PALMS CAFE,
Palm Garden Hotel, IOI Resort,
Putrajaya
Tel: 8943 2233 ext 8855
Business hours: 24 hours;
buffet lunch is between 12noon and 2.30pm.
SAVOUR the flavours from Indochina at Palm Garden Hotel’s Palms Cafe this month.To give the Indochina promotion a touch of authen city, junior sous chef Hour Sopheak and chef de partie Sok Phirum from the four-star Ree Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia have flown in to cook up a myriad of Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.
Ree Hotel executive chef Long Bora was also in town to oversee the preparations of the promotion for the first few days.
Good stuff: Chef Sok Phirum serving the Nom Ban Chok Samlor Namya.He said the cuisines shared some similarities in its use of ingredients but varied from each other in the method of preparation.
“Cambodian cuisine is less spicy than Thai cuisine and uses less salt,” he said.
Those who enjoy beef and seafood may want to give the promotion a try as beef and seafood items like squid, fish andprawns are used in some in the dishes.
Cambodian main course items include Beef Curry Saraman (beef stewed in curry paste), Fish Amok, Loc Lac Lamb (stir-fried lamb with chopped garlic, oyster sauce, tomato ketchup, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions), Stir-Fried Squid with Khmer Kroeung (stir-fried squid in fish sauce, lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, shallot) and Wok-Fried Rice Noodle Siem Reap Style.
Green Curry Chicken: Goes best with fluffy rice.According to chef Long Bora, the Loc Lac was among Cambodia’s top 10 dishes and could be cooked using fish or lamb.
Spicy Beef, Stewed Beef, Braised Fish with Garlic Pepper, Steamed Fish with Vermicelli and Stir-Fried Beef with Mushroom are some of the Vietnamese main course dishes to look out for.
At the action stalls, there is Nom Banchok Samlor Namya (Rice Vermicelli with Namya Fish Gravy), a unique dish that I was quite satisfied with.
Different soups are offered daily such as Sour Prawn Soup with Lemongrass Broth, Korko Soup (assorted vegetables with Cat Fish & Khmer Spice), Vietnamese Fish Sour Soup with Pineapple and Winter Melon and Forest Chicken Soup.
While ice-cream and ais kacang are available at the dessert corner, there are a variety of sweets from Indochina keep the dessert fans happy.
Cambodian desserts include Tnout Katis (palm fruit in coconut syrup), NomKnhey (deep-fried glutinous rice flour coated with sugar), Nom dong dot (baked coconut cake), Nom Ann Sorm Knol (jack fruit cake), Ann Sorm Chek Ang (grilled glutinous rice with banana), Nom Korm (coconut cake with glutinous rice in banana leaves).
Among the Vietnamese desserts available are Vietnamese Rice Cake, Nom Po Peay (stuffed glutinous rice with yellow bean), Bak Ben (deep-fried glutinous rice flour) and Lotus Seed in Sugar Syrup.
Small delights:Tangy appetisers to start the meal.It would have been better if there all of the food items were labelled with English translations as well, so that diners can learn more about Indochina cuisine.
The promotion is available until July 31 for buffet lunch and dinner, priced at RM58++ per person and RM68++ per person respectively.
A 40% discount is offered for children between the ages of four and 12.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
