A fiery weekend Muhibbah buffet

I say it’s a fiery buffet not because the dishes are spicy hot but because the Muhibbah buffet spread, comes with a dynamic fire-eater show on Saturday!

View of the Fire-Eater Show at the poolside
through the walls of the Glass restaurant

The recently refreshed Thistle Johor Baru is ready to present a memorable stay at the hotel while Food & Beverage outlets like Glass and The Hive are welcoming patrons to experience something more in dining and entertainment here.

For a start, Glass restaurant, which overlooks the free-form swimming pool, has been busy with serving a satisfying and affordable Nusantara lunch buffet from Mondays to Saturdays.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, Glass serves a mouth-watering Muhibbah dinner buffet spread and on Saturdays, this dinner comes with an exciting Fire-Eating Show.

It’s Saturday evening and I’m at Glass, bright and early so that when 8pm rolls around, I will be at the poolside to catch this spectacular sight.

Facade of Thistle Johor Baru with Glass restaurant [Right]

It’s still bright outside so natural light is pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling glass walls to light up the buffet spread that line sections of the walls in Glass.

Executive Sou Chef Aidiyusman Mohamad Yushoff, better known as Chef Aidi, and his culinary team have designed four rotating menus of more than 80 dishes in the buffet spread while live-cooking stations are located outdoors.

A side door opens to a patio where one station serves North and South Indian specialties like Briyani Rice with Dhal Curry, Chicken Masala and assorted Pickles, while the other serves freshly tossed Pasta in a choice of three sauces.

A serving of Kambing Tempayan
served in a ceramic bowl 

Out here, another station has a giant steamer that’s keeping warm ceramic bowls filled with portions of Kambing Tempayan, a traditional mutton dish.

This must-try dish is made with mutton cubes marinated with traditional five-spice powder and Malay bouquet garni herbs and braised for 15 hours in its own jus, meat-based sauce and attap seeds.

Another must-try dish is Rendang Minang made with buffalo meat braised with herbs, that tastes just right with the Briyani Rice. Compared to beef, buffalo meat has less calories and is an excellent source of lean protein with essential nutrients.

Freshly stir-fried Char Kway Teow

A short flight of stairs leads to the poolside where I spot a chef who’s stir-frying. I pick my way down the stairs and my nose tells me that its Char Kway Teow* in the wok!

*Teochew dialect for stir-fried flat rice noodles.

There is a range of noodles that diners may pick for the chef to fry but Char Kway Teow seems to be the top choice among diners.

Maybe it’s because of the appealing wok-hei fragrance to savour with each bite…

Back indoors, I see steam clouding at an action station when the cover of the steamer is opened as a diner is selecting his choice of dim-sum.

In the hot buffet rows of ceramic bowls serve dishes like Spicy Fried Chicken, Fried Mee Siam (vermicelli), Sweet and Sour Fish and Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables.

Then I discover an unfamiliar item – North Indian Pumpkin Soup. And when I have a sip of this tasty soup, I’m surprised at how much I like its fragrance, rich with cardamom and other spices.

A range of Appetizers and Salads 

In the Appetizer and Salad section, there is a wide range of marinated salads as well as ingredients to mix our own Garden Salads and local Rojak Sotong Kangkung.

Besides local fruit pickles, there is also a selection of Malay kampung greens or ulam to savour with a choice of popular sambals.

While looking at the buffet spread and taking my pick to sample, I’m also keeping a close eye on the time so that I can go to the poolside for a good view of the Fire-Eating show.

When it’s 8pm, we are ushered out to watch the show. Along the way, I’m told that this is a 30-minute show and advised to find a comfortable seat.

Amazing fire-eating feats performed in the show!

Diners seated at tables by the pool can just turn around to watch while others just stand to enjoy the show.

Pounding music set the stage for a spectacular show. Blood-curdling howls compete with the music as the fire-eaters start their performance, thrilling the audience as they are juggling fire, breathing fire and eating fire!

At the height of their fire-eating performance, the excitement goes up yet another notch when the artistes reach out to invite the audience to participate with them.

An audience member participating in the fire show!

The show comes to a sensational close with a fiery finale and I join diners to return to our tables, still talking about the artistes’ daring feats and the sporting spirit of volunteers who participated in the show.

I like how the short break away from the buffet allows the serving team to clear our tables and reset them with fresh cutlery and crockery, while we can return to the buffet, ready to continue with our meal with renewed interest.

While others continue with eating main course items, I help myself to desserts like cut fresh fruits, puddings and jellies, and chilled items like ice-cream and ice-chendol.

One for the album: Souvenir shot with the fire-eating artistes

It appears that the thrilling fire show has whet our appetite for more food and the fun continues when the fire-eating artistes join us in Glass to pose for souvenir photos.

The Muhibbah dinner buffet is served on Friday and Saturday nights from 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

Price at RM88 nett per adult and RM48 nett per child aged between six and 12 years.

For the 5 + 1 promotion, one diner eats for Free with every five paying adults, while in-house guests will enjoy an additional 15% off.

Thistle Johor Baru is situated at Jalan Sungai Chat, 80100 Johor Baru, Johor.

For reservations, Tel: +607 222 9234 or email: fnbcoordinator.jb@thistle.com.my