Breakfast at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur was nothing short of exceptional. I checked in and spent a couple of days at the hotel recently and I of course made sure to try out its breakfast offerings. I initially expected a lot and thankfully, the hotel managed to meet and even exceed a good chunk of these expectations.
JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur Breakfast Buffet: Shook! Restaurant Serves Food From All Over the World
Like a lot of other hotels, you’re not obligated to partake of the breakfast here. When I was there, breakfast was served buffet style at a restaurant called ‘Shook!’. From what I understand, this is one of four restaurants that can be found in this JW Marriott. The other three are Luk Yu Tea House, The Alchemy, and Shanghai and none of these actually serve breakfast.
Now, I know I said that it’s found in this JW Marriott but the restaurant is actually part of the Starhill Gallery complex (as are the other three restaurants). Moreover, it’s not operated by the hotel or even the Marriott Group. Regardless of who’s in charge of the restaurant though, you can always expect it to match the hotel’s luxurious vibe. Upon entering I was impressed by the lighting as well as the overall design of the place.
I really thought that the dining area was going to be crowded. Turns out, there weren’t that many people when I got there. It was a little early though so guests were probably still waking by this time. That said, I tried out the seats before I started getting food and I thought they were really comfortable. I would have wanted the tables to be spaced farther apart but since there weren’t that many guests there yet, I just transferred to another one that was farther from other guests.
The restaurant offers both local and international cuisine. And like with a lot of similar restaurants, each type of cuisine has its own section. These sections are relatively easy to spot as they pretty much encircle the whole dining area. In the image above, you can see a section dedicated to Malay food (specifically Nasi Lemak).
The tables here were actually quite sturdy and I don’t think I’d ever sat on one that creaked or wasn’t level. Much like the tables, the chairs were of just the right firmness to be comfortable to sit on for long hours. Perhaps my only gripe is that the chairs aren’t high backed but that’s really just a preference of mine. Like I said, the chair is very comfortable and I pretty much enjoyed my breakfast sitting on one of these.
Speaking of breakfast, let’s start our tour of the buffet with the fruits and salads section. This section specifically has Mediterranean/Middle Eastern salads and dips. If you want a refreshing start to your day then the Fattoush and slices of lemons here just might be what you need.
Other Mediterranean/Middle Eastern staple dips that you’ll find in this section include Mutabal, Hummus, and Baba Ganoush. For additional flavours and textures, you can also opt to add some sweet peppers and olives to your salads. I was actually quite surprised to see these here as the hotels that I’d been to during my travels these past couple of months typically didn’t offer Middle Eastern and/or Mediterranean cuisine.
If you happen to be vegan/vegetarian and want a protein fix then the Corn and Bean salad here might just be right for you. Beans are an excellent source of plant-based protein and you’ll find plenty of these in this salad. To help aid with digestion you can also add some onions which also happen to be a good source of antioxidants and vitamins.
Now this is a dish that I actually knew very little about at first. It’s known as Ful Medames (in the image it’s name is spelled as Foul) and it’s a breakfast dish that’s said to be extremely popular in Egypt. The dish’s main ingredient is fava beans that’s been cooked for hours until they’re soft and tender. For flavoring, it has ingredients such as cumin, garlic, olive oil, and even lemon juice for some acidity. It doesn’t look like much but I’ve been told that its’ really hearty as well as rich in fiber and proteins.
Just right next to the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine section, you’ll find other vegetarian dishes. Here you can see a tray each of baked beans and brocolli fritters. Now, if it weren’t for the sign I would have really thought that the fritters were fried chicken. They looked really tasty and I bet they would have been crunchy as well.
Another dish that looked tasty was these Baked Mushrooms with Herb Oil. Not only did they look tasty, they also smelled great too. If you’re looking to up your protein intake in a healthy way then mushrooms are a great alternative to meat. Right next to the mushrooms is a tray of Hash Browns. Not a big fan of these but they’re packed with carbs which you’ll be needing a lot of especially if you plan to shop around the area.
