Dim Sum Buffet at Chynna Hilton Hotel at KL Sentral

During our weekend jaunt up to KL last weekend, we decided to abandon our reservation at Jogoya because we had a late checkout (3.30pm) from the hotel and we had to catch the 5pm bus (which was just next to the hotel) to the airport.

After some last minute searches on the net, we found out that one of the top 5 Chinese restaurants in KL was located about 20+ floors down from our room - Chynna. I made reservations for 12noon but we were too stuffed from the breakfast buffet that we ended up going down at 1pm instead.

The decor of the restaurant was definitely Chinese-style with all the lanterns but far from being gaudy, the decor was tastefully done up without being overdone (too "cheena"). For the dim sum buffet, one could either have the buffet with 1 bowl of seafood soup at RM55++ or buffet with 1 bowl of sliced abalone soup at RM98++.

After we were seated and had made our selection from the menu, a waiter dressed in traditional Chinese Manchu Garb came over to our table and poured us a cup of welcome tea from this tea pot with an extremely long spout. I think only a few Chinese restaurants have that! Anyway, other than that one cup of welcome tea, drinks were not part of the buffet.

We placed our order for the dim sum items about 1pm and it took the restaurant 15 mins before serving the first item - fried Thai fish cakes which was very good. We finished the dish in about 2 mins and waited for the next dish which took another 5 mins to come. There was some sort of a cooking/steaming area at the side of the restaurant but it didn't seem like anyone was manning the counter at all. So we got a tad worried about how long it would take for all the rest of the items (this is a buffet, mind!) to be served given that we had to check out at 3.30pm.

After asking the waitress to hurry with our orders, the next dish was finally served - char siew baos. Warm and soft fluffy buns with sweet juicy fillings. Very good stuff.

My CEB ordered the porridge which I didn't have any of but he said it was decent. I on the other hand ordered siew mais which looked rather unappetizing but was in fact done very well. The pork was tender and wet, and when poked with my fork, fell apart in nice bite-sized pieces.

As you can see from the picture below, we also had beef balls, har gaos (prawn dumplings), and rice rolls with scallops. Every item except the rice rolls (which was too plain and tasteless) is worth a try!

I had a second order of the scallops dumplings (pic on the right) and another dim sum item which looks like stuffed balls of some sort - I can't really recall. My CEB had a second order of the Thai fried pan cakes. We also had other dim sum items in between but I can't recall what they are because I was too busy eating to take more pictures.

We ended with dessert - one gets to choose one dessert from a choice of 4 desserts on the menu. I ordered ice cream with red bean and this dish gets a huge thumbs down from me. Not because this is Chynna and I expected the dessert to be of a certain quality but because on its own, the dessert tasted awful - the red bean was tasteless and watery and of course, a heap of flavored ice mixed in did nothing for the dish at all.

Before we left the hotel, my CEB bought mooncakes from Chynna for his mama-in-law. A box of 4 mooncakes cost about RM80 for 2 snow skin mooncakes and 2 baked mooncakes.

The Slog Reviews: 8/10. While the large majority of the dim sum items at Chynna are definitely palate-pleasing, Chynna would do better if the service was much faster (there were only a few tables occupied at that hour and they were still so slow!) and if the quality of the desserts on the buffet menu was improved. Still, I would definitely visit Chynna if in KL and the urge for dim sum strikes me. Will be back.

Executive Lounge at Hilton at Petaling Jaya after the renovation

The last time I stayed in Hilton Petaling Jaya was May 2012 and the executive lounge was still undergoing renovation. Then, I had been given a standard room which had not been renovated and I found a painter in the toilet when I opened the door. Of course, I went back to the reception and refused absolutely to stay 4 nights in that room, especially with my Hilton Gold membership. And what do you know, where they had previously insisted that there were no renovated rooms available, I was given a renovated room on the 4th floor.

This time, I asked for a free upgrade to an executive room (being a Hilton Gold Member) and I was told that there were no rooms available. I recognized the manager and told him that the service at his hotel was a lot worse than that of Hilton at KL Sentral and DoubleTree where I would always get upgraded to a executive room. He promised that he would upgrade my room the next stay. We shall see. I will definitely be coming back to call on that promise! :D

Anyway, I was given a room on the 20th floor and there was a welcome platter all set out on the table. I would have been even more pleased if they had got the name right.

