Jogoya Buffet Restaurant - "A" For Quality Food But "B" for Quality Taste!

I was really excited the first time I visited Jogoya Buffet Restaurant at the Starhill Gallery in Jalan Bukit Bintang. Spanning an area of 30000 sq ft this is probably one of the largest buffet restaurant in KL. We were the first customers that day and the first thing I did was to walk around the restaurant, lifting up lids of stock pots and chafing dishes to see the full set of menu offered. 

Starhill Gallery

We arrived before 11.30am and it was not opened for business yet.

By 11.30am there was already a long queue outside waiting to pay at the counter.

The restaurant can actually take in as many as 580 guests at any one time. There are many corners for diners with tables for two as well as for bigger groups.

There is undeniably a big variety of food: Western, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, etc., you can't possibly try all in one meal. That is why I made two trips here in a span of 5 weeks at the expense of my cholesterol level. By the way Jogoya is opened for lunch, dinner and supper with dinner buffet being the most expensive.

Many varieties of sashimi - cod, salmon, octopus to name a few.

 Many types of shellfish - escargots, clams, crabs. mussels, etc

For oyster lovers, there's the raw oysters as well.

Many varieties of fried and steamed dim sum. This station also offers a variety of herbal soups.

All in there are more than 10 varieties of soups.

The shark's fin soup

A variety of sushis

A variety of fried stuff.

A variety of skewered food.

An amazing selection of desserts.

This is just one section of the restaurant - notice the spaciousness.

The beverage station has cold and hot drinks, cocktails and wine.

Hot beverages - a variety of coffee, English tea and Chinese tea. 

A chocolate fountain and a variety of chocolate fondues.

I was surprised the ice-cream lovers in my group did not enjoy the Haagen Dazs ice-cream. Everyone said it is too sweet.

Didn't I say quality food?  There are lots more quality stuff not shown in this blog post.

What I ate that day.

Buddha Jump Over The Wall - it's got expensive stuff in it which include abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber, etc

The shark's fin soup and kimchis

Small portions of escargot, octopus, abalone, squid and meat dish. A few are nice , a few tasted so-so.

Some cheesy stuff and the Japanese octopus, all tasted just average.

There are lots of abalone dishes - abalone in soups, in stir-fries and in appetizers. And abalone is very expensive you know?

Silver clips bearing the table numbers are placed on every table for the guests to order their favorite teppanyaki or grilled food.

And this is how it works. Just drop the clip into the bowl labeled with the food you want and it will be brought to your table once it is done. A great concept.

Most of the staffs handling payment and booking outside the restaurant are Malaysians but all the staffs tending to the various food stations in the restaurants are foreigners (look like Burmese from Myanmar). That probably explains why the food though high in quality are very average in taste. The Penang government has banned  foreigners from manning hawkers' stalls and restaurants in the state to ensure the populace continue to enjoy authentic Penang cuisines but in Jogoya?? It is probably cheaper to employ these foreigners.

I placed an order for these grilled scallops. Looks nice but they somehow lack quality taste.

Having said all these I'll conclude with an unbiased review of Jogoya.

Variety offered:  A+

Quality Food And Value For Money: A+

Taste: B to B-

Service: A

Will I Come Back Again ?: Yes, with the hope that the next batch of cooks will perform better as my favorite abalone is just too tempting to resist.