Perhaps the tastiest looking food item in this area was this Cauliflower Gratin. It looked so creamy and it surprisingly was one of the more popular dishes here. Now I’m not entirely sure if this had cheese or if it used cream though so I wouldn’t really recommend this if you were vegan. That being said, it should be okay for vegetarians.
Here you’ll find another set of vegetarian friendly dishes. On the left is a large dish full of Deep-Fried Spring Rolls that, according to the sign, has gluten for its filling. Beside the spring rolls is another large dish of French Toast (which again, is not good for vegans but should be okay for vegetarians).
Samosas are popular in Malaysia so it’s no surprise that this South Asian snack is also in this section. The ones here are Vegetable Samosas that have been deep-fried that actually look quite yummy. Much like the Spring Rolls, these also contain gluten in addition to vegetables.
Just below the samosas, you’ll find this section’s sauces. Typically you’d want to dip your samosas in some type of chutney but I read that they go well with Tomato Sauce too. If you got the French Toast then you might want to drizzle some honey on top of it for that added sweetness.
Other than honey, you might also want to try adding some Maple Syrup and/or Strawberry Sauce on your French Toast. As for Deep-Fried Spring Rolls, these taste good when dipped in some Chili Sauce. Now while it does say Chili Sauce, I actually found it to be more on the sweet and tangy side. You could probably still taste some spice but it wasn’t that overpowering.
With Malaysia being a tropical country, it’s naturally a great place to grow fruits. As a result of this, there’s an abundance of fruits here at the breakfast buffet in Shook! This section of the buffet had sliced oranges, pineapples, and melons as well as whole apples.
Right next to the sliced pineapples are the sliced dragon fruits. I’ve been to hotels outside of Malaysia and a lot of the fruits I tasted there just didn’t seem as fresh as the ones here. The pineapples here in particular were really juicy, sweet, yet also had a hint of tanginess to them that made for a balanced taste profile.
You can’t be in Malaysia and not try Nasi Lemak. It is Malaysia’s national dish and is also considered mainly as a breakfast food (though you can enjoy it any time of the day). Of course, this dish (or the rice infused with coconut milk) can also be found here as you can see in the image above.
Rice isn’t the only component of nasi lemak. To the left of the chafing dish containing the rice are the garnishes that’s popularly paired with this beloved Malay dish. From the top, you have roasted peanuts next to fried anchovies. And on the bottom you’ll find boiled eggs and cucumbers that have already been sliced.
Finally, no Nasi Lemak is complete without sambal. When I was there, Sambal Bawang and Seafood Sambal were the ones that were available. As its name implies, Sambal Bawang is made from shallots. To the left of the Sambal Bawang is the Seafood Sambal which I think contains squid in addition to onions and garlic.
Here are a couple of other Indonesian main dishes that you might want to heap on your plate. On the left is Rendang Kambing which as its name implies, makes use of goat’s meat instead of the more common beef. To its right is Ayam Goreng Kunyit which is essentially turmeric fried chicken served with stir-fried vegetables.
To the left of the Rendang Kambing is a tray of Chinese Fried Rice that the restaurant advertises as vegetarian friendly. Next to that is Malaysian Wantan Mee or Fried Wantan Noodles that also has Eggs and Prawns. Of the two, the fried rice looked the most appealing to me. That said, I would have liked it if they served some non-vegetarian versions of Chinese fried rice (maybe something like Lop Cheung Chow Fan) too.
Since Malaysia is predominantly Muslim, a lot of its food and cuisine tends to eschew pork meat. A good example is the deli meat seen in the image above. Instead of pork, it makes use of chicken. Then right next to it is Grilled Chicken Curried Sausage which, as its name implies, uses chicken instead of the usual pork.
While the Pasta Carbonara here looked really plain, I noticed that it was also relatively popular among the guests who were here for their breakfast. As for the dish to its right, I’m not quite sure what it actually is. It says on the sign that it’s called Chicken Hunter but I can’t seem to encounter dishes like that in my travels. A quick search online also didn’t yield any information on what it was or if it was a Malay dish. My guess is that it’s actually Hunter’s Chicken or Chicken Cacciatore and the sign is just a misnomer.
Cauliflower Gratin sure seems popular as here’s another serving tray with the vegetarian dish on it. Not too keen on cauliflower? Right next to the Cauliflower Gratin is a bowl full of Potato Wedges.
The restaurant also has a pastry section and their pastries were actually quite fresh when I got there. The Apple Lattice in this image was still warm and it had that distinct spicy and sweet smell from the cinnamon that’s also an ingredient for its filling. Speaking of cinnamon, just underneath the Apple Lattice was a basket of Cinnamon Whirl that also smelled amazing.
Here you’ll find some Red Velvet Muffins as well as Croissants. Again, these were still warm and I also noticed that these were quite popular. When I first passed by, the containers they were in were actually full. By the time I took this picture, these were the only ones that were left (which isn’t surprising considering their freshness and the fact that these pastries are just universally loved).
It’s not just pastries you’ll find in this section though. You can also get fruit preserves for your breads (more on this later) here. In this particular area, you can get Orange Marmalade, Apricot Jam, Strawberry Jam, as well as Peanut Butter.
Of course it would be pointless to get fruit preserves if you don’t have any bread to slather them on. Thankfully, you can also find plenty of them here. This one is a piece of sourdough bread that’s already been sliced. If you want some then you can just ask the staff here and they’d gladly do the slicing for you.
Aside from sourdough bread, the section also has some French Baguettes. At the time I took the picture, these were located on a basket just on top of the shelf that had the sourdough breads. You probably didn’t notice but you can actually see one of the bakers preparing another batch of pastries for baking in the background.
So here’s another set of sauces that go well on the breads and pastries here. Starting from the bottom, there’s Honey, Strawberry Sauce, Maple (top right) and Chocolate Syrup. So after you get your bread sliced (the chopping board and bread knife is on the left) you can then proceed to drizzle it with your choice of the sauces here.
This is another shelf that contains croissants and red velvet muffins. If I were to choose between the two, I’d probably go for the croissants. In fact, these were really tempting but then I couldn’t find the butter for some reason so I ended up just not getting these.
I had also considered getting some of the muffins but ultimately decided not to. Now make no mistake, these weren’t bad. In fact, I talked to other guests who’d taken some and was told that these were in fact quite nice. It’s just that I really wanted to cut down on my sugar intake that day and these unfortunately were a bit too sweet.
The same reasoning for the muffins applied to the Apple Lattices and Cinnamon Whirls. Man, the smell of the cinnamon from these pastries was really something. Out of all the pastries here, I think these were the most aromatic. Again, I didn’t get these as I thought they would have been a little too sweet for my tastes.
For drinks, guests had the option to choose between Orange and Chilled Apple Juice. It should be noted though that you’re not limited to just these two options. Rather, these were the only options available in this section. Later on we’ll go over other sections of the buffet that offer different drinks that you might be interested in.
Moving on from the bread and pastries section, I’m now at the Chinese cuisine buffet. Noodle soup is probably one of the most quintessential Chinese dishes and here you can actually craft your own bowl. To do so, you’ll just need to get the toppings and ingredients from these bowls displayed in this section.
So here are two of the toppings that I talked about earlier. Sliced green onions are of course a must for both flavor and aroma. For some kick to your bowl of noodles, you might also want to add some pao jiao or pickled peppers. Like the green onions, these are already sliced though you might want to hold off on adding too much as they might end up overpowering the other ingredients.
Here you can see the noodles that are available. The yellow colored noodles are egg noodles while to its right is what looks to be some rice noodles. Now I don’t really think the noodles matter as much as the soup but if I were to choose, I’d probably go with egg noodles as I like their mouth feel more.
Aside from the onions and pickled peppers, you’re also going to want to add some vegetables to your bowl of noodle soup. At the time I took this picture, the available veggies were bean sprouts, sliced cabbage, and carrots. You’ll notice that the bowls these ingredients are on are placed on top of a bed of ice. This ensures they stay fresh and crunchy.
For proteins, the options available are fried tofu (that’s already been sliced), imitation crab meat, and (what I think are) fish balls/cakes. I would have preferred this to have included meat but these are also quite savory and add a lot of texture and chewiness that you simply won’t get with beef and/or chicken. Much like the veggies, their bowls are also sitting on top of a bed of ice to prevent spoilage.
Here’s another look at the noodle soup section with all the ingredients/condiments in full view. Aside from the ingredients, you also probably notice the large pots of soup in the back. Like I said earlier, the soup is the star of the show here. Not only is the soup savory, it also takes on the flavor of the ingredients you added to your bowl.
Another quintessential Chinese breakfast item is Congee. This is a type of rice porridge that’s really popular in Asian countries that have a history of Chinese migration. It’s very flavorful and very much like Chinese noodle dishes, you’re free to add condiments to make it fit your palate.
So here are the condiments/ingredients you can add to your bowl of congee. There’s sliced green onions, fried garlic, peanuts, century eggs, and even dried chili flakes. Of these, I’d recommend getting the century eggs because of how well they complement the congee. Not only are they bursting with umami, they also add a bit of chew and creaminess.
Another section that’s close by is the Egg Station. As its name implies, this section features egg dishes. In the image, you can see fried sunny side up eggs that were cooked just to my liking. The yolks were still runny and you could see its underside didn’t show any signs of burning.
Here are the sauces available in this section. You can choose to pair your eggs with Chili Sauce, Tomato Sauce/Ketchup, and Light Soy Sauce. Behind the sauces, there’s a sign featuring the egg dishes that you’ll find in this section.
This section has two bamboo steamers that hold Pandan Kaya Pau and a variety of Dim Sum dishes respectively. Pandan Kaya Pau is a steamed bun that has a pandan flavored coconut based jam as its filling. It’s seriously good and I’d highly recommend getting it if you haven’t tasted it yet.
Going back to the egg section, here’s a tray displaying hard boiled and scrambled eggs. I’m not going to lie, eggs are going to be eggs. These are going to taste the same regardless of the country or restaurant. That said, you could always pair them with other food to elevate their flavor.
And wouldn’t you know it, you actually don’t need to look far for dishes that go well with the eggs. Just right next to the hard boiled and scrambled eggs are these bowls of Dahl and Curry. Yes, these are vegetarian but they actually don’t lack in terms of flavor. Most people I know love to add hard boiled eggs to their dahl and I’ve seen some even slather curry on their scrambled eggs as if it were gravy.
Of course, it’s perfectly fine if you don’t pair the dahl and curry with the eggs. If that’s not your thing then there’s always Roti available here. Other than the dahl and curry, you might also want to try out some Potato Kurma together with your Roti.
From South Asian cuisine, let’s now head to the restaurant’s Cheese Counter. This section was honestly my favorite because of the varied selection of cheeses here. Your options here include Gouda, Feta, and Cheddar. The section also has crackers and nuts that you can pair with these cheeses.
Aside from the cheeses in the previous image, the section also has Emmental which is, I think, the only Swiss Cheese on display here. I wasn’t able to check (and I can’t quite remember) but the red, yellow, and green condiments here seemed like they were candied fruits. I will say though that if they added some Camembert here then this section would have been perfect.
You already saw a salad section earlier but that was mainly targeted at vegetarian diners/guests. The Salad Bar Station has a wider variety of salads that even non-vegetarian guests can enjoy. Much like the Noodle Soup section, you can also come up with your own bowl of salad here.
