Dimsum buffet at Cititel Penang

I had dimsum buffet in Cititel ZhongHua restaurant about 2 and 1/2 months back. I had been there usually to have their ala-carte dim sum dishes, but on this visit, I saw them having buffet at only RM16.80 per person for the first time, and quickly I decided to give it a try since my usual visit here was never disappointing as food here was always good.

The dim sum available for this buffet is limited in variety compared to their menu for ala-carte order; they have the typical 'siew mai', 'har kow'(prawn dumpling), 'loh mai kai' (glutinous rice with chicken), 'char siew pao' (steamed bbq pork bun), 'pai kut' (pork ribs), chicken leg, fish balls and etc.

Besides dimsum, they also served some other dishes like roasted duck meat, 'char siew' (roasted pork), grilled chicken wings, fish head, deep fried prawns in flour, 'char koay kak' (fried radish), 'bei tan' porridge, some fried vegetables, and etc.

The typical pastries that were usually available in dim sum restaurant.

Some deserts; salad, fruits, red bean soup, jellies, sandwiches, and self-service ice kacang.

Chicken wings, 'har kow', 'siew mai' and steamed pork ribs. The chicken wings were quite cold and hard. 'Siew mai' and 'har kow' were the best among all the other dimsums available in this buffet.

Some 'char koay kak' (fried radish cake), 'char siew', fish head in black bean sauce and fried prawns on my plate. Nothing special, but the little fried prawns in flour tasted good and crispy and the prawns were succulent.

'Char siew pau'... I tried to resist not taking this as the 3 paus could easily fill up our stomach. But hubby couldn't resist when I told him the 'char siew pau' here is very nice. I tried one eventually, but then it doesn't taste as good as the usual char siew pao that I ordered here from the ala carte menu. Cheat one....the 'char siew' filling was so little! I bet they made different char siew pao for the buffet, with reduced 'char siew' filling.

There was one thing that we didn't dare to try because of the large serving. It was the 'loh mai kai' (glutinous rice). The serving was so huge here in the buffet, I remembered it wasn't so big portion in the ala carte order. This is again their trick!

Meat wrapped with seaweed.

Chicken feet, carrot cake and don't know what the crispy thing next to it called. One of the must order item when you visit here for ala carte dishes is the fried carrot cake! However, I was very disappointed when i tried the carrot cake in the buffet. There was supposed to be someone there attending to the buffet and help fried the carrot cake, but no one was there. I couldn't wait any longer and took the unfried carrot cake.

Baked 'char siew pau' and 'wu kok' (char siew filling wrapped in yam). 'Wu kok' is my favourite, I always ordered 'wu kok' whenever I had dim sum here or elsewhere. However, it doesn't taste as good as the 'wu kok' that I had here before. It was not warm and crispy enough.

Overall, I don't quite like the buffet dimsum compared to the ala carte dimsum available here. The same food served in the buffet and from ala carte order was somewhat different in taste. The dimsum buffet is more suitable for someone who prefer quantity over quality, as 1 plate of the ala carte dimsum already cost you around RM3.50 and having 5 plates of the dimsum cost you more than the price you pay for the buffet.

The total bill included RM2 for some titbits that they placed on our table, RM1.50 per person for the chinese tea that we ordered and RM0.60 for one piece of the cold towel. Service charge of 5% and govt tax of 5% was also included.