Photo By: Elin Chow

Anyone remember that I actually had a very unpleasant dining experience at the Makan Kitchen at Double Tree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur about two years ago? Well, I had recently dined at Makan Kitchen again because I was invited by Lycan, who is the new manager of restaurant to try out their new buffet menu. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to accept the invitation because I can imagine how awkward it would be. But eventually, I still decided to give the restaurant another chance because Lycan was really sincere and I am glad that I did!


Located on the 11th floor, Makan Kitchen is the signature kitchen of Double Tree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur. Diners can enjoy an authentic Malaysian dining experience served from three open concept kitchens, which showcase chefs at work.


I always love the layout of the restaurant. It is spacious and cozy, with great ambience and a very inviting interior. Tables were arranged neatly and well spaced out to ensure privacy and comfort


In the open kitchen, you will find the team of chefs are busily preparing and dishing out the orders. The live cooking actually makes the whole dining experience more interactive and lively. Most of the food that are served at the buffet were cooked or grilled to order to ensure quality and freshness. Unlike last time, the food was served hot and the quality has significantly improved.


Makan Kitchen is perfect for people who are craving for a range of Malaysian delicacies or would like experience the real taste of Malaysia. The restaurant will satisfy your craving for local dishes in the comfort and convenience of one restaurant.
The kitchens offer more than 80 dishes from six local cuisines; from the popular Malay, Chinese, Indian to Peranakan, Kristang and Iban delights. The revamped menu has also included more seafood to make its price more worthwhile, in hopes to attract more local diners. Afterall, how many local Malaysians would want to pay such a premium price just to eat Malaysian food.
The offering was pretty extensive and we were spoilt for choice! We have difficulty deciding what to eat, so we try to eat a little of everything.

Fruits Station
Near the entrance, you will find the Fruit Station that offers a variety of freshly cut fruits like watermelon, orange, honeydew, dragonfruit and green apples.

Drink Station

Next to the Fruits Station is the Drink Station offering your traditional Malaysian drink like Ter Tarik, Iced Milo, Rose Syrup and Longan water. Nothing really special.

Dessert Station
The Dessert Station offers both local and western desserts. I love their western style desserts, especially love the Durian cheese tart and Walnut cheese cake. They were so delicious!


If you are not a fan of Western desserts, the Dessert Station also offers a variety of Malay and Nyoya Kuehs. We did not try these, so I am not sure whether they taste good or not.

Cold Seafood Station

At the Cold Seafood Station, you will find piles of crustaceans atop mounds of crushed ice, which keeps them fresh and cold. The seafood selection was not huge, but I think they were enough to satisfy any seafood lover.

Sushi Bar

Sitting beside it is a mini Sushi bar offering slices of Sashimi. The selection is pretty limited, with only Salmon, Tuna and Tako to choose from. But the Sashimi were very fresh and taste awesome.

Hot Seafood Station

One of the new addition to the buffet was the Hot Seafood Station, which offers a few variety of seafood. Diners can pick their own seafood on ice and choose to have them either steamed or cooked in a porridge. We prefer to steam them because porridge will be too filling.

Some of the seafood offered are clams (Lala), prawns, yabbies and fish. But our favorite will be the freshly steamed Yabbies. They were so fresh and steaming brings out the delicate sweetness of the Yabbies.


Other than Yabbies, we also tried steamed Lala, prawns and sliced fish with garlic. They were very tasty as well.

Noodle / Grilled Oyster station
There is a Noodle station next to the Hot Seafood Station, but we did not order any noodles to try. Anyway, the highlight at this station was not the noodles, but the freshly grilled oysters topped with garlic.


The Grilled Oyster station was very popular as all the oysters are being snatched up fast once grilled. So you need to be quick if you wish to have a taste of it.

Satay Station
The Satay Station offers both chicken and beef satay, freshly grilled. Perfectly grilled, the satay were well-marinated and served with Makan Kitchen's home made peanut sauce, which was a perfect complement. The meat was also tender and juicy with right amount of fats.

Indian Kitchen

I actually expected the naan to be soft and fluffy. But disappointing, it was not. The naan was doughy and hard.


The Tandoori chicken was very disappointing as well because it was very dry. It was so difficult to eat.

The only dish we like from this kitchen was the fish head curry. This was certainly a dish you should not miss.


There was another curry disk called the Palak Chicken. It was also one of the new additions to their buffet menu. But unfortunately, we did not get to try this because we were so full already.

Malay Kitchen

The main highlight in the Malay Kitchen was the roasted lamb. The meat was crisp on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. Definitely a must try!

Chinese Kitchen



Here, you will find the usual Cantonese roasted meat dishes like roasted chicken, chicken Char Siu and roasted duck. We did not really like the chicken Char Siu because we prefer pork Char Siu to chicken Char Siu. The roasted chicken was also a little too dry and definitely not a delight to eat. But the roasted duck was surprisingly good.


Other than roasted meat, the Chinese Kitchen also offers several local home-cooked wok-fried dishes such as stir-fry black pepper lamb and noodles. But unfortunately, none of it really impressed us. I also remember that the Chinese Kitchen used to serve Dim Sum, but now they have replaced it with Yong Tau Fu.


Our favorite will be the Chilled Sweet Longan dessert. I had two bowls of it because it was so tasty!

Conclusion

I am glad that Makan Kitchen did not disappoint us this time. The quality of food and service have improved significantly and of course, with much better offering. Food were served fresh and hot and staffs were also very friendly and polite. They were prompt in clearing our empty plates and replenishing the food.

Price was mid range and well worth the money. I would recommend anyone who would like to experience a taste of Malaysia to try out their buffet dinner.

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