Tasek Brasserie — Restaurant in Borneo

My family ate during a Mediterranean buffet for $40 per person and I was informed that it's the 3rd day of the buffet so they have a promotion of 20% discount and a chance to win a trip to Dubai. The restaurant ambience is classy and elegant. The over-all restaurant furnishings and utensils are of high standard.

One of the restaurant staff named Catalina did not clarify that 20%discount only applies only to a local bank card usage. As we arrive 30 minutes early before the buffet opens at 6pm, so my son only read said discount condition a bit later on while we were standing around in the lobby, at the banner ad. Luckily we have the said card otherwise it is a wrong information to our disadvantage. Anyway, overall the staff are very polite and friendly including Catalina.

One of the good experience is when one of the female staff wearing a moroccan outfit offered me a mediterranean coffee, it was served in a traditional gold rim coffee cup. It tasted similar to turkish coffee flavored withstrong cardamon, but it's taste a bit dilluted but I liked the server's pleasantness.

So we did eat at the buffet, for us the attraction is the roasted lamb and different cheeses. The roast lamb tasted fresh & okay. The cheeses have 3 types cheddar, blue cheese and brie, I enjoyed it. The bread are hard like not fresh. A roasted arabic flavor chicken drumstick is raw. The pickled garlic is like old , the tikka chicken is like dry & old.

The dessert "sago" is coagulated , the "baklava" sweet if you pick it up it crumbles away which should not be the case, the rice pudding is watery instead of milky.

Unfortunately, a few flies started flying around during the middle of our meal. The staff apologized and says they do spray insect repellant before opening however the flies always return. And so it worries me if there's anything dirty around the premises that's attracting the flies.

For a family of 4 our total bill is $160 after...

In general, I avoid hotel restaurants. But I had a full day of sightseeing, been coughing till I lost my voice, yet craving a good vegetarian meal. So when I discovered that Tasek Brasserie inside the Radisson hotel had a full vegetarian menu and was only a 4 minute walk away, I thought it would be a good option for the evening. I needed something nonspicy aiming for something that would be soothing for my throat and cough so opted for the vegetarian spaghetti bolognese. It hit the spot—tasty with chunks of plant protein in the sauce. Deepak, brought over a hot Darjeeling tea with honey and lemon added to help with throat. Such a lovely gesture. It elevated the usual hotel restaurant experience to one with warmth and attention.

Update: I returned for lunch the next day and continue to be really impressed with the food. I got the vegetarian pomfrey with jasmine rice. I asked for some vegetables on the side which the chef accommodated without charge. The vegetarian fish was pan fried and not deep fried and was done very well. Food serving was huge—could not finish. I had so many questions for my server, Shafiqah, and she patiently sought out the answers, heading to the kitchen time and again to ask for me. Fabulous food, fabulous service, nice ambiance, great vegetarian options. 10/10...

There were only a couple of other tables occupied during my visit so the atmosphere was perhaps a little lacking but otherwise it’s a nice modern setting with interesting views over the hotel’s indoor pool.

The menu has a decent enough range and the prices reasonable given the location. I did ask for both the starter and main to be served together (as a side dish) but unfortunately this seemed to be forgotten. The spring rolls were however delicious and with six was sizeable side dish, along with two dips. The nasi goreng wasn’t quite as impressive, with loads of crackers but only two pieces of chicken, plus the broken egg didn’t do much for the presentation. It was tasty and hot though.

The most annoying thing about the whole meal was the flies, constantly buzzing around the table and a small delay in the staff collecting the starter plate only made the situation worse. Hopefully that was a one off and it’s worth bearing in mind for a smart yet casual meal on this side...