Review: Celebrate Christmas & New Year at Utara Coffee House

Halal: Yes

Christmas is just a month away! Many hotels & restaurants will be busy celebrating the occasion with a variety of beautifully prepared food, drinks & performances to keep the diners well satisfied. With the much festive hustle & bustle, I reckon many would not be aware that the reason for this season is actually to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This is a season to remember God the Father's love for us & the hope that He brings into our lives by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to earth for our salvation. Oh, what joy! :)

The Utara Coffee House at Armada Hotel Petaling Jaya will be treating their diners to a sumptuous buffet as diners celebrate this special occasion with the warmth of family & friends. Specially thought through by Executive Chef Chew & his team, each dish is sure to satisfy any festive cravings.

Chef Chew with his beautifully designed spread

Lovely carving! I wonder how much time was used to carve this...

The Utara Coffee House will be offering their diners both Christmas & New Year's Eve Buffet Dinner on 24th December & 31st December 2015 at the below rates:
* Inclusive of party packs & live music performance (1st set@7:00p.m, 2nd set@8:15p.m.)

RM80.00++/adult
RM60.00++/senior citizen
RM40.00++/child

Among the many dishes featured in their buffet spread are:

 Salmon Coulibiac

Carefully poached salmon, wrapped with crumbly puff pastry with red peppers, herbs & spices. Those who love salmon will enjoy this :)

Tiger Prawn Ceviche with Avocado

I always thought that ceviche means 'raw' meat, but this tiger prawn ceviche is poached before serving with chopped avocados (added lemon juice to reduce oxidization) & onions. Somehow it still tastes like those sweet prawn sashimi that you get at good Japanese restaurants :P *yums*

Dubarry Soup with Cheese Batonette

This was my favorite that evening! I could have a few bowls of this warm, hearty cauliflower soup! Yes, dubarry is cauliflower! The soup didn't need any thickening agent as it's cooked with potatoes, leek & onions as well, which gives the soup a natural 'thickness'. The soup has to be cooked fresh daily as cauliflowers cannot be kept overnight. The green dollop that you see on top of the soup is the essence of brocolli, which adds more intensity to the flavorful soup. Loved it!

Baked Capon with Bread Almond Roulade

This year, the Utara Coffee House wasn't able to get any halal-certified turkey, so they went ahead with capon a.k.a. big chicken. The capon that we had that evening was tender, juicy & herbilicious. I usually don't fancy the stuffing, but the bread almond roulade was very delicious. The stuffing is actually 'seasoned' with mirepoix, a vegetable stock cooked with carrots, celery, leeks, & onions.

There are 3 sauces to go with the baked capon (and the smoked chicken): giblet sauce, brown sauce & cranberry sauce

I especially liked the giblet sauce although I'm not a fan of 'chicken innards'. It was very, very flavorful & didn't have that liverish taste. I guess the well-balanced portion of bay leaves, sage, rosemary & thyme helped to rid the usual unpleasant taste of giblets.

Smoked Chicken with Cranberry De Glace

If you're not a fan of baked capon, go for the smoked chicken slices; chicken breasts smoked with hickory dust for that smokey flavor. It goes well with the sweet & sourish cranberry de glace.

Roast Duck Ripieni with Calvados

The duck is deboned & coarsely chopped before being rolled with the fats & skin + diced apples & herbs (thyme, sage) + apple cider vinegar for the punch, then baked. Oolala...there's smoked duck breasts for those who prefer smokey slices of duck too.

The duck goes best with the apple sauce!

Swiss Crab Pudding

This is my 1st time having a swiss crab pudding. I must say that it's quite interesting. You'll find crab meat in every mouthful of the dish, along with generous portions of mozarella on the top & medium parmesan on the inside. The 'pudding' has celery, onions & bechamel sauce too. Very rich!

Roast Beef Tapenade with Champignon

You'll find this at their carving station. The roast beef is served with mushroom duxelle & black olives for some extra flavor.

Whole Lamb Leg with Garlic Sauce

Tender lamb leg, also available at the carving station. I love lamb, so this was just yummy. But I prefer my lamb with mint sauce more than garlic sauce. The lamb is marinated with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, sage & oregano.

Louisiana Pumpkin Rice with Whole Pumpkin

Rice lovers won't be disappointed at this buffet spread. This is fragrant steamed white rice with pieces of pumpkins, topped with an assortment of nuts. It can be paired with a variety of mousseline as well.

Mousseline of Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Potato, & Carrot

All freshly pureed :) I think such mousseline goes well with meats & even rice, if you don't mind the extremely soft texture.

It's quite a wide spread of meat & mains, but dessert-lovers will not be disappointed as well.

Yule Log Cake

I love the details on the yule log. The chocolate cake is slightly too sweet for my liking, but those with sweet tooth will not mind the sweetness & chocolatey taste at all.

Christmas Pudding

I love the balance of spices in this pudding :) I guess if you love cinnamon, chocolate & cream, you'll love this. Feels so 'Christmasy'...

Assortment of Cakes

Cakes & berries? Gotta have 1 of each!

Glass Dessert Tiramisu

This was my favorite for the evening. What's not to like when it comes to tiramisu? I could have a few glasses of this dessert although it's quite sweet as well...haha...

Lemon Meringue Pie

Interestingly, these mini lemon meringue pies have a crunchy-sugar feel. I didn't expect such texture from a lemon meringue pie, but it was quite 'fun'...haha...just thought that it's somewhat too sweet for my liking. I would have appreciated a more sourish taste from those fragrant lemons.

Sugar high!

I was really stuffed with all the meat & sugar-filled desserts! Super high!

The Utara Coffee House will have a Christmas & New Year's Day Hi-Tea Buffet as well:
* Inclusive of party packs & live music performance (on 25th December only)

RM70.00++/adult
RM50.00++/senior citizen
RM35.00++/child

Have a blessed Christmas with family & friends!


For reservations, please contact:
Utara Coffee House
Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya
Lot 6, Lorong Utara C, Section 52 46200 Petaling Jaya Selangor.
Tel: (+603) 7954 6888, ext 4557
FB: http://www.facebook.com/HotelArmadaPJ


Love,