RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK
A PERSONAL REVIEW OF RESTAURANTS AROUND THE WORLD

LEMON GARDEN CAFE
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

We chose the beautiful Shangri-La hotel for our stay in KL and as usual, breakfast came with the room.

As we headed down the elevator I thought to myself:  "Great, another gang-bang breakfast buffet with all the usual suspects."  The food is usually good at world class hotels but one does get tired of the perma-buffet.

My m.o. is to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee while my wife raids the buffet line.  She also does re-con for me looking for the food that I love like exotic local items that you might not find anywhere else.

 JAPANESE BUFFET SECTION

She came back with a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and some fruit.  But she said to me:  "You're going to absolutely love this place.  They've got everything including some very exotic items!"

So it was with great anticipation that I checked the spread out.  It was nothing short of stupendous!

MALAYSIAN BUFFET

They had three separate buffet lines.  One was your typical American buffet complete with eggs, breakfast meats, breads, fruit, pastries, juices. etc.  The second was an incredible Japanese buffet.  They had all the "unidentifiable" items I had seen while visiting Japan plus some wonderful familiar items including all kinds of steamed dumplings including shrimp kept warm right in their wicker steaming baskets.  They had various types of fish, sticky rice, and a whole bunch more.  The third buffet line featured Malaysian items including such outstanding dishes as curried chicken, beef and chicken satays, beef in coconut sauce, chicken steamed in pandamus leaves, and much, much more.  And all of this for breakfast with a tab coming in only at around $12 U.S. per person.

This is the best Malaysian food I've ever tasted in the world!  And I'd have to say this is the best breakfast buffet we've ever encountered on an international trip.

The Lemon Garden Cafe is located on the lobby level of the Shangri-La hotel in Kuala Lumpur.  The address is 11 Jalan Sultan Ismail,  50250 Kuala Lumpur.  Telephone number is     (60-3) 2032 2388.

ADDITIONAL RESTAURANT REVIEW FROM KUALA LUMPUR:

Saloma