Epic Brunch Buffet @ Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside

Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside‘s latest dining promotion is a buffet brunch appropriately named Epic Brunch. It features some of the most premium items you can find across all the hotel buffets in the country. In fact, it could very well be the most luxurious too.

The Epic Brunch is held at The Village Restaurant & Bar overlooking the stunning Putrajaya Lake. It’s available every Sunday from 11.30am to 3pm, priced at RM299+ per adult, RM229+ per adult for non alcohol and RM123+ per child.

The price is undeniably high, at least double or even triple of what other hotels in KL are charging. But if you look at the food and drinks offered at the spread and not to mention the setting and personalized attention provided, you will find that the price is justified.
Affordability, is well, another question entirely. As for me, I was lucky enough to be hosted by the hotel to speak about the experience first hand.

This exciting, new, innovative offering will be on for a limited time until early June 2016 for approximately 3 months. Aimed to ‘wow’ and create memories to be cherished for years to come, the Epic Brunch features free flow champagne, unlimited daiquiris (a type of cocktail), complimentary tap beer, fresh seafood, sizzling steaks, live cooking stations, salads and a walk in dessert room.

Great food aside, there are also entertainments to keep you and your family in high spirits – live band & DJ, kids clown and face painting just to name a few. Suffice to say, there’s never a dull moment throughout the brunch.

Lets take a quick walkthrough. As soon as you enter the venue, you will be greeted by an array of stunning seafood on ice. They certainly don’t hold back with the selection.
As you can see there’s King Crab legs, whole Spanner crabs, oysters, yabbies, and imported black mussels. And of course you can expect cold cuts such as sashimi, smoked salmon and carpaccio.

Next, the “Green Attitude” which is a dazzling display of greens to make your own salad.

Then it’s the live grilling station and carvery, where you can feast on prime beef rib, roast leg of lamb and different cuts of meat including lamb chops, chicken drumsticks, wings, sirloin, rump and sausages.
All of them are hot and cooked on the spot so they are always nice and juicy. To go with the meats, condiments like mint sauce, mushroom and black pepper sauces are provided accordingly.

This is the walk-in dessert room, located right behind the raw meat and sausage display. More about the dessert room later.

There aren’t many pre-cooked dishes in the Epic Brunch, which I personally think could be a good thing. Among all, you can’t go wrong with the Chili Mangrove Crabs and the half-shell scallops. As for the dim sum, they are not fantastic but worth trying – simply because they are made with high end ingredients. Think scallops and dried oysters.

The crabs are highly recommended and honestly, I was surprised at how delicious the dish was because the quality is similar (if not better) to what you get at the normal ‘dai chow’ restaurants.
One of the inconveniences about eating crabs is that you need to break them at the table and create a mess.
Here, you can ask the servers to do the job for you, and that’s only one of the many personalized services you get to enjoy.

Bread and pastries – we didn’t care too much about this but the croissant was really good.

The live pasta station is definitely worth checking out. The huge, succulent prawns will put a smile on anyone’s face and they are not stingy with it too. The pastas are available in tomato sauce or carbonara.

An hour into the brunch, here comes the most awaited dish – steamed lobsters. Now you know why this brunch is deserving of the term ‘Epic’.
I have been to countless buffets in my life whether it’s local or overseas, and this was my first time seeing lobster being offered to the guests. Perhaps what matters more is that you don’t even have to queue for it, as they are served to you individually.

Besides lobsters, the gigantic freshwater prawns are also another highlight of the brunch. At this point, we were truly amazed at how far Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside went to impress even the most discerning diner. Just when you think you have seen it all…

I have never really enjoyed Spanner crabs in the past because they usually taste way past their prime (no matter how they are cooked) after being frozen for a long period.
While they are not as great as the fresh mangrove crabs, they were actually decent enough to warrant seconds. The quality of the Spanner crabs here is notably higher and their flesh is sweet and flaky, not mushy at all.

And this is the walk-in dessert room that will delight any sweet tooth, especially the kids. This charming little wonderland is like a dream come true for them.

The variety of cakes, cookies, candies, snacks, ice creams and chocolates you can find here is quite astounding. Some of the cakes are really creative, take for example the Burger Cake, Naked Rainbow Cake and the eponymous cake.

Freshly made popcorn tastes the best, we just couldn’t say no to it.

Besides desserts, there’s a cheese counter and a huge selection of fruits too.

So here comes the golden question: Is the Epic Brunch worth the price? Obviously it’s not targeted at the average consumer, and frankly it wouldn’t be fair for me to answer since we were invited to experience the meal without having to pay for it.
But if you are concerned about not getting your money’s worth (always the first thing to consider for buffet), lets do a simple calculation.
The champagne offered, which is Nicolas Feuillatte retails at RM318 a bottle and maybe higher at the wine shop, while lobsters typically cost around RM100 each at the average seafood restaurant. With that, I think you should have the answer now.

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