Steamboat Buffet

After waiting for ages for Kenny to treat the family to a meal, he had finally consented to buy us dinner. Poor man. He finally succumbed under pressure and had to part with his hard-earned money :)

We went to a steamboat buffet at Man Yuan Steamboat Chinese Dishes, Taman Dixon. After turning left at the traffic light junction to the Luyang Hospital, take the right turn and drive about 400 meters down the residential road. It is the second block of shops after the hospital and it is a corner shop situated just beside the road. You will definitely not miss it because it is painted in an ugly (my perception) green and its walkway is full of tables.

This eatery has only been in operation for just a few months (less than half-a-year according to bro) but many already know about its existence because of the irresistible offer of a cook-it-yourself buffet for only RM20 per adult and RM10 for children. I was here just a few weeks ago with some high school friends.

This outlet is so popular and is always filled to the brim. It's advisable to make reservations or if you could make it, go there earlier, preferable around 6 p.m. or much later at around 8.30 p.m.

We were late and reached there at 6.30 p.m. and all the tables were already taken or reserved. We had to wait for awhile to let the worker set up tables for us and for another family of seven.

The food are displayed hawker-centre styled with one section for the fresh and raw food and another for hot items served from the kitchen. It is self-service and customers help themselves to the various food and different dipping sauces.

I was ecstatic when I saw sambal among the various dipping sauces. However, I was sorely disappointed with this version because it was too spicy and did not have that special sambal fragrance that I like. I wouldn't call it sambal though it looked like it; it's just cooked chilli to me.

Each table will be given a platter of prawns, which is the more pricier item, depending on the number of people per table. I find that the prawns are not too fresh and they are so small.

There are four flavours of soup to choose from - tom yum, chicken, fish, or Chinese herb. We chose the former two.

For dessert, there are Nestle ice-cream and cut fruits such as watermelons, honeydew melons and papayas which are also self-service. They were running out of ice-cream and did not replenish it so I took these unidentifiable flavours over strawberry.

Overall, it is worth it. If you are a big eater, then you can eat your money's worth. However, do not expect first class service because it is just too crowded and the workers are just too preoccupied to attend to you within a reasonable time frame. It is better to just help yourself unless it is to change the gas can in the stove which could run out at anytime. It happened on the two occasions I was here.

In fact, if you want to pay the bill, just walk over to the counter. Don't bother to wait for them to come to you because they are just too busy to notice that you wish to settle the bill.

Verdict:
Food variety - 5 / 5
Service - 2.5 / 5
Pricing - 5 / 5