F's Wedding Reception @ The Banquet

Well, it's Ramadhan ... and there's this iftar feast at The Banquet. It was about 6.20 p.m. .... and preparation was still ongoing .... so I walked about and snapped some photos of the food spread .... or rather, the lack of it. Lol.

 The ulam looked tempting .... and so did the umai.

 The fruits have not been carted out yet .... so a lonely plate of watermelon sat on the table by itself. Note that the tiny black dots on the table are not watermelon seeds ... they are flies. Because the buffet is at the outdoors setting, there seemed to be so many flies around, and truthfully, these flies aren't pleasant to see.  

 This is the fritters station .... 

 And here's the roasted duck .... 

 Assorted skewers for starters 

 The soup station .... 

And I noted the ABC and ice-cream kiosks too ...... The buffet was RM48.00 per pax for adults. But of course, I was not at The Banquet for the buffet dinner. I was at there for my cousin F's wedding reception. It's just that I was there early and had time to spare .... and decided to check out the buffet spread.

*****

I reached The Banquet early and located my table at the corner of the hall. What I saw, I did not like. The tablecloth was stained, and there were at least a few flies on the table itself. Eew. What a terrible and unhygienic sight! But what to do ..... sigh .... 

 The VIP table 

A platter of nuts were only served much later, but luckily, drinks were served right when we arrived.

Sesame-coated peanuts

By 7.40 p.m., dinner was served, for which we were all grateful for, as we were all hungry by then.  

5 hot and cold combination

There was seasoned jelly fish, some deep-fried fritter filled with yam paste, deep-fried mini spring rolls,  seasoned baby octopus, omelette and mock sharks' fin stir-fry. Of all the items, I absolutely detested the yam paste fritter thing which I felt tasted horrible. This item seemed to be served in the hot and cold platters at many eateries in town - but it tasted equally as horrible at those places. The crunchy pastry was tasteless often times, and the filling inside was just as tasteless. Really, I wouldn't bother eating this item, as it was such a waste of tummy space. 

There was a round ball of baked mashed potatoes on the platter - for decorations, I think ... but I took a bite .... and found it to be tasteless. Lols, probably this wasn't meant to be eaten. 

Sea cucumber soup

I liked this soup which had good consistency and good texture and taste. Not bad. :)) 

Steamed tilapia in Hong Kong Style

Fresh fish, and hot from the steamer, this dish was nice to eat :)) 

Steamed herbal chicken

I loved the tasted of herbs in this dish, and I liked the tender meat which tore really easily ....  

Pan-fried buttered prawns

The prawns were succulent and the butter gravy was nice :)) 

Gluten is hidden underneath the mushrooms

For this dish, I found the mushrooms to be flavourful, so I ate 2 of them :)) 

I liked the gravy that went with the noodles

Dessert

Hot bowl of snow fungus, longan, lotus seeds and red dates soup  

Our table sat only 7 persons .... so we had plenty of food to go around. My aunts took home nearly the entire chicken and nearly the whole platter of noodles. Our tummies near exploded .... but it was a happy occasion for the family. Congratulations, Cousin F. :))