In any case, here is a picture of the room. The view from the room's window is nothing to crow about but this room is definitely larger than the rooms I had stayed in the past two times (click here for a review of the stay in April 2012).

Another picture of the room taken from the window - it's pretty modern in decor with the safe and robes tucked away in the beige cupboards. The only feedback I have about the room is the placement of the central light switches at the bedside. Now, if one is going to choose which side of the bed to sleep if one is alone, one would naturally sleep near the bedside telephone where the wake up call will come. Surely it would make sense to place the master light switch there so one can conveniently switch off the lights in the room to sleep but no, the switch is on the other side of the bed.

Anyway, given that this was a work trip, I didn't spend much time in the room. I was curious to see the lounge though which had been moved to the 21st floor so right after I checked in, I headed up just in time for the evening cocktail at 6pm.

As you would be able to tell from the pictures above and below, the new lounge is sprawling and tastefully decorated. Very very nice, especially if you consider what the old one looked like. There are plenty of different sorts of sitting arrangements - settees like the one I had, high seats by the window overlooking the highway and normal round table seats.

But of course, the true measure of a lounge is the quality of food they serve, no? So off I headed to the buffet table where there were 4 types of hot plate dishes and 1 pot of mushroom soup.

Oh, and this was the spread of non-hot cocktail food available ranging from fruits to sushi rolls to various types of pastries. Very aesthetically presented with variety and quality. Definitely a big thumbs up! I would dare say that the spread is on par with that of its sister hotel, Hilton at KL Sentral where I just came back from tonight!

But let's talk more about the hot food selection at the executive lounge of Petaling Jaya which deserves a picture on its own - the mushroom soup was done to warm soupy perfection and the prawns and salmon dishes were very well presented in dainty portions with just the right amount of garnishing to render them appealing.

However, what blew me and my colleague (and our guests) away was the smoked duck. The meat was tender, tasty and came with a delicious sweet sauce that instead of detracting from the taste of the duck, somehow enhanced it so that the juices from the smoked duck and the sauce filled one's mouth with orgasmic delight. I swear I closed my eyes with each bite, and I had more than 6 bites of duck altogether.

The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. Hilton PJ's lounge definitely deserves a visit. It would be good though if they had takeaway boxes/doggy bags because I was rushing to work in the morning (about 7.15am) and had requested to take away some croissants (they had large delicious chocolate ones - I ate one while waiting to check out at the lounge) but was told the executive lounge does not allow one to take food away which is utter rubbish since I am entitled to breakfast. The restaurant at the lobby level allowed me to take away some croissants the day before when I was likewise rushing to go to work.

While Hilton PJ is definitely a much better hotel after all the renovations, it still has some way to go in treating its hotel guests, especially its Hilton Gold members. It would do well to learn from its sister hotels like Double Tree and Hilton KL which does a far better job overall.

Hilton at Petaling Jaya

I know it looks as if I have changed loyalty but the Hilton's Gold Membership Promotion for the first quarter (click here to read) was too attractive to pass up. And hence, we have been trying to clock the 4 stays before 31 May 2012 so as to qualify for the 40,000 HHonors Points.

Now, as we all know, hotel rates in Singapore are the most expensive in South East Asia. So, paying over SGD 200 to stay in an ordinary room in Hilton Orchard isn't the most ideal way of racking up the stays. KL on the other hand, offers more attractive options for Hilton hotels and the cheapest would be Hilton at Petaling Jaya. And it was cheap (I'm talking about SGD120+ per night inclusive of 2 breakfasts and an upgrade to a room with executive lounge access) with good reason. Getting there by public transport (without a car) was a hassle. To get to Hilton PJ from the airport by train, one has to take the shuttle bus (RM9) from KLIA/LCCT to KL Sentral. There, one has to buy a ticket/token for the Kelana Jaya Line and take the train service all the way up to either the Taman Jaya Station or Asia Jaya Station. I prefer to get off the Taman Jaya Station Line BUT it is a lonely road leading to the back of the hotel and we all know that KL isn't the safest place in the world. Getting to Asia Jaya Station though is more of a hassle because it involves trying to cross more main roads and there aren't well, properly defined crossings but loads of broken pavement. Still, at least it is on the main road so one is that much safer.

Anyway, the hotel was under renovation. And all the executive rooms and the lounge were being ungraded. However, we were given 1 of the newly renovated rooms on the second floor facing the pool. So per the picture below, the furnishings and furniture and all were spanking new.

