197. Genting Highlands - Bakery

If you are going to Genting Highlands, especially on the days that others would be flocking there like you, I strongly suggest you do some research on the restaurants you would want to patron. This is to avoid queuing and yet ended up eating yucky food. This is what I detest the most. Because everywhere up on the highlands is so crowded, our thoughts that crowded means good food becomes an inaccurate index to follow.

I did some homework before embarking on my journey. The theme park hotel I'm staying provided a rather detailed guide on the F&B at the Highlands, so it was a re-affirmation of the locations.

I didn't really put Bakery on my list but I thought it could be a place where I could grab a bread or something. After the dim sum at Hao You Ji, quite a lousy breakfast, I wasn't really full. I thought of getting something sweet because desserts were not served before 11am at Hao You Ji. I was attracted to the beautifully designed cupcakes that filled the transparent displays shelves, clearly seen along the common corridor. A glance at the sparkling signboard did I realise it was Bakery!

I was quite surprised when the pastry chef actually has to stand at the counter to serve customers. Besides the pastries available, there were also sandwiches, salads and etc. All that makes up a cafe and not just of a Bakery.

Strawberry Tart @RM10

A closer look at the cupcakes, I felt they didn't really look as appetizing. The strawberry tarts at the lowest rack in the chiller called out to me. Alright, you are the one! No price was stated but my instinct told me I should get it regardless of the price. And it wasn't expensive. Converting to Sing dollars, it was just about $4. It was very cheap.

Usually the fruit tarts we had was a slob of cream that filled the bottom of the crust and fruits that lined the top. I was quite surprised when I tasted something sweet. A layer of thin molten chocolate spread at the most bottom, followed by a thick layer of chocolate crust. The mini red strawberries weren't sweet. As expected, smaller strawberries are most of the times, sour in taste. Looks can be deceiving. Do away with the dainty bite, eat a big mouth of it. The strawberry, cream, chocolate layer.....and it tasted great. The only thing I didn't like was the crust was a tad too hard. If it wasn't for the freshness, I think the tart may well be a dart. (it's bull's eye to the bin.)

Bakery

Genting Highlands

196. Genting Highlands - Resort Cafe

Pay before you enter. Breakfast is a must for me, especially important for a person like me who has been stricken with a weak gastric for years. I have went to check out their dinner buffet and it was quite a wide spread. I must say in my scour for food at Genting Highlands, I came across quite a few restaurants offering Indian food. Resort Cafe is one of them. Half the dinner spread at Resort Cafe was Indian food the day I checked it out.

I decided on their breakfast buffet, costing at RM25.30 for adults and RM13+ (can't remember the exact price) for child and the rest of the group followed suit.

It was very spacious inside. The main was decorated in oriental style. Simpler decorated rooms were separated with transparent glasses which catered for bigger group of diners.

Bright lightings at the food counters made the food so appealing. I was first welcomed by a few baskets of bread slices, cakes and cereals at the entrance. They have got a few baskets and toasters so people wouldn't have to toast their bread on just a pathetic toaster.
4 types of cereals were available. I felt a mixture of the cereals gave a well-flavoured bowl as compared to having just one. Don't mind me...to me, having more choices is good. Indeed, at least I got to taste a hint of sweetness which came from the koko crunch and honey stars. The corn flakes and rice crisps were bland cereals. Given a choice of hot or cold milk, I opt for the later. Hot milk would have made the cereals soggy by the time I reached my table.


The salad bar which didn't offer a lot of choices. I felt it would have been a wiser choice not to place the salad bar upfront because it made the place looked quite like with nothing much to offer. It was thanks to the breads next door that changed my impression of the place though on a closer look, there wasn't many.
Vermicelli station. I didn't have any nor did I walked near to take a look what was available. It's a cook-it-yourself station. I thought it was quite dangerous to leave the pots with the high fire flame.

Egg toast, drizzled with honey syrup. I saw how the chef made this. It was fried on the same iron board as the fried egg for nasi lemak. It was blandless if eaten without the honey syrup. However, the honey syrup they have used was slightly thick. It would have been better if the honey syrup was a more diluted version.

