Essence, Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur

Last weekend, I got the chance to try the buffet dinner in Essence. Essence is located in Hotel Imperial, Kuala Lumpur or what was formally known as Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur. Located on the 1st floor of the luxurious hotel, Essence is a funky buffet restaurant with comfortable couches and a spread of sumptuous food.

There are 5 main areas to the buffet that is guaranteed to make any food lover excited. However, except for the main hot section, the other areas tend to be hidden away so do take your time to walk around. Upon seating, the friendly waiters will offer you a choice of fruit punch or wine. The flow of wine throughout the dinner is unlimited so drink up!

Start with the cold appetiser section filled with fresh oysters, cold prawns, mussels, sushi rolls and handrols or temaki made to order. Located next to the dessert section, it is sometimes easily missed as the food area is not very well-lit. I found that the blue lights illuminating the food section made it hard to focus on the food offered. Perhaps that was the intention as oysters are usually the most expensive appetisers!

The salad section is located in one corner together with loaves of fresh bread. Here, you can fill up on healthy green salads and cold meats and fish prettily arranged on platters. Move on to the main hot food area which offers a myriad of Western and Asian type dishes. I found that the Japanese section was a little lacking. The only thing Japanese there were tempura coated vegetables and fish. What they tried to pass off as prawn fritters were actually our local version of cucur udang! The chicken satay offered was delicious as it was very tender and tasty. The other hot dishes weren’t really that memorable to me but then again, I’m not much of a buffet fan!

Tucked away in the opposite corner of the salads is the noodle and dim sum section which is easy to miss in the little corner! There, you can pick out your choice of noodles with its requisite condiments and the chef will cook it for you in your choice of chicken soup, duck soup or bandung soup.

Finish up your meal at the innovative dessert spiral which offers a range of mouth-watering desserts.

The main feature of the dessert counter is their 3 chocolate fountains comprising dark, milk and white chocolate with biscuits, fruit and marshmallows for dipping. Refreshing fruits together with local desserts are offered alongside sweet creme brulee. I tried a chocolate shooter mousse and found it to be incredibly sweet and very hard to finish. Even my dining partner who has a sweet tooth found the desserts offered to be too sweet!

The dinner buffet at Essence is available at RM88++ on weekdays and RM98++ on Fridays and Saturdays with an unlimited flow of red and white wine. Overall, it wasn’t too bad a buffet and it will definitely appeal to buffet and dessert lovers.

Parking can be a little confusing as the carpark naturally leads you to the office suites connected to Hotel Imperial. From the office lifts, you will be required to walk towards the hotel section and take another lift to Essence restaurant. Flat rate parking is available at RM5 for 2 hours when you dine at the buffet.