Review: Christmas Lunch @ Cinnamon Coffee House, One World Hotel Bandar Utama

My company has an annual tradition of having a Christmas lunch before everyone goes off for the holidays. Last year it was at MamaSan, where everyone got to order their favourite dishes, but this year the boss decided to take us to a buffet at One World Hotel Bandar Utama. Some of my colleagues who have been with the company for longer says they’ve had several Christmas lunches and events here and the food was pretty decent, so I was looking forward to it! 🙂

One World Hotel’s Cinnamon Coffee House was looking very festive, with lots of Christmas-y decorations. We arrived around 1PM, so the place was already packed with people, mostly office workers.

The coffee house was really large! I think it could easily seat 200 covers or more.

The main buffet table with a selection of fresh salads and local/international dishes such as fried fish fillet in cream sauce, curry, beef rendang, fragrant briyani rice and more.

Pasta station where they prepare your dish fresh to order. The line was really long though so I gave this a skip.

The sushi/sashimi counter was a hot favourite, with a long line snaking down the aisle. They took a long time to replenish the section, but I managed to grab a few precious pieces of salmon and tuna. The cuts were quite fresh.

Alcohol corner.

Roast chicken rice corner.

Fresh seafood counter, which also ran out within minutes of being replenished.

Here’s a trend I noticed at buffets: Malaysians will always go for things they perceive as ‘expensive’ – oysters, seafood, sushi, etc. These items run out faster than anything else.

Fresh-off-the-grill satay, cooked over a charcoal fire. The chicken was nice, tender and juicy but the beef was a bit too chewy for my liking. The accompanying peanut sauce was decent.

Plate 1: A bit of everything! My favourite was the fish fillet in creamy curried sauce and the fish maw balls with brocolli, although the latter’s sauce was a tad too starchy. The rack of lamb finished quickly and was not replenished so I only got to taste a little, but it was excellent.

Satay, potato wedges, more fish fillets and assorted goodies. Overall I was satisfied with the quality of the food as everything tasted fresh and yummy – a feat that many buffets fail to achieve.

Moving on to the dessert section, I made a beeline for the chocolate fondue fountain. The way they skewered the marshmallows made it difficult to eat without getting chocolate all over my face, but it was worth it. Chocolate is always worth it 😀

The panna cotta served in shallow dishes was rich, sweet and creamy without being cloying. True to the Christmas theme, there were more Western desserts than local ones, but they were all well done.

All in all, a satisfying lunch with a relatively decent variety. The buffet price is RM97++ per pax. 

CINNAMON COFFEE HOUSE 

Level 1, One World Hotel Bandar Utama, Lebuh Bandar Utama,  47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Business hours: 6AM – 1AM (daily)

Reservations: 03-7681 1157