Food Review: Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous | Average local buffet

Posted on March 1, 2013 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place I heard about Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous through word of mouth and the most common feedback is that it is very value for money. At $37++ for its lunch buffet, it seems to be a steal for a hotel buffet.
Located at level 1 of Rendezvous Hotel, the interior of Straits Cafe is not huge and be sure to make reservations before proceeding here.

The Food Asian food is the highlight of Straits Cafe, as the name suggests. “Straits” refer to the cities such as Malacca and Singapore along the Straits of Malacca, which is why the cafe is made famous by the Nonya (or Peranakan style) Laksa. The Durain puffs and cakes served at the buffet are supposedly good as well.

Other than Asian food, I spotted a Turkish Kebab station.
There is a Roti Prata station where you can choose your own flavours, such as Cheese Prata or Egg and Onion Prata. However, the taste of the prata is not as good as the ones in the local coffeeshops. To add to the “straits” flavour, there is even a Teh Tarik (Hot milk tea) drinks corner to go with the prata.
In addition, there is the usual Sushi and Sashimi station.
The chilled Chawamushi was really bad. This is probably the first time I had it the chilled way but the taste is just weird. As for the Salmon Sashimi, it is simply not very fresh. I tried to request for Salmon Belly but the surprising fact is that the serving staff actually said they ran out of Salmon Belly, when it was early afternoon during the lunch buffet.
As for the award winning Nonya Laksa, I was not impressed. There is no distinguishing factor in their Laksa from the ones in our food court. That said, it was awarded almost a decade ago in 2002 and I believed the standard has slipped considerably throughout these years.
The seafood range is limited to prawns and small crabs, which did not look appetising at all.

As for desserts, this is almost what you get from the picture below. The selection is limited in terms of variety and quality wise it is at best mediocre.
Rants The quality of the food really needs to be improved to draw customers back. A place is only value for money if there is quality as well. In terms of variety, it can definitely be improved.