Sarkies Corner

Whenever the question regarding where to hold our department's lunch event arises, Sarkies Corner in E&O Hotel is usually the top choice. Given that it is buffet-style (yay to myself), within our department's budget (we have a corporate discount card), and halal-certified (we have Muslim colleagues), there are few other choices that makes this decision a no-brainer. At least most of the time.

From my past experience, I know that the queue gets crazily-long at certain stations. Therefore, I have strategized beforehand and took the effort to arrive earlier than most of my colleagues.

The first station that I hit was the meat section. The roasted duck is usually good, and this visit is of no exception. While I was at it, I also asked for some steamed chicken. Be sure to ask for some plum sauce to go with the duck.

The next station that I quickly hit was for char koay teow. Since the chef only works on 1-2 plates at a time, you bet the queue will be very long when there are many hungry mouths to feed. Although not comparable to the masterpieces from Ah Leng, the Sarkies Corner can cook up pretty nice versions of its own.

Now that other people are starting to pile up at those stations, I headed to the seafood section instead. Among the dishes available are oysters, mussels, shrimps, salmon (raw and smoked), eel (smoked) etc. Strictly speaking, the food isn't all that impressive. But for the price that we are paying, we need to do justice by inflicting a decent amount of damage to E&O by grabbing some expensive seafood dishes.

As for the mainstream dishes (such as chicken, mutton, fried rice, noodles, squid and others), they are just so-so. At least, the variety at Sarkies Corner is more than other similarly-priced buffet restaurants in Penang.

For desserts, I took a colorful assortment of cakes and puddings. In fact, I notice that cakes run out quickly around halfway through the lunch hour, and not all types are replenished. If you are a cake-addict, I recommend that you head there before your favorites are depleted.

In addition, I made an ice cream for myself. There are usually 5-6 flavors to choose from. But why choose when you can try all? Just for fun, I added a piece of marshmallow on top. Looks silly, doesn't it?

Finally, I made myself a bowl of Ice Kacang. Go liberal with the ingredients because it is self-service anyway. Just to seal the deal, the shaved ice was garnished with a slice of grapefruit.