Happy Birthday Edwin!

Last night we celebrated good friend/actor/political scientist/singer/iPod-enthusiast Edwin's birthday. Being the drama queens that we are, it was the perfect occasion to glamourise. Actually, the birthday boy did request we dress up to the nines and we were only too eager to oblige. Cuz had organised for the dinner to be at Al Nafourah as she had been raving on about the semi-buffet for awhile now. None of us had visited Al Nafourah before but the reviews have been half and half.

We were seated at the private room which had a view of the pool and half naked people walking about. Shame that it got dark very quickly and we couldn't leer anymore. We were shouting over the music until the waiter turned the volume down. Ah, the advantages of sitting in the private room, you can control the music and lighting. We were then given tiny glasses of apricot scented water. I liked it. It was like one of those tacky peach tea from the packet. The waiter came round and took our orders for main course. It was a choice of 5 tagines. Lamb, beef, chicken, cod and vegetarian. I ordered the lamb because it came with apricots and almonds. All of us then went off to the appetiser buffet. I love the pita breads here. They are warm, fresh and fluffy. They had the usual hoummus and baba ghanoush. I was not familiar with the rest like the spicy muhamarra but I had a pleasurable time trying all the dips. I especially liked the walnut dip which tasted like really gourmet peanut butter or perhaps a non-spicy satay sauce. It was incredibly aromatic and rich. There was a good variety of mezzes which I could've happily continued ploughing my way through especially salads like fattoush and tabbouleh. I also liked the dried beef which tasted like bresaola. Meanwhile, the resident belly dancer had made her way over to our room. It was a glittering performance of hip-shaking action and slinky belly rolls that made my back ache a bit while I was watching. She flipped her hair, bowed and left. Edwin then treated us to his version of the belly dance which was hilarious!

As I was too busy eating and being sociable, I didn't take many pictures of the food. All I can say is that I wished I had eaten more of the appetisers as the main course was just disappointing. Oh yes, it was very impressive when several waiters waltzed in with the tagine covered plates and presenting them at the table. When they lifted the covers, it didn't look very appetising. It was such a, for a lack of better word, manicured version of the rustic tagine. Nevermind the presentation. The flavous lacked depth and although my lamb was tender, any enjoyment was interrupted by the sweet syrupy apricot. Hey, I like my sweet in my savouries but this was an overkill. Hunky's cod was far too overcooked. The three people on my left were all having the cod and complained that it tasted like aeroplane food. Rafs even said that canned tuna tasted better. Ouch. Hot Mouse, who was having chicken tagine, said that it was bland and the chicken tasted like it had been in the fridge for too long. The rave reviews from the appetiser was slowly being tainted by the dismal main course. Could dessert save the meal?

I have to say I wasn't paying too much attention to the food at this point as the usual camwhoring session had begun. Dessert selection was a lot smaller than the appetisers. I had something which resembled bread and butter pudding with a lot of extra cream. I really enjoyed that. There was also a fried pastry that had been soaked in honey. Everyone seemed to really like this but I couldn't get past the refried oil taste. I also liked the rose scented custard which was more like cream pudding than it was egg custard. After that came a to-die-for peanut butter birthday cake! My god, the dessert buffet was forgotten after that! I can't even begin to describe how lovely this cake was, sadly, it was so rich and I was too full to even finish a full slice. I am so disappointed with myself. It really is a lovely restaurant and while I was not bowled over by the tagine, it is an interesting experience. I'm not sure if I would come again. I've heard that the ala carte menu is better. Who knows? Make sure you cab it because the parking charges are phenomenal! Ours cost RM26, and we got the first hour free! One thing is for sure is that I will not be going to Zeta bar ever again. 5-star hotel expensive drinks with 3-star rubbish live band.

The view outside at the entrance of the private room. Click here to visit the hotel's website. Semi-buffet is priced at RM108++ per person and includes coffee and complimentary shisha. Available from Thurs-Sunday only. Please note that the semi-buffet will be replaced with a Ramadhan buffet during the fasting month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Thanks for dinner and hope you had a blast!