Nasi lemak. It would be a shame if it wasn't good. Frankly speaking, I think the Malays can cooked a more sedap (delicious) nasi lemak than the Chinese. Chicken rendang was offered with the normal ingredients of nasi lemak instead of the fried kunning fish. I don't eat kunning fish...and I don't understand why the fried kunning fish in nasi lemak. It was fried till so dry and the fleshy fish meat became like hard tree bark. Their nasi lemak was good. Rice was soft and fluffy. I didn't see balls of rice, the rice was well separated. The rendang chicken was a tad too oily but it was good.
They called it Prata but the actual name for it is puris. Puris is a type of fluffy deep fried wheat flour bread. Break a hole and pour some curry into it. I think the puris they have served was a bit thicker, not so crispy so the name as prata. In fact, I think the diners, mostly Chinese, have no idea what that thing is except for prata which associates with Indian food. I liked it. The curry wasn't too spicy and heavy on its tumeric content.


Fried spring rolls and wedges were very crispy. The fried food were fried at the counter and thus minimised the time to transport them from the kitchen. The chef fried the food in small quantity at a time. I felt it was a rather attentive move to do so. It would be such a turn off if the fried food was soggy.

The fried rice which looked simple was very well-flavoured. Though it looked as if there weren't many ingredients added to make it looked delicious, I guessed the efforts went into the seasonings used.


Peanut congee and pau. Served hot. Didn't eat these, comments reserved.


While sorting out my photos, I realised I didn't manage to try out quite a few of the food at the buffet. Geesh... The amount of food I had wasn't worth RM25.30 at all. But, the range of food was quite sufficient for a breakfast feast. Maybe the group of us were too eager to step out to have fun at the theme park and thus the smaller appetite.

Resort Cafe
Genting Highlands
Genting Hotel Level 2
Breakfast starts from 6.30 am

195. Genting Highlands- Hao You Ji

[好友记], a place for cheap dim sum for everyone. The dim sum are cheaper than what we can find in Singapore. The environment is not that of a restaurant. It is quite like a big dim sum foodcourt. Not those chi-chi dim sum restaurants nor is it anywhere similar to those HongKong cha chan teng. Not here nor there.

Siew Mai @RM4.30

3 siew mais made us wait for at least 1 hour. It was on our 1st order and by the time we finished the 2nd order, siew mai wasn't even served. A few of us were bent on having the siew mai. When it finally arrived at the table, I felt it looked quite pathetic and thus didn't trigger my taste buds.

Otak spring roll @RM4.30

Crispy on the outside. The otak which was wrapped inside was not too spicy. In fact, I felt it was not well-flavoured. The otak taste was rather mild.

Char siew pau @RM4.30

Not so skillful, I thought. The skin of the char siew pau will stick to teeth. Fillings tasted alright though.

Char siew rice rolls @RM5.30

Prawn rice rolls @RM5.30

The char siew rice rolls was served mild hot. The rice rolls stuck together, it was more like eating rolled up thick kway teow. The prawn rice rolls were not even hot at all. I wondered if the rice rolls were steamed or not.

Har Gau @RM5.30

Big prawns wrapped up in the thin skin. I felt the har gau was the most decent dim sum among so many.

Thai beancurd skin roll @RM4.30
Didn't get to taste this. Comments reserved.

Fried carrot cake @RM4.30

It wasn't hot nor was it crispy on the exterior. Just a very plain slice of carrot cake. There weren't much ingredients added to the carrot cake either.

Salad Prawn @RM 4.30

Their salad prawn was in fact the har gau being fried. The skin was crispy but also a tad floury. The steamed har gau's skin which was drapped with flour to be fried came out weird. The skin was thick.

Century egg congee @RM 4.30

The congee was decent. Not much ingredients. Luckily, they did not add a lot of pork in the congee. I felt too much pork would ruin the congee's texture.

Overall, I felt it wasn't a very ideal place for dim sum. Though the dim sum were cheap, the taste was not any better than those we had at normal coffeeshops.

Hao You Ji

Genting Highlands

194. Genting Highlands - Wang Lao Ji

I found the 'HOT' favourite drink among my Shanghai peeps and me in Genting! RM4.60 for 2 cans. It's a herbal drink, pretty similar in taste to our Jia Jia herbal tea. But I guessed its remedy for sore throat is a lot better than Jia Jia. I recalled of how everyone of us lugged a carton each from the supermarket. Missed those days....I loved the supermarkets in Shanghai!

193. Genting Highlands - Ming Ren

The Chinese decorations with coloured glass vases lined the entrance of the entrance. I was welcomed by the friendly manager. It was bright inside but it gave a warm feeling. It was like dining in an arts museum.