However, as with Double Trees Hilton, there was no bathtub in the room. The toiletries in the hotel were extremely well-packaged (see the pic below) but I assure you that once one removes the boxes, the contents are most ordinary. Disappointingly ordinary in fact.

Well as I mentioned, the executive lounge was under renovation so we were given access to another lounge. Needless to say, it was a far cry from the one at Double Tree. The selection of drinks and food was really limited and ordinary and although there was internet access, everything in the place was run-down, old and shabby.

The hotel provides a shuttle bus at 12noon to 1Utama but without the return service. Hence, we decided to go to 1Utama on our own for dinner. We walked the broken pavements to Asia Jaya Station and paid RM1.30 each to get to the end of the line - Kelana Jaya station. I had read that 1Utama provides free shuttle buses to the mall so we asked around and were told to cross a overhead bridge and wait at the bus stop in front of a row of shophouses (see pic of station and the overhead bridge we crossed).

After waiting about 20 mins, there was no sign of the bus so we took a cab instead. It cost RM8 one way. 1Utama was huge and had many shops including Coach. We thought of taking the complimentary shuttle back to the train station in the evening but found out that the shuttle service was only for 1Utama Card Members. The cost of being a member would be RM10 each. And even though we offered to pay a nominal fee to the bus driver to take us to the station, he refused unless we became 1 Utama Card members. So much for "complimentary" bus svc!

The Slog Reviews: 7/10. This hotel is really cheap by KL stations and for the Hilton brand but it is with good reason. I would suggest waiting till the renovation is complete before booking a stay there. And it would be advisable to rent a car or drive up from SG because this Hilton hotel is the most inaccessible of the lot.

A weekend at Hilton Double Tree at KL

It seems like not too long ago when I spent a weekend with my good ole mama at Hilton Double Tree at KL. The reason for the trip was to clock 1 out of the 4 Hilton Stays before 31 May 2012 so as to qualify for the 40,000 HH Points (Visa Infinite Card Promotion) and although Hilton at Petaling Jaya was the cheapest of the 3 Hilton hotels at KL, Double Tree was more accessible.

So, from the LCCT, we took the Sky Bus to KL Sentral where we then took the Kelena Jaya line to Ampang Park LRT Station. The cost of the train ride was just RM2 per person from KL Sentral. However, the overhead bridge from Ampang Mall to the hotel was under construction so we had to scamper across the wide busy roads.

Check-in took some time because the hotel was staffed with trainees. However, we were upgraded to a room on the executive floor, thanks to the Hilton Gold membership. And given two large warm biscuits to boot.

This was the welcome platter which greeted us in the room - fruits and miniature cakes. The cookies were from the reception.

And as you can tell, my good ole mama was more than delighted with all the complimentary food. Even though she was pretty stuffed from all the eating at the Rainforest Lounge earlier (thanks to the priority pass), she still managed to put away quite a bit of the pastries.

I'll give the decor of the room an 8/10. Like The Intercontinental Hotel in Melbourne, Double Tree rooms do not come with a bath tub. I think it is to do with the conservation of water, you know, eco-friendly.

After I'd managed to pry my good old mama away from the complimentary platter, we went to the executive lounge just across the lift lobby of the same floor about 5pm which was the scheduled tea time.

Our plans to go out for dinner fell through the moment we saw all that food in the lounge. I mean, the selection was simply awesome. I'm talking about quality and quantity here!

I'll let the pictures do the talking. And yes, those were chicken wings and samosas in the picture above and nice little cuts of roast beef in the picture below.

And tandoori chicken, smoked salmon around asparagus, all beautifully presented. I tell ya, the presentation of the lounge food is among the best I've ever seen.

And let's not forget the desserts.

I have to confess that I helped myself shamelessly to lots of biscuits to kill time while my mother used one of the lounge's computers to play her online game.

Ah yes, the picture below is the last helping of the lounge food I had before they closed the refreshment service at 7.30pm. But even after then, fresh fruit juice and a pot of warm milo for my mum were forthcoming.

We stayed till about 10pm before going back to our room. Hilton has a choice of pillows that a guest can select - contour, bamboo that sort of thing. However, I was too stuffed to think straight and made do with whatever was on the bed.

The next day, we took a train out to KLCC after a filling breakfast at The Executive Lounge. We were too full to have lunch so we decided to head back to The Lounge for the evening's refreshments. Again, the variety of desserts was impressive - strawberries with sugar!

