The holy month of Ramadan begins this week, and hotels around the Klang Valley will be busy with festive dinner offerings. At Hilton PJ, the theme this year is ‘Jom Makan’ – inviting everyone to the hotel’s Paya Serai Restaurant to partake in a delicious spread of local and international flavours.

Kick the meal off with some colourful thirst quenchers – refreshing mango and fruit cordials, soya bean and milk tea.

Seafood on ice always makes for popular appetisers, and Paya Serai has shrimp, crab and mussels on the menu.

Alternatively, pick out your favourite ulam and kerabu (salad) mixes.

If cold seafood is not your thing, opt to have the chefs at the grilling station cook them over a fire, and enjoy with various curries, sauces and dips.

Those craving for Indian flavours can head to the Indian food station, complete with murtabak (spiced meat stuffed in bread), roti canai, curries and fresh-off-the-grill satay.

No Ramadan buffet would be complete without chicken or beef satay, eaten with peanut gravy and a side of ketupat (rice wrapped in woven palm leaf). The version at Paya Serai is flavourful and juicy, with a nice ratio of lean and fat.

Gotta have them carbs! The noodle station lets patrons customise the ingredients they’d like in their bowl of soupy goodness.

Eating shellfish can be messy but oh-so-satisfying: you’ll find plenty of variety here, such as the spicy balitong (left) that needs to be sucked out of the shell, as well as curried crab.

Whole roasted lamb, prepared Mediterranean style and stuffed with rice.

Chef grilling meat on the teppanyaki hotplate.

Western dishes like beef in brown sauce.

For the adventurous, here’s something you don’t see very often – a whole ox tongue, marinated and sliced. It was spicy and had a slightly rubbery texture, which I quite enjoyed! No doubt some will find it off putting. 😛

A nice variety of local and Western desserts: cakes, kuih, tarts, puddings, fried banana fritters.

Tau Foo Fah (soybean curd)

My favourite was of course the chocolate fountain! 🙂

Throughout Ramadan, the hotel will play host to several food trucks outside the restaurant, so guests can wander around and taste local street food, in addition to the buffet.

The Jom Makan buffet is available from 15 May until 14 June. It is priced from RM169 nett on 15 – 17 May, RM189 nett from 18 May onwards, and RM169 nett from 11 June til 14 June.

For reservations, call +03 7955 9122 or visit zestPJ.com