A Chinese restaurant with an unusual twist, Ming Ren offers a dynamic fusion of Cantonese culinary methods with Xinjiang’s traditional seasonings. It brought me back to the days I resided in Shanghai. The long cold winter days.....

It's not hard to find Xinjiang cuisine in Shanghai. The representative ingredient of the Xinjiang cuisine is none other than lamb meat. Very common seen on the streets of Shanghai is the lamb skewer. See not the appearance but the bite that tells you everything. Ming Ren is renowned for its lamb dishes and of course, half the menu consists of lamb meat. How good is it....the bite tells everything.....

Roasted peanuts was served with a lash of black vinegar. I didn't know it could be done this way. It was nice!

Yi Xian Tian @RM12 (SGD4.80)

Missus, cuppa hot tea please. It was wet and misty. In fact, it was raining. A type of rain that was so light that you can hardly see with naked eyes but in no less than 10 minutes, it got you wet. The outdoor temperature fall to a low 20 degrees. I bought the ticket to the theme park but was unfortunately barred from the rides as they were closed. So, this made time for lunch @Ming Ren.

Despite being a tea-lover, I have no idea what yi xian tian was. It was a floral tea. I was curious when the waitress told me that the flower will bloom when the water boils. Unbothered by the taste, I gave the nod.

It appeared on a candle warmer. As time progresses, the dark greenish flower which I thought was ugly blossomed; an extension strand of yellow floral stem. The water turned golden yellow in colour. The tea has a nice fragrance even though its flower is ugly. Inner beauty counts, huh? Like camomile but a tad lighter in taste. A very relaxing tea.....

Beancurd with mushrooms @RM14 (SGD 5.60)

This is one of their signature beancurd dishes. Said to braised with their secret sauce. It looked simple but it was hook-inducing! Must try! No doubt, credit goes to the sauce. It was with a hint of sweetness. It was a dish that could make one eat it with a few bowls of plain rice.

Yam and Papaya soup @RM14 (SGD 5.60)

It was a soothing soup which I felt was good for constipation and complexion. Consisted of vegetables and papaya fruit, it's a ladies soup!

Lamb cooked in 3 styles @RM62 (SGD24.80)

The waitress recommended this lamb dish cooked in 3 different ways. Fried lamb meat, lamb meat stew and stir-fried lamb meat. I loved the fried lamb meat the most. Marinated with spices and herbs, I felt it was a more authentic way to represent the Xinjiang style.

Dipping sauce was black vinegar with chili oil and chopped spring onions. The sour vinegar coupled with the fried lamb meat was a thumbs up. A small flaw was the lamb meat was a little dry. No fats. Slaughter the lamb in winter with the fats! Never mind me with the psychotic thought. A lighter version would be the stir-fried lamb meat with a handful of onions. Onions to get rid off the lamb stench. I thought it was rather plain.

Noodles in lamb soup @RM20.70 (SGD8.30)

Flat noodles, not the egg noodles type. Cooked in a soup base which I felt was like the soy bean. Appearance does looked like so. It was rather plain, not so well-flavoured. Chili powder and some spices such as cumin and fennel, the 2 most commonly used spice in Xinjiang cuisine was served to flavour our noodles.

Ice-cream @RM11.50

I felt it was rather cool to find ice-cream on their menu and the waitress told me something which made my jaws dropped. This ice-cream you are seeing above was made with lamb meat and pistachio ice-cream. COOL! Intrigued by the taste, it's a YES, please give me 1 plate.

It was quite unique. Sweet. Frankly speaking, I couldn't taste of any lamb meat or even the stench. However, the ice-cream had a coarse texture. It was like eating the moist and chilled version of the soft nougat. Topped with the toasted melon seeds and mango puree at the base, it was overall a new encounter.

Ginseng Aloe Vera Jelly @RM9.20 (SGD3.70)

It was the BEST! Must-try! It was like eating jelly with bird nest drink. Very soothing. The ginseng didn't make the dessert bitter. It's also so CHEAP! Where else can I get a dessert at this price and taste.

Overall bill was RM143.40 for 2 pax. The prices stated above were inclusive of taxes. Overall, I felt the food were above average. Other than the lamb dishes which were higher priced, the rest were pretty cheap. Service was very good. Waiters and waitresses poured our tea cups and refilled it when it was neared the bottom.