Sago, Penang Marriott Hotel — Restaurant in George Town

We’ve dined at Sago several times, but this was by far the most disappointing experience. Though we were reimbursed by the supervisor (Mr. W—possibly Wasyu?), I felt the need to write this so management can take proper action.

It started when our WhatsApp reservation couldn’t be found. After showing proof, the lady in charge seemed to search for a table instead of having one reserved. We were told one table was unavailable due to a large group, despite our own reservation. After some back and forth, we were eventually brought to a back room, which was too tight for our stroller. We requested another table, and finally were seated.

We ordered quickly. A Chinese staff (wearing a coat) took our orders. When we asked to swap the dessert- choc moist cake (as we brought a birthday chocolate cake), he said it couldn’t be changed, although we saw various cakes at the buffet and were offered choices during past visits.

Soups came, but drinks were missing. After a reminder, coffee was served, but without the hot milk requested. Another reminder fixed that. Then there was a long delay before mains arrived. During that time, another Indian manager came to check our orders—but got them wrong. After correcting him, he said it was just a check, not a missed order, and walked off.

Halfway through our mains, a staff member (Ms. R) suddenly served desserts. We asked her to take them back since we weren’t done. Communication was difficult—she barely spoke English and struggled with simple requests like water refills or getting a bowl. My mum’s seabass came with little gravy, so she asked the Chinese manager for extra. He said yes, but never returned. She then asked Ms. R, who looked confused, and brought the Indian lady manager who then served us the gravy.

My cousin arrived and placed her order at 1:43 PM with Ms. Tasya. By 2:17 PM, nothing had arrived—not even drinks. We followed up and staff seemed confused. I went to ask, and was told the food was cooking. When I asked about the coconut water (for our toddler), Tasya said they didn’t have it and claimed we never ordered it. My cousin insisted she did, and we all heard it. We asked to change to Milo Dinosaur and to serve the teh ice too.

I also asked about the RM30 set policy (served in 30 mins), as it was way past the time. They looked unsure until the chef confirmed it should be free. When the drinks finally came, it was a hot Sago milk tea not teh ice. When questioned, the male server first insisted it was correct, then flustered, tried to fix it. We reminded him about the Milo Dinosaur—he seemed unaware of the order. My mum was frustrated and gave him feedback regarding today’s havoc, but he sarcastically said, “I’m just the bartender, you can feedback to them,” then walked off saying “Welcome” in a mocking tone after my mum said thanks for his suggestion.

Later, we were served two complimentary drinks as an apology. When we asked for our birthday cake, Mr. W took awhile to search and returned saying he couldn’t find it. Thankfully, another server brought it out shortly after. Mr. W sincerely apologized, saying the delays surprised him as the kitchen wasn’t busy, and was surprised by the delay. He kindly waived the bill, which we appreciated.

Sadly, even after leaving, we realized my cousin and her helper weren’t served the mushroom soup that was included in the set. This was a regular Friday lunch—not a peak time—but the number of errors was shocking. We’ve been here before during packed occasions like New Year’s Eve with no issue. This experience was completely off-brand for a Marriott outlet.

We hope the management will seriously address training and service consistency. This place has great potential, but standards must be upheld—especially when regulars and residents...

Had the sea salt fire buffet, and it might be the worst hotel buffet I ever had in this price range. Firstly service have very very very long way to be improve. For other 5 star hotel buffet I visited in the past, waiter will always get ready to collect the finished plate and always make sure the food station neat & clean. Here for the whole section never have a waiter approach to ask for plate collection or even water filling up.and the food station is very messy, food, sauce spilt all over the station.

Food wise, menu mention there are salmon on the sashimi station, but for the whole buffet section never seen salmon serve on the station even at the end of the buffet I did not ate a single slice of salmon (very limited quantity?) . Also the oyster fill up very slow but after couple complaint received they improved the serving speed. The cook-to-order seafood section are nightmare, chef cook those seafood on a separate pot of boiled water and fill with the sauce/ soup choosen. End up seafood does not have any taste of umami at all and the soup /sauce are very bland. Maybe the best part are the boiling water that cooked up those seafood at the end of the day🥴

Other precooked food such as roast beef (overcooked like chewing gum) , satay (not great but ok), oyster omelette (mention cook-to-order but not, and not a single oyster inside the omelette only egg and starch), grilled fish (taste good), tandoori & naan ( this one worth a shout out, both tandoori chicken & fish taste great even the naan) , other precooked food just normal.

The cake and nyonya kuih station are a very big disappointment, all the cake taste just normal, but they are not trying to hide the fact that those nyonya kuih is not made by the hotel but from other supplier, the kuih refill from a plastic container just similar like what I use to purchase from the morning market but in smaller pieces🫩🫩

Maybe Compare other hotel buffet to you guys are not fair, but Marjorie hotel ( one of the hotel under Marriott) I would say they did a very great job, food are great service are good also price are cheaper (even offer super delicious homemade sorbets, while Marriott keep their vanilla ais cream underneath the ice kacang station?????)

Not a single cell of mine feel satisfying for a Rm225 per pax buffet(one of the most expensive hotel in Penang if not mistake) I would rather go back to marjorie hotel as their price just Rm175, pay more but downgraded In every aspects👎👎👎 I feel every hard earn penny of mine just...

Update: So let's get this one out of the way. Don't tell me that an establishment as big as the Marriott ran out of milk or tea in the middle of lunch hour!!! I ordered the Sago Milk Tea as an extra to my 30/30 lunch and after a few minutes a member of the crew came around to tell me that the Sago Milk Tea was not available.... and neither were the two lassi flavours. So what just happened? Anyway, that was the only quibble for the afternoon while everything else was great. So I'll keep the five stars from my older review.

For the mains my wife ordered the Chicken Rendang while I had the Penne Alfredo. Both were well made. The mushroom and chicken soups were both tasty and a good start to our meals which we topped off with the Pandan cheesecake.

Service was quick, attentive and friendly. After the tea no-show I ordered the fresh coconut which came just perfectly cold. When we requested that the coconut be scraped out for us, it was done without hesitation and we really enjoyed it. The team deserves a thank you for such simple, yet touching gestures. The five stars are well deserved.... again 🌟 🤩 ⭐️.

Older review: My wife and I went with a friend for the 30/30 lunch. A soup, main course and dessert served in 30 minutes for Rm 30. Great deal, served with panache by a joyful squad. The tomato and herbal chicken soups were decent, not much to sing about. Two of the mains were excellent - Seabass with Nyonya sauce and the Char Koay Teow. The Nyonya sauce had a good amount of fire to it and went well with white rice. I really enjoyed the noodles with decent sized prawns and a smoky feel. The third main - beef sandwich - was poor in comparison as our friend found the meat tough and a bit difficult to eat. Fortunately the cutlery was high quality and came in handy. The pandan cheesecake and the chocolate cakes for dessert were just yum. I also ordered a fresh sugarcane juice for an additional Rm 10 which was mediocre and took a long time to come. Going with five stars for the excellent and warm service, two fabulous desserts and two well prepared mains. But there was some ordinary stuff slipped in as well. The team needs to watch...