With the MCO lifted, me and CS decided to rekindle our love for buffets. And, we started with a Hi Tea buffet at Pasar Baru Café of New World Hotel (PJ).

We have tried their Seafood Fiesta back in 2020 before MCO 1.0 started and we liked it. Pasar Baru had been staying under the radar for some time now. While it’s not on the same league as Majestic Hotel, Four Seasons or Grand Hyatt, it comes with a cheaper price tag and decent cooking.

I am going to start with the not-so-good part which was their seafood-on-ice section. Throughout our dining, I don’t think I have seen any diners taking them. They (seafood) were smallish and didn’t look like in prime fresh state.

Another missed point was, they do not have sashimi or Japanese section which made CS’s face fall. These 2 points are the jarring shortcomings of Pasar Baru.

Pasar Baru buffet lines were made up of Indian cuisine, Malay, Western and Chinese sections. Each section has 4 to 6 dishes each. Not much, but all taste good enough. The satays were very well-marinated and tender to bite. Kari Kambing was one of the winner too, being so aromatic and while it’s not fall-off-the-bone level, it’s almost there.

Without nice cold seafood, the Butter Prawn and Stir Fried Mussels fill in the gap nicely. In fact, CS had over a dozen of these Butter Prawn that I had to stop him (cholesterol alert!). There’s a counter for roast chicken, dimsum and made-to-order Curry Laksa. Western section was made up of nicely crafted Roasted Beef with Brown Sauce and Roasted Potato for the sides.

I hate how some hotel buffets serve cheapo bite-sized cakes and tarts that were overly dry. This is not the case with Pasar Baru. In fact, I was here for their desserts. At one glance, it didn’t seem like they have a huge variety to offer but on closer look, the deserts were all beautifully made and presented. How I wish I could try each of these.

Could you imagine eating Pisang Goreng in a hotel buffet? No judging ok? I haven’t had any Pisang Goreng since MCO, and they tasted better than SS2’s RM1 per piece Pisang Goreng.

Macarons are so-so because they’re hollow and I am not a fan of chocolate ganache.

My advice? Skip the local kuehs (Nyonya Colors level only) except for Pisang Goreng, then try everything of the western deserts. The Mini Crème Brulee and Almond Tart were great, better than the ones I had in Paris.

Oh, did I mention that there’s free flow of latte and cappuccino?

Pasar Baru Weekend Hi-Tea Buffet is priced at RM108 per adult available from 12.30pm to 4pm. The dinner buffets are currently unavailable till further notice.