Christmas & New Year Buffet at Paya Serai, Hilton PJ

images by Veronica Ng, text Dave Avran

While every hotel worth its salt will have their own spread of scrumptious year end festive menus, Hilton Petaling Jaya never fails to impress with their creative fare. This year they have conjured an enticing buffet spread of Christmassy delights at their famed Paya Serai Restaurant.

We were fortunate enough to get a sneak taste of what’s in store for diners here.

The Appetizer of grilled vegetables with pesto sauce had eggplant, onions and red bell peppers tenderly seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil before being grilled to tenderness then topped with the pesto. We were glad they were not overcooked and remained crunchy to the bite, just the way we love our vegetables.

Next to appear before us was smoked duck with sliced pear topped with red berries. The smoked duck was moist and juicy, and it paired well with the pear slivers. The combination was indeed a great taste experience for our jaded palates.

The mainstay of all pizzas, tomato and Mozzarella were given an innovative twist here where Chef Carlos layered fresh succulent tomato with chewy gooey Mozarella to create another winner of an appetizer.

The Prawn Salad with peppers, celery and Spanish olives was fresh and refreshing, with well balanced textures and flavors.

Next, we had Pumpkin soup with truffle essence. A few spoonfuls of the  Soup will certainly not be enough if you are a Pumpkin  fan as it is deliciously aromatic, enhanced by the truffle essence and given a boost in creaminess with the sinfully rich topping. The flavors balanced each other well, resulting in a soup that’s slurp-worthy without being overwhelming.

The Oven Sage Turkey grilled with chestnut stuffing will set you well on your way into a Christmas mood. The star of every Christmas dinner worldwide is served here with giblet sauce which looks simple but tastes heavenly. Chef Carlos explained that the making it was a long and tedious process, taking almost 6 hours to come up with the perfect texture!

Of course there was the traditional cranberry sauce on the side as well for the purists.  They also have Baked Potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits. The potatoes are well baked and had a lovely naturally-sweet taste and texture.

The Lamb Shank is superbly combined with a mushroom casserole. The meat is fall off the bone tender and juicy while the mushrooms soaked up the gravy provided a generous crunch.

Our dessert was so impressively plated that it left us with a lasting impression, with all of so busy oohing and aahing that no one wanted to take the first bite!   We had a petite and very detailed sugarcraft Santa and Christmas tree, along with Christmas fruit cake, Yule log, Christmas pudding and mince pies to end our meal on a sweet note.

We have to say that the Christmas Buffet Hi-Tea priced at RM 120++ and the Christmas Buffet Dinner priced at RM 110++ is pretty good value for money as the portions are pretty generous.

To end the year with a bang, you’ll be able to countdown to 2013 with another extensive and delectable buffet spread at Paya Serai with the New Year’s Eve Buffet Dinner priced at RM 125++. Or head on down to Uncle Chillies and party like there’s no tomorrow with the red hot show band MOF. For reservation, contact 03-7955 9122 ext 4060/56.

On New Year’s Day, treat your loved ones to a spanking new year with the Buffet Hi Tea priced of RM 99++

Check out the festivities at other outlets at Hilton Petaling Jaya.