Royal Cliff Grand Hotel
Show me another buffet with more than 150 items covering Japanese cuisine, Italian, Korean, Pastas, Western, high end seafood, Thai, four different hams, roast lamb, cheeses and more, several live cooking stations, quality meats and a view of the sunset over the Bay of Thailand.
To carry out this review was almost impossible as I did not have the time, nor the capacity to do justice to the Royal Cliff Grand’s Saturday Buffet. I have always said when reviewing a buffet, walk round the items first before making your choices, or you will miss something. You cannot possibly eat your way through this 150 item Saturday buffet. In fact it could take several Saturdays. Take your time in selection.
So where do you begin? I suggest you get to the Royal Cliff Grand around 6 p.m. as we did on a Saturday evening, and go down to the Larn Thong dining area, get comfortable on the open terrace at the front and watch the magnificent tropical sunset over the bay to Koh Larn.
After sundown it is now time to walk around the buffet tables and begin to make your choices. I began with cold seafood which had jumbo prawns, river prawns, salmon, Canadian lobster, rock lobster and Alaskan King crab. Definitely high end seafood, and interesting comparisons. I have noticed over the years that seafood from cold water habitat has a much more intense flavor.
From there it was a short step to the salads which included an Olivier Salad (a traditional salad dish in Russian cuisine, which is also popular in other post-Soviet countries, many European countries, Iran, Israel, Mongolia and also throughout Latin America), other salads were potato, seafood, Italian, and Caesar.
Moving along, the four different sliced hams were on my list again for comparisons as was the smoked salmon with capers and onion.
A trip around the live cooking stations was in order with a Teppanyaki chef with his hot plate, plus other Japanese items with Sushi and Sashimi, and Wasabi of course. Korean Kimchi was also available.
The BBQ chefs (two) were cooking a selection of high quality imported meats and also available were roasts, chicken, pork and duck.
Along one wall were heated dishes with minestrone, fish maw, spicy and sour soup, potato wedges and green curry.
Indian food was represented with a lamb masala and naan bread.
Dips as a pre-dinner item, included avocado and hummus.
If you get through to the desserts table there is a chocolate fountain plus Thai desserts and a live cooking station for deep fried banana.
At a rough count I have mentioned 50 items. There’s another hundred on display, I was informed by Peter Held the executive chef who was overseeing the buffet.
To keep the relaxed mood going, there is a wandering duo entertainers playing light and relaxing numbers. I should also mention that the attentive Royal Cliff staff are without peer.
I headed this review “The best buffet in the world”, and I do not normally go to superlatives and hyperbole, but the BBQ Buffet at the Royal Cliff deserves every accolade. At THB 1,450++ it is really too cheap when you look at the quality and choice. Give yourself a treat and experience it yourself.
Royal Cliff Hotels Group, 353 Pratamnak Road, Royal Cliff Grand, Pattaya, Tel: (+66) 38 250421, (+66) 2 2947272, (+66) 2 2947301-03 Fax: (+66) 38 250511, 250513, THB 1,450++ per person, 6.45 p.m.to 10 30 p.m., secure parking in the hotel’s grounds, email: [email protected]
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