I was told chocolate. “Come for chocolate” they said. So, I was expecting a couple of cakes, maybe a chocolate fountain, maybe a sweet hot chocolate. Nothing more. But boy, was I seriously wrong! And seriously unprepared for the experience.
The latest innovation from G Hotel literally left me speechless – and full. A Chocolate Buffet, encompassing everything you could possibly think of doing with chocolate in a culinary sense, with over 60 unique chocolate-inspired and infused items, crossing over the realm of seven separate sections. Never before have I seen, or experienced, so much heavenly indulgence in one space, just pure chocolate.
Soy, the sister restaurant to Sesame, G Hotels’ trendy-yet-elegant eatery, is the home of the Saturday night chocolate Buffet, the latest creation extraordinaire by pastry Chef, Chef Tan.
A small, unassuming lady, Chef Tan runs around the restaurant constantly adding to the lineup, and adding her very personal style to the decoration, giving each chocolate creation a unique touch.
Chatting with Chef Tan over pralines and hot chocolate, one soon realizes the complexity of research and preparation that goes into each item, and the hours and hours of focused dedication to creating the perfect dish. This is inspiration perfected, nothing less.
An award winning pastry Chef, she has won numerous local and regional awards over the past six years through her contribution to G. Her latest was a regional HAPA award in November 2011, and she’s in the line-up for a few more in the coming months. She just loves experimenting, finding the delicate balance between flavours, and seeing what works best through different combination variables.
The Pistachio Mousse with Passion Fruit Pudding is one of Chef Tan’s favourites. The passion fruit pudding is crowned with pistachio mousse in a cup. “Taste the mousse together with the passion fruit to reduce the sweetness of the desert” quips Chef, and she is certainly right. The balance of flavours is perfection in the eye of the beholder.
Taking Chef’s advice, we worked our way through the seven sections, starting with creamy hot chocolate served at the table, pralines, moving through to cookies and cakes, the chocolate fountain, puddings, hot dishes, and finally culminating in an all-time favourite ice cream.
Attention to detail with the cake decoration leaves a massive impact, and you can clearly see the passion that goes in to creating these.
We were left spellbound by one of the pralines – transforming two of us back to childhood with the intensity of flavour, debating with Chef what we thought the ingredients were, only to discover that we were both wrong – but both equally amazed with what Chef had infused into such a precious gem of chocolate and caramel – rock salt of all things. Creating a gentle crunch, it adds a hint of curiousity to the praline, but so enhances the flavour.
A dark and white chocolate fountain allows you to craft individual fruit satay – freshly cut tropical fruit, a selection of cookies, to be coated in the chocolate of your choice. Being the first time I have experienced a white chocolate fountain, I opted for white dragon fruit with white chocolate, along with fresh lychee – both giving a subtle flavour under the creamy chocolate melt. Yes, I’ll be back!
Words cannot do justice to Chef’s skills nor results. I just hope our photos can. G Hotel’s chocolate buffet is a must try, whether it’s a romantic evening to treat your better half, or just a group of friends hanging and wantingto try something found nowhere else. Priced at RM 45++ per person, and available every Saturday evening from 8:00pm until midnight, our advice to you is eat light beforehand, and then indulge slowly. Enjoy, we certainly did.
Leave a Reply