Daging is often served during Ramadan. The rice porridge is cooked with beef and spices. In addition, spring onions and fried shallots help to enhance the congee’s aroma. Also worth mentioning is Sup Kambing Berempah. Infused with spices, the savory soup contains mutton, carrots and potatoes too.
Ulam-Ulaman section presents a variety of vegetables such as ulam raja (king’s salad), daun pegaga (Asiatic pennywort leaves), kacang botol (winged beans), bendi (okra) and timun (cucumber). The raw vegetables are customarily eaten with condiments like sambal belacan (spicy shrimp paste), cincalok (fermented shrimps), tempoyak (fermented durians), sambal kicap (spicy soy sauce) and sambal hijau (green sauce).
As for Lala Masak Lada Hitam, the clams are stir-fried with black pepper sauce. As the clams do not provide much meat, the main appeal is the peppery seasoning. Meanwhile, diners who take beef can go for Daging Gulai Kawah. The beef slices go particularly well with Nasi Briyani.
Moving to poultry, Ayam Masak Ros is a dish of chicken cooked with tomato-based gravy. Despite its name, the dish does not use rose flowers. Another major highlight is Ikan Goreng, where fish fillets are cooked with sweet and spicy sauce.
The Chinese-style dish of Mixed Vegetables comprises of broccoli, cauliflowers, black mushrooms and straw mushrooms fried with oyster sauce. As for Kurma Telur, hard-boiled eggs are cooked in a thick, non-spicy gravy.
The pastry section presents a modest variety of sweet confections. Shown here are pandan sponge cake, blueberry cheesecake, apple crumble pie and cream cheese tarts. Diners who affinity for Malay kuih can also help themselves to kuih ketayap, seri muka, puteri ayu and more.
The chocolate fountain uses white chocolate instead of the usual milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Skewers of butter cake, papaya, honeydew, pineapples and grapes are provided.
Several types of jelly are available this evening: strawberry, mango, honeydew and coconut. As for something soupy, there is also Bubur Pulut Hitam (black glutinous rice porridge). Last but not least, conclude the meal with a satisfying glass of Teh Tarik.
The Northam’s Ramadan buffet dinner is available from 13 May 2019 to 31 May 2019. The price is RM78.00 per person. Free parking and surau rooms are provided for the convenience of guests. It is also important to note that Coffee House is a halal-certified restaurant.
Name: Coffee House
Address: 55, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-370-1111
Business hours: 6:30am-10:30pm
Website: https://www.northamhotel-penang.com
Coordinates: 5.42728 N, 100.32127 E
Directions: The Northam is located on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, right after VOUK Hotel Suites. Coffee House is right next to the lobby. There is a multilevel parking garage in the hotel.