To
mark the Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebration, EQ’s Rasa Lokal promotion will
take centrestage until 30 September at Nipah restaurant. Traditional
flavours of Peninsular Malaysia’s east coast, and the East Malaysia states of Sabah
and Sarawak will share the culinary stage at the Rasa Lokal lunch and dinner buffet.
Take
your pick from 18 Chef’s Specials in addition to an expansive plethora of local
salads, appetisers, grilled seafood and meat, rice and noodle dishes, assorted
curries, drinks and dessert. The kaleidoscope of tempting specialities will leave diners spoiled for choice but selective food choices will ensure you’d derive maximum enjoyment
out of the dining experience.
Right
off the bat, we zoomed in on healthy, flavourful local salads such as Kerabu
Betik, Kerabu Pegaga, Banana Flower Salad and Rojak Buah. We love the
profusion of salty, tangy, spicy, savoury and mildly sweet accents from
the various herb-laden salads.
Nipah
is famous for its Satay and the delectable, well-marinated
Beef and Chicken Satay with chunky peanut sauce were on-point. At the chef’s urging, we also sampled
Sambal Kelapa Satay Perut, chewy-tender cow’s stomach with coconut sambal. It gave
our jaw a good workout; try this if you’re partial to innards. 
The
crowd-pleasing Ayam Golek was superbly tender; the juicy spice-rubbed roast chicken
dialled up with a bright, bracing sauce blending turmeric and a myriad of spices. Equally
notable were the nicely marinated Sotong Bakar Berempah (grilled spiced squid) and
Pari Bakar (grilled stingray).
Slipper
lobsters added a bougie spin to the speciality of Kari Laksa Udang Galah. IMHO, the rich and aromatic rempah gravy should be hotter as lukewarm broth for noodles just put a dampener on the dish’s appeal.
From
the Indian section, Ketam 65 – fried spiced flower crabs – stood out for its satisfying
spice profile. We
highly recommend the salubrious Ekor Asam Pedas (sour-spicy oxtail) complemented
by fluffy Biryani. Another worthy contender was Kari Kambing, mutton in fiery-red,
tomato-infused curry gravy.
The
Chinese-style Steamed Red Tilapia with soy sauce, garlic flakes, coriander and
fragrant garlic oil was served table-side. It came too overdone for our
liking, possibly due to its small size. There was no doubting the fish’s freshness
though.
One
of my favourites has to be Roti John which was prepped a la minute. The sandwich
with omelette and minced beef or chicken had lashings of tomato and chilli
sauce, and mayo in it. However, I only ate a small portion of it hence the pillow-soft
sandwich was acceptable.
To
finish, I sampled some local Kuih (a hit and miss affair) and Nipah’s classic Bread
and Butter Pudding (sedap). You’d be spoiled for choice with Ais Kacang, freshly
sliced fruits, dainty cakes (think Kek Batik and Lapis Sarawak), puddings,
jellies and fruit pickles among others.
The Rasa Lokal buffet lunch is priced at RM148+ per
adult, and RM74+ per child (6–12 years old). Buffet dinner is RM168+ per adult,
and RM84+ per child from 6– 12 years.
Reservations for Rasa Lokal at
Nipah can be made via email: dineateqkl@kul.equatorial.com
or WhatsApp +60 12 278 9239.
A Legacy of EQ-cellence
Celebrating
its fifth decade in the hospitality industry, EQ has retained its #1 City Hotel
in Malaysia spot at Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific three years in
a row since 2022. It is ranked #5 Travel + Leisure Readers' 15 Favourite City
Hotels in Asia and #35 Travel + Leisure Readers' 100 Favourite Hotels in the
World for 2023. EQ is also TripAdvisor’s #1 ranked hotel in Kuala Lumpur since
2019.
