Johor Kaki was invited to a preview of The Grand GEM's special buffet in conjunction with Ramadan.
The Grand GEM is located at the ground floor of The Grand BlueWave Hotel. This is my third visit to Grand GEM; read about my first and second visits.
The Grand GEM's special buffet consists of three different menus which will be rotated so that diners can experience different dishes at each visit.
We sampled just a small selection of Grand GEM's classic Indian dishes from the three menus during tasting session.
Our starter of "chicken vada". Be warned that this vada is "booby trapped" with bits of fiery chili padi that will literally set the mouths of the uninitiated afire. As for me, I like the hot spicy spikes when I bite into a chili padi :D
Popular starter "onion pakoda" or crispy onion fritters are fried in a spiced batter.
The "Mixed Grill Platter" of grilled chicken marinated in yogurt blended with different herbs and spices.
The tandoori grilled chicken were tender and rich with mild sensuous flavours and aroma.
The fiery looking "Bhuna Gosht" is a classic lamb curry. The pan fried mutton smothered in a thick blend of spices and herbs was tender and loaded with rich flavours and aromas.
I like this richly flavoured and mildly spicy "mutton dalcha" which went very well with the breads.
This was so good, I was drinking it up on it's own.
Our basket of various types of freshly made roti naan.
Nasi goreng made with basmati rice.
Baryani rice
There was a sampling of vegetarian dishes such as this "broccoli with mushroom" topped with cashew and cheese.
The vegetarian burgers came towards the end of the tasting session and we were already full.
But, this turned out to be the surprise crowd favourite.
As we were full by now, we all just took a nibble at this ordinary looking burger. Wow, we were impressed by the juicy flavourful, sweet, savoury and slightly tangy salsa spread, and the fluffy and crispy buns.
Somehow, we suddenly found space in our stomachs to finish all the vege burgers.
For the special buffet, The Grand GEM set up a "rumali roti" station.
The "rumali roti" action was very exciting to watch!
The flat dough is thrown upwards and forwards and it flies back to the chef like a boomerang!
The thin dough spread open is draped and cooked over a hot sea salt crusted upturned wok. The cooked dough is then folded just like the way one folds a handkerchief.
Made of wheat "rumali roti" is eaten like chapati or roti prata with curries.
For desserts, we had “gulab jamun” which is a very sweet deep fried milk ball served with rose and cardamom scented syrup.
We also had “kesari” which is a sweet semolina pudding flavoured with ghee and cardamom.
I rounded up the session with a nice masala chai.
The Grand GEM has three different menus for the special buffet which will be rotated.
Normal price is RM70 per person. Special rates of RM70 nett for two persons. And, 30% discount off RM70 nett per person for corporate accounts.
If you are looking for a chance to sample many types of authentic Indian cuisine in a fine dining restaurant at a very reasonable price, this is the best opportunity that I know of.
Restaurant name: The Grand GEM (at Grand BlueWave Hotel)
Address: Jalan Bukit Meldrum, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/oAc8E
GPS: 1.460626,103.768948
Hours: Dinner only (and only during Ramadan).
Telephone: 607-2210-7171
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 24 Jun 2014
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