The secret to good food

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ALTHOUGH some may think otherwise, being located opposite the wet market is a boon for Market Front Coffee Terrace. Its location is said to be the secret behind the place’s reputation of not having received a single complaint about the quality of its food since it opened last year.

“All our fresh ingredients are procured directly from the wet market by our chefs who would personally choose the ingredients they use in the kitchen,” The Regency Hotel Kuala Lumpur business development manager Badrul Izham Wahid said.

Something fishy: The ikan patin masak tempoyak is one of the offerings at the buffet line.

He said that the marketplace was in most sense, the hotel’s “refrigerator”, and was the key to providing good quality food to their customers.

“The special factor of the dishes is the fresh ingredients. We also try to stick to the original way the food is meant to be cooked, which the customers approve of,” Badrul said.

This means that if one were to order the mee mamak, it would come complete with all the necessary ingredients and garnishes, just like how it is prepared at a mamak stall.

Other than the best-selling mee mamak, the Ah Peng chicken chop is also very popular among the diners who don’t opt for the restaurant’s buffet.

“Our buffet is only available whenever there’s a function happening in the hotel or there is enough bookings for it to justify us preparing the spread,” Badrul said.

He added that the dishes served during the buffet were local favourites and had everything from starters to dessert for a complete meal.

Sometimes, the people organising the events at the hotel would request for something different and that’s when the restaurant would set up ‘live stations’.

Succulent: The chicken rendang from the buffet line.

“We serve a lot of things from the live stations like satay, mee rebus, mee jawa, fried kuey tiau, ais kacang. We even offer a carving station upon request,” Badrul said.

In the mornings from 7am to 10.30am, you can go for the American breakfast from the a la carte menu.

Buffet lunch is served from noon to 2.30pm at RM38++ per person whereas the buffet dinner served from 6.30pm to 9.30pm cost RM45++ per person.

The restaurant can seat 230 people at any one time.

“This restaurant will soon be joined by a couple of fine dining restaurants that will be operating soon in the hotel. One is called Taverna and will serve Western cuisine whereas the other that has yet to have a name will serve halal Chinese food,” Badrul said.

A popular dish: The Ah Peng chicken chop that comes with a generous serving of sweet and sour gravy as well as some greens and fries.

He added that a cafe called Warung has recently opened on the hotel’s 5th floor.

“It’s quite a relaxing place with a nice view. People like to come here for a smoke and some light food like cakes and sandwiches,” Badrul said, adding that the cafe is open from 3pm to 11pm.

There are also other cafes called Bigshop and Cafetiam located next to the lobby that also serve light food from 10am to 10pm.

Presently, only 206 out of the 310 rooms are available as the hotel is only due for completion within the first quarter of 2010.