And we did not have to spend a cent for dinner with all that lounge food. The chicken curry was thick and warm, and went very well with the yellow Indian flour thingy.

And from the lounge, we had a great view of the city. I took this picture while the sun was going down.

From the windows on the other end of the lounge, one can get a great picture of the twin towers.

The Slog Reviews: 9/10. A wonderful experience at Hilton Double Tree KL. I would have given the hotel a perfect score if not for the one too many trainees who were unable to assist effectively (at check out etc). Other than that, I'm looking forward to my next visit at Double Tree which is in 2 weeks time!

Madam Kwan's @ Suria KLCC

Many of my fellow countrymen have recommended that I have at least one meal at Madam Kwan and until the last trip, despite my frequently pausing before its restaurant's entrance, I've resisted having a meal at the restaurant because of its "zi cha" menu. Stuff like Otah, Nasi Lemak, Assam Prawns, all these I've eaten all too often, whether locally or in JB.

However, simply because we've never eaten at Madam Kwan before, we decided to join the crowd in the restaurant and have at least one meal there.

So we did. And a rather expensive and unremarkable affair it turned out to be. Good enough food but definitely overpriced given the quality and type of food served. I'll tell you how much the meal above turned out to be - RM111 - and the only item not shown is my longan drink which cost RM5. The nasi lemak was RM15+, the nasi bojari RM 22.90, kangkong (small) RM14.50 and the plate of assam prawns (large) was RM 37.50.

It was more than enough food for the both of us, and the food was decent enough without being extraordinary BUT I would definitely not recommend this restaurant to my fellow countrymen given the prices, unremarkable service and interior decor, and the type of food served.

Iketeru @ Hilton Hotel KL Sentral

At the recommendation of a friend who is a Jap-food lover and because we were staying at Meridien which is just next to, and conveniently connected to Hilton Hotel (they share the same swimming pools), my CEB and I decided to have dinner and lunch at Iketeru last month. My CEB had flown in on a Fri afternoon and was starving because he hadn't had a chance to grab a bite before his flight. However, the prices on the menu certainly gave pause to his appetite. And mine as well. As it was one of the rare times I was feeling healthy, I ordered the black cod from the teppenyaki menu. It came done excellently but the portion wasn't very much for RM50. I also ordered a plate of shitake mushrooms from the teppenyaki menu for us to share and that was amore reasonably priced at RM17. I would definitely recommend this delicious dish with its crisp garlic chips at the side. My CEB ordered the gyu katsu curry which he proclaimed delicious after a few mouthfuls. This again was reasonably priced (as compared to the rest of the menu) at just RM60. Even with the complimentary green tea (free flow), the bill for dinner came up to almost RM160. I don't think I'll be in a hurry to go back to Iketeru until I have deeper pockets!

The next day, we went back for the recommended Sunday buffet lunch and despite the cost RM131.10 per pax (inclusive of tax), the restaurant was pretty fully booked. Lunch started at 12 and ended about 2.30pm, and unlike the normal buffets where the food is laid out, most of the food had to be ordered off the menu alacarte style. There was quite a nice variety with teppenyaki, noodles, rice and even some soups on the menu. Sashimi on the other hand, as well as the makis had to be ordered from the chefs behind the glass-covered counters. From a websearch of the restaurant, it seems that Iketeru is one of the more famous Japanese restaurants in KL, and indeed the quality of each dish we had testifies to that. Do not expect quantity though (even for the buffets where each order means just enough and not in excess).

Le Meridien Hotel at KL

Less than a week after coming back from Joburg to be with my CEB, it was time to travel for work again. There was a difference this time though - my CEB decided to pack his bags and join me. Firstly because the plane journey was an hour only (as compared to more than 10hrs for Joburg) and secondly because this biz trip spanned the weekend.

I chose to stay at Le Meridien Hotel this time instead of The Westin again, and the long short of the experience is that despite the not-too-fabulous experience at The Westin the last time, I would still pick The Westin over Le Meridien for my next business trip. Although I was upgraded to a premier room with a stunning view per the picture below, the long short is that Le Meridien is a far less luxurious hotel than its sister hotel.

For starters, my corner premier room (and corners are supposed to be bigger no?) looked like this below - cozy and clean at best but nothing spacious or fancy like the deluxe room at The Westin.

