Buffet lunch @ Kitchen (W Hotel), Hong Kong

I've lost count of the number of times I'd promised myself, in post-buffet misery, to never indulge in a buffet again. Yet it's never long before I inevitably break that promise and happily forget the digestive discomfort that awaits as I pile my plate(s) full with delicious all-you-can eat food. A friend recently visited Hong Kong with her husband, and we arranged to meet for lunch at Kitchen at the W Hotel since they were booked to stay at the hotel (which is almost literally next door to us). It gave us an excuse to check out this fairly swish hotel, and to ride in their cool lift to the 6th floor where Kitchen is located.

The boy was fascinated with the bubbly animation inside the lift:

The Kitchen was quite nice, as fitting for a restaurant inside such a hotel, but I found the layout to be a little clumsy for a buffet arrangement. The actual dining space was quite long but spacious and comfortable, and you had to go into a separate room to grab your food. The open kitchen was in the middle of this room, so I suppose the separation was necessary to keep the food prep noises out from the dining area.

Service was professional, and our waiter informed us that he would gladly help with regards to our son's multiple food allergies. Everyone else had decided to go buffet, and I succumbed to the peer pressure to do the same. There was a good variety of hot and cold dishes, and hubby particularly liked the look of the dessert offering. I liked how the kitchen was willing to help with food allergies. I gave a chef the list of ingredients that my boy is allergic to, and he pointed out the dishes that were safe for my son, so it was fairly straightforward picking out food for him.

The open kitchen, from where the food was prepared and served in close proximity:

Some of the hot dishes:

Hubby's plates are always neater and more aesthetically pleasing than mine whenever we eat at buffets, so I always take photos of what he puts on his plate. Everything was yummy, except for the sushi and sashimi. The raw fish just didn't taste very fresh, which was disappointing because I wanted some sushi and sashimi. The Chinese roast dishes were good.

Hubby's plate #1 (of several) - Chinese-style roast meats (siu mei) including char siu (barbecued pork), roast goose and siu yoke (roasted pig). Hubby even put in some vegetables and rice to balance what's on the plate:

My first plate was mostly the cold dishes and salads, which were all quite delicious. I was happy to see quite a wide variety of veges available at the buffet:

One of hubby's subsequent plates, which contained Peking duck on pancake (apparently you had to ask for the pancake). There was a number of different breads for the taking at the buffet table, but I was too full to try any bread:

Dessert!

Hubby got a little enthusiastic with desserts. I took a bite of everything, and only took some fruits when I went to grab dessert. I liked the green tea cake, and the mango pudding was delicious with generous chunks of mango bits in them - quite possibly the best version of mango pudding I've ever eaten:

Saturday is Family Day at Kitchen, and a table of childish goodies such as fairy floss, marshmallows, gummy lollies and chocolates was set up on a table in the dining area to delight the little ones. There was also a fruit bowl and some dried fruit placed on the table for some healthy measure, but I believe these went largely ignored. Hubby went with son to pick out some goodies, but the boy made it clear that he preferred raisins over the fairy floss and gummy lollies (much to my relief):

Overall I thought that the buffet at Kitchen was quite decent, if I ignore the sushi and sashimi. However, because quality standards should be exceptionally high when it comes to raw and uncooked meats, I think that Kitchen should either improve their fresh seafood quality or not bother serving raw fish at all.

Kitchen
W Hotel Hong Kong
1 Austin Road West
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon