I chose to have the lunch buffet at this famous luxury hotel in Jakarta. The buffet was held in The Cafe which is very large with great views of the hotel's gardens and was actually almost full when I arrived at 1pm. I had made...a reservation a couple of days earlier and was shown to my table that overlooked the waterfall and Koi pond in the gardens.
The selection of food is actually pretty amazing and everything looked really delicious and presented beautifully. The staff here are excellent and so professional that you only need to look up and there is a waiter or waitress walking towards your table.
I started with some Japanese food with chicken katsu, green-lipped mussels, a selection of sushi and sashimi along with wasabi, soy sauce and sliced ginger. The taste was better than most Japanese restaurants that I have visited in Indonesia and certainly very fresh.
I followed this with some food from the pasta bar with broccoli cheese, Lyonnaise potatoes, chicken in a sweet spicy sauce, garlic bread and pan-grilled pumpkin. Everything was cooked perfectly and delicious. I followed this with some freshly cooked penne pasta served with pesto sauce, mussels and Parmesan cheese.
After this i wandered over to the Indian bar which had lots of hot dishes and chose a chicken korma, biryani rice and some curried vegetables. I asked if they had aloo gobi but was told that they change the dishes daily and the aloo gobi was not available on that particular day. They also had a tandoori salad which was basically pieces of tandoori chicken breast with some onion. All was delicious.
After all the above I was getting pretty full and not really able to try much else. I did have a look around and the steak area looked amazing with a fabulous selection of meat to choose from. I will keep this for my next visit.
Across the corridor is the dessert section of the buffet and also included many Halloween themed dishes. There is a very large selection of cakes on offer as well as macaroons, croissant pudding with vanilla sauce, coffee flavoured creme brulee, a selection of 12 different ice creams that included rum raisin and much more. Again, everything was perfect and really delicious.
This was one of the best buffet lunches that I have tried, and certainly the best in Indonesia. The food was cooked perfectly, the selection enormous and the staff were always attentive and friendly and ready to assist at all times.
Drinks are not included in the buffet but can be ordered separately. I chose the recommended drink, lychee iced tea which is what most people were drinking and it was very good.
The cost of the buffet was slightly under IDR500,000 and well worth the cost. But I would recommend skipping breakfast and arriving here with an empty stomach otherwise you will not be able to sample everything that is on display. Total cost of the buffet and drink was was IDR590,000 inclusive of tax.
I unreservedly and highly recommend the lunch buffet at the Hotel Mulia as it is some of the best food available in Jakarta and in such a beautiful hotel. I will be back.More