The bathroom was not too bad though - one could double soak - soak in the bath tub and soak in the stunning view with a beer in hand. Toiletries provided were decent but not the kind that one would to take back home.

My CEB being the more easy going of us two was happy enough with Le Meridien because of its decent enough room and location. Being connected to KL Sentral (via the taxi area of the top most floor of KL Sentral building) means that it is really easy to get about KL if one is dependent on public transport. It cost just RM13 for us to take a cab from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang (one has to buy a ticket at the budget taxi counter at Bukt Bintang), and less than RM2 each to take a train from KL Sentral to KLCC. There is also the option of walking about 10mins to the LRT station from KL Sentral to take the LRT around the Bukit Bintang area.

My CEB left earlier than I did and when I got back a couple of days later, there he was at the airport with a box of durian puffs in hand.I have to admit that I was very surprised - my CEB has always been rather against my eating durians because my voracious consumption ("once start can't stop") of the said fruit had been giving me nosebleeds. Since it couldn't be the case that my CEB wanted his (insert pet name) to keel over early, I figured out that it was my CEB's way of showing me some love :) As I said, he is King Unromantic, so little gestures like this one are all the more meaningful.

The Westin KL

Ever since being upgraded to a suite and clubroom a couple of times (@ Indianapolis and Sheraton Imperial KL) because of my SPG gold membership, I had assumed that I would be upgraded from the deluxe city view room I had booked with The Westin KL.

However, I was informed at the front desk that the next category of rooms - premier rooms - were all fully booked if I wanted a king-sized bed and since nothing beats a large comfy bed when travelling for work, I decided to accept what I had booked, which looked comfortable enough with a nice passage way and spacious room.

However, beyond those windows which had sunlight streaming in (it was about noon when I went up to dump my bags before heading off for another meeting), lay a sight that had me calling room service and asking for the upgrade.

This. A hideous large apartment block right opposite the window. Normally I wouldn't care too much about the view outside the windows because I keep the curtains drawn but I guess I wasn't quite prepared to have to endure this large monstrosity while paying good $ to stay here.

So, when the doorbell rang, I went with 1 of the staff to the premier room which had 2 twin beds and looked exactly similar to the deluxe room I had just left. Except that it was on a slightly higher floor (4 floors up with a common concourse to the other premier/lounge level rooms). I thought that the view would be much better but sadly, it wasn't. Instead, the huge monstrosity was still visible from the windows (although slightly to the left this time). So I lugged everything back down again to the deluxe room which had at least, a big comfy bed. I assure you, everything was exactly the same, even the bathroom.

And the complimentary amenities provided at the mini-bar. Now, I have to confess that this is the first time that I've been in a 4-5 stars hotel that has a box of condoms amongst the snacks. 4 Points by Sheraton in Bangkok also had a box which makes me wonder whether it is just the SPG hotels in the Asia Pac that provide these (the hotel in Indianapolis certainly didn't).

Anyway, disgruntled with the lack of upgrade, ugly view, I decided to go to the club lounge and use the internet instead of using the free wifi in the lobby. I probably could have charged the internet access to my room because I was using it strictly for work (an urgent email) but I figured that I wasn't going to have my company pay this hotel a dime more. So up to the club lounge I went and they did ask for my room number which I gave them but they didn't say very much when I told them I just needed to send an email.

Now, maybe it was the hour which I went up the lounge (about 2pm) but it was relatively empty and other than some cookies and 3 types of juices, it was a far cry from the club lounge of the hotel I had stayed in the night before. The problem sometimes about living too well is that it is relatively hard to adjust to something less, especially when the price difference is just SGD40. Anyway, I had problems accessing the hotel wifi on my computer laptop which had them send up an IT staff who confessed to me it was his second day on the job and he couldn't fix the problem. So I asked to use the 1 available computer in the lounge to send my email but it turned out that the computer was busted. The one other computer was occupied by another guest.

And the view from the club lounge isn't that great either. Even the view of the twin towers is a partial one. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. Other than its great location just opposite the mega upscale shopping mall, Pavilion, the friendly and helpful staff, there is nothing to crow about the experience I had with The Westin KL. And given the number of hotels in KL, I am not likely to ever choose this hotel again when I return to the city for work. With just a handful of stays left to maintain my SPG gold membership, I would rather stay slightly away from the malls at Sheraton Imperial where I had a much more pleasant experience before. Or Marriott which is one of my company's preferred hotels.