13 Cindy's 21st Birthday at Essence Kitchen, Holiday Inn Hotel

Remember Cindy...?

...


My best friend...

...


We celebrated her birthday last year on Chinese New Year...


...


Then we stayed up to play mahjong...


...

Then I gave her my mom's bra as a present...


..

Still don't remember?


..




How bout now?

No? Maybe?


Anyway..

Yay, she's finally 21 on the 26th of Jan. She's probably too old for this kind of crap anymore.... so we decided to celebrate her birthday with a more high-class, refined, sophisticated, what not celebration.

We went to Holiday Inn Hotel Melaka for a hi-tea buffet.

By noon, the restaurant Essence Kitchen in Holiday Inn was already so jam packed with hungry tea-sipping customers. However the management has already reserved a nice table for the five of us.



It didn't take us quite long before we aim straight for the food. The girls are starting with some light food.. maybe to loosen their stomach - that's what I heard.

Dun care man... I straight wallop the main dishes.



On the plate from left: Seafood skewer, baked fish, soy sauce king prawns, vegetable triangle thingy, onion sausages, fish fillet with tartar sauce, hokkien mee and yong chow fried rice.

First impression: main dish sucks ass.

The seafood skewers tasted sour and stale. Probably because of the pungent smell from the mussel and the sauce. By the second stick, I'm already feeling like puking.

The king prawn is tasteless and the fried rice taste weird. Like those leaf wrapped rice they serve at the end of a Chinese wedding dinner - which nobody eats.

The only thing edible is the sausage and the fish. Excellent.



The fish was really good that I took more when they served the new batch. My gf's favourite are those cheese bread sticks.



For those hardcore meat lovers, you would probable go for this: Marinated (raw) beef and lamb steak. Of coz you can take whatever you want and the chef at the counter will cook it for you. And in my case, personally deliver it to the table.



The cooked meat. The lamb is really succulent and tasty. I think it absorbed the flavour well.



More western food. The pizza's nothing special I guess.
Even I can do a better one using Gardenia bread.



Baked potatoes and sour cream. Not a fan but the rest said that it was nice.



One of my favourite Malaysian food of all time - Satay.

It was quite good but too bad everyone can't finish it. So the waiter took it away. Which reminds me that in here... WASTAGES ARE ALLOWED. Unlike Seoul Garden that charges RM5.00/kg or Sibaraku that charges 10! Really cekik darah.

Anyways we're going into the highlight of all the food there...

Warning: Sweet tooth and chocoholics not allowed.




That's already obvious we're going into...









(what I usually call) HEAVEN...



If only heaven have chocolate flowing rivers...



and chocolate coated grapes on trees.



We'd be fuking obese.



Nevertheless... its a sinful joy to indulge in. Like a moth to a flame.



You'd probably hate me by now, so I better stop putting up dessert pics.



Looking sleepy, me and Orange (Cindy's bf). We only call him Orange, heck, I don't even know his real name.



Next event is the cutting of the cake. O ya, we got the staffs and supervisor to bring in the cake and sing for her happy birthday!

It was really cool and funny.



Birthday girl, gf, Shi Qian and the cake (after photoshopped)



This one of a kind cake is provided F.O.C by the management of Essence Kitchen. Thanks!

That's the tea we ordered: Jasmine Green, Vanilla, Earl Grey, Peppermint and Lemon Green Tea. We're tea-sipping customers too.

Overall we had fun and we head home with extra sugar weight.

Here's my rating of this restaurant.

Food: 4/10 - disappointing actually. The desserts saved them.
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Price: quite reasonable. It's Rm40+ per head but we got a special 20% discount, so I can't complain.

Wonder why we're given the VIP treatment and special rates?

Coz my gf works here. She's the buffet coordinator and the staffs are her friends.




No wonder I can't eat in peace =.=

Final note: HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY CINDY! When u and Orange geting married?