Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous

Situated at Hotel Rendezvous’s lobby level, this dining venue has undergone two months of intensive refurbishment and upgrading works and was reopened in 3 October.

The $1.5 million project is a complete transformation of what used to be traditional, into a modern contemporary interior. Within, random timber strips were cleverly incorporated into the design as accented walls and feature screens to add texture, shadow and depth.

Although the café’s full glass window allows for the integration of the bustling exterior and the vibrancy of the interior space. HFB however felt a slight intrusion of privacy with people peering over his shoulders while he ate, when commuters waiting along the bus stop outside sneaked a quick peek or two.

Enjoyably, the cold seafood counter – the Baby Octopus, Prawns, Mussels and Smoked Salmon, pleasantly surprised HFB. They were really fresh and scrumptious!

Request for the Salmon Belly Sashimi from the Sushi and Sashimi counter and one would also be enthralled by its silky, succulent texture.

A main feature in the dining room are the buffet counters. Showcasing two living cooking stations that offer a variety of freshly prepared and made-to-order cuisine, including oriental wok counter for Stir-fried Vegetables. HFB really loved the Mushrooms that was served that day.

The other cooking station is the Noodle Station for daily noodle of the day – it happens to be their popular and signature Nonya Laksa counter and Bak Kut Teh, or simply Pork Ribs Soup.

Unfortunately, the heightened expectations resulted in HFB noticeably unimpressed by both dishes. Their version of laksa comes with thick coconut gravy, which HFB suspects would be much welcomed by many, but HFB thought it was way too salty. A replacement bowl failed to change his opinion too.

The bak kut teh was much better received with its clearer soup base, but it seemed to leave a lingering aftertaste, which tasted like MSG, but HFB might be wrong.

The craving station offered Roast Beef for that day – although the meat leaned towards the dry side, HFB definitely enjoyed the Grilled Capers and Eggplant that was available next to the meat.

The extensive selection at the dessert counter is sure to tempt those with a sweet tooth.

Highlight of the section was definitely the ‘Durian Corner’ where Durian Cake, Durian Puff and Durian Pengat were served. The latter is definitely a must try!

You can view all the photos here.

Happen to know that they had a one for one BBQ Courtyard Buffet and decided to give it a try. The only thing about this promotion is that it is from Friday to Sunday only, you have to print out the coupon and per table only 1 free diner buffet is allowed. Hmm… a bit weird right? Well so decided to give it a try and to call and make a booking to find out that they are fully booked until 2 weeks later. Wahahaha... Totally crazy leh. A few days before the buffet, they would actually called to confirm the reservation, nice touch right and at the same time to remind you of the buffet as well.

So on the day of reservation, we went down to find out that my name was not on the reservation list. However they decided to let us have a table. Since it is a BBQ buffet, they sort of set up a temporary restaurant at the courtyard, and there is no air con, open air concept. Quite interesting. The set up is actually quite interesting as the promotion is only valid for 1 diner per table so it attracted a lot of couples as well. In the end, it turn out that it looked like a mass speed dating event. Wahahaha… Really funny.

The BBQ pit is set in one corner of the area and the buffet line is set next to it. From the line it seems that they are offering limit items as it does not seen very long at all. The buffet started when someone announced the start of buffet and people started to walk towards the line.

For starters, there is only a few dishes like prawns, mussels, potato salad, green salad. My favorite here has to be the prawns. Big, fresh and sweet. There is no fishy smell and the meat is not mushy at all. Just great! Other then that, the rest of the starters are actually average.

Next to the main dishes, since it is a BBQ buffet, they got all sorts of BBQ items, chicken, pork, beef, mutton, seafood like prawns, mini lobsters and stingray, satay, otah. For satay (there is both chicken and mutton) and otah, it is pretty normal stuff. They also provide the peanut sauce for the satay as well. Now the meat, for me the one that impress me the most was the steak, it was grilled until it is medium cook. It is not too tough on the meat yet able to retain its natural juices inside the meat. It is grilled plain with some salt on top of it only. Great! The one that did not impress me too much is the prawns cos it does not turn out too good and lost all its natural flavor after BBQed.

There are still some cooked food like fried rice, noodles but quite limited as well. Everyone is aiming at the mini lobster, not me though, Sigh….. Whenever the chef put some in the tray, it is sure to attract a lot of people to it. So first come first serve, so if you are slow too bad none for you. There are some people that even walked up to the BBQ pit and ask the chef directly. Wahahaha…… Very KS leh. From my partner, the lobster although small but very good, sweet , meaty and juicy.

Now to the desserts, well by the time we got to desserts, there wasn’t a lot of choice. Got mango pudding, durian cake, cheng tng, fruits and a few kweks. Too bad nothing here impressed us too much. Or simply we are just too full to carry on already.

Even though with the temporary set up and the no air con, the dining environment was actually quite good.The service is actually good as well less the **** up on the reservation list. The water was always filled up and the plates are always cleared promptly. So usually the buffet cost $38 per person however with the promotion it cost about $17 per person only. Can consider quite cheap already. Writing this review is making me all hungry again! Hmm… Should I go back for another buffet before the promotion is over? Maybe I should!