This area of the Salad Bar has some of the dressings you can use on your salad. If you want to bring out the flavors of your salad ingredients then make sure to use the classic Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar combo. Other than this, there’s also Sesame Soy Sauce and even Caesar’s Dressing if you want your salad dressing to have a little creamy texture.
Rounding out the salad dressings here are these small bowls for Thousand Island Dressing and Tartar Sauce. Aside from the dressings, you’ll also find the ingredients you can add to your salad here. In the image you can see bowls containing red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, and sweet corn.
Continuing with the salad ingredients, here are bowls for sliced white onions and green beans. For that salty and tangy flavor to your salad, you can opt for either Capers or Black Olives or both. Other than these two, there are also other pickled fruits here that can add to your salad to give it even more color and flavor.
So not a lot of people might have the time and expertise to fix their own salads so early in the morning. Thankfully, the section also has salads that are already mixed and tossed. Both the Honey Cured Chicken Salad and Beef Pastrami Salad looked so delicious I briefly considered getting a spoonful of both just to try them out.
The salads here aren’t just for meat lovers though. Vegetarians should still be able to enjoy something like this Fruits Salad that has probably every fruit from the fruits section earlier. One thing I would have liked though was for this particular salad to be a lot colder.
Ideally, they would have placed the Fruit Salad on a bed of ice just like the ingredients for the Noodle Soup or these packs of Yoghurt. It might just be me but much like my Yoghurt, I’ve always preferred my Fruits Salad cold or chilled. If you also enjoy your fruit salad cold/chilled then a good alternative is to just get the yoghurt here and then add fruits and other toppings from other sections to it.
In case you’re not big on either Fruit Salad or Yoghurt, you can also opt for this Bircher Muesli here. Much like Yoghurt, you can further add toppings to this cold porridge made from oats soaked overnight in milk. It’s actually quite creamy though I do understand that it might be an acquired taste for some people.
Here you’ll see some great examples of toppings that you can add to either the Bircher Muesli or the Yoghurt. The Assorted Fruits Compote are slices of peaches and oranges that have been preserved in sugar syrup. While the sugar obviously means that they’re sweet, either of these compotes also have a hint of sourness/tanginess that adds depth to their flavor. For even more texture, you can also add some dried nuts like almond and cashew which can also be found displayed with the compote.
After checking out the salads, it was now time to check out the milk and cereals section. Here you can see a dispenser each for Fresh and Low Fat Milk. Take note that you can also just get a glass of either of the milks here even if you’re not fixing up a bowl of cereal.
Speaking of cereal, there are dispensers here for Coco Crunch, Corn Flakes, and Granola. You’re free to mix these if you want though I would caution on eating too much as they’re quite high in carbs and sugars. If you want more flavor, you can also opt to add some of the assorted fruit compote and dried nuts that you can find to the left of the milk dispensers earlier.
We’re finally at the beverages section and these dispensers are mostly for hot drinks. Of course, you have two of the most popular morning drinks in the world here: Black Coffee and Black Tea. These are relatively hot so you might want to take care when using the dispensers.
Now if you’re tired of coffee and tea and want something new then you might want to consider Masala Chai or Teh Tarik. Though both are milk tea beverages, Masala Chai is South Indian in origin while Teh Tarik is Malaysia’s national drink. You really won’t go wrong with either but I do personally prefer Teh Tarik’s airy texture and mouthfeel.
And with this my tour of JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur’s breakfast buffet ends. I commend Shook! Restaurant for doing a great job of curating the buffet and supplying it with food from all over the world. Though I did have gripes with some of the food and how they were presented, these issues really didn’t have anything with their taste/flavor. Overall, my breakfast experience here was okay (and you can head straight to the gym or swimming pool to burn some calories afterwards). There wasn’t one food item here that really shined or could be considered as a must visit or get but I was also hard pressed to find that was bad.
Have you ever tried Shook! Restaurant’s breakfast buffet? If yes then we’d appreciate it if you can also share your experience with us! See you over in the comments section!
