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Melba @ The Langham Hotel
1 Southgate Ave, Southbank
Ph 1800 641 107.
A couple of months ago my work had a team lunch at the Melba Buffet. We each paid $28.50, which was reasonably priced (at the high end of the scale) and was quite enjoyable.
Louis’ Birthday came up recently and seeing as he loves seafood, I couldn’t think of anything better than a buffet of seafood to feast upon. We’d already been to (and been let down by) the Conservatory so Melba sounded like a good bet.
Coincidently being Fathers’ Day, reservations were scarce - we were able to book the last table they had available. The buffet price varies depending on the menu and the day of the week (and time of year). When I went with work colleagues, we paid $28.50 p/p for the full lunch buffet on a Tuesday. The Weekend Dinner price was slightly higher, at $69.50 per person. We figured we’d just eat a lot to get our money’s worth.
Situated on level 1 inside the Langham Hotel, you are greeted by 5 star surroundings as soon as you enter. For those who have trouble with steps, I think (i’d almost guarantee) they’d also have an elevator nearby.
After you reach the top of the steps, you’re at the entrance to Melba. A waitress checked our reservation, and guided us to our table. We were presented with a wine list, but declined. Chilled tap water is complementary but anything else will cost - the buffet price is for the food only.
Dining area
Steps leading up to the buffet area
We joined the rest of the diners’ and headed for the buffet. There is really a huge choice of dishes to choose from, so we worked through it the logical way: we started at one end, and ate our way to the other!
What was on offer, I hear you ask? I’ll work anti-clockwise here, as it’s easier.
Those copper drum things you see are actually ovens forming part of the ‘Tandoori Bar’. Along here you can choose from a range of dishes, such as chana (spicy chickpeas), chicken biryani, lamb rogan josh, tandoori chicken tikka, tandoori fish, freshly made plain or garlic naan bread and pappadams.
If you like to complement your dishes with condiments, they offer chutney, lemon pickle, and raita.
Moving further along, there is a pasta and stirfry bar, where a chef will mix up a selection of ingredients, including seafood, meat and vegetables, to your specification.
Rounding the corner and moving along the back wall, there are selections such as singapore fried noodles, chicken stir-fried with basil and chillies, baby corn with choy sum vegetables, spinach tagliatelle pasta with bolognese and pecorino cheese, spaghetti pasta with squid, garlic, tomato and anchovy sauce, seasonal vegetables including roast pumpkin and potato, braised beef with porcini mushroom sauce, loin of lamb, basil and herb crust with honey and rosemary sauce, rotisserie roast carving, rosemary and garlic studded lamb, asian pancakes with five spiced roasted duck, prawn dumplings, shiu mai pork dumplings and mini dim sim dumplings.
The tables in the centre of the floor offered smoked salmon, sushi rolls and sashimi, antipasto, cold cuts, salads and various cheeses. Lastly, the glowing blue cubes were filled with prawns, oysters, crab and mussels. Louis headed to those first.
Hungry yet? (But wait, there’s more!)
The dessert area had a hundred little bowls, each offering minature desserts such as
mixed berry crème brulée, exotic nougat glacé with dark chocolate, hazelnut chocolate cube, strawberry and white chocolate meringue, cherry clafoutis, tiramisu, rhubarb and ginger cheesecake, pistachio sponge, raspberry mousse and passion fruit jelly.
Further along, there was also chocolate chip ice-cream, chocolate mousse, bread and butter pudding, seasonal berries, melon salad and a Chocolate fountain with strawberries and marshmallows.
I can guarantee if you eat all that, you’ll probably roll down the steps (instead of walking down) on your way out. I was surprisingly restrained, but even so I went beyond my ‘comfort limit’ and was a little bit too full.
Some of the seafood Louis ate
I didn’t have room for many Desserts
I apologise for not taking many photos of the actual food, but I didn’t want to look like the paparazzi taking photos every time we reloaded our plates.
Also you’ll notice a lack of people in the photos above, I took them later in the evening just before we left.
If you’re looking for some nice indian food, the chef here really does good stuff. But i’m sure there are many other good Indian restaurants that won’t cost you $69.50 p/p.
The rest of the food was pretty ok, but again - $69.50 is a lot to pay for something that’s just ‘okay’. If you go for lunch on a quiet day and get the same thing for under $30, then it’s far better value, and actually worth considering.
Sushi - These definitely had been sitting there for a while - both the toppings and the rice were dry.
Mussels - I love mussels, but these were disappointing. I picked four, and two were bad. Subsequent sampling yielded similar results, so stay away. Having to spit out food in a classy restaurant is not something you want to do often.
Oysters - Most of them tasted plain and a little strange, as though they have been sitting out for too long. A couple were downright bad, and even with the ones that were edible, I felt sick after a few. Not too happy about this as oysters are a treat and I was hoping to sample something halfway decent.
Smoked Salmon - Besides shellfish, I also like salmon a lot, and I tend to pile it onto my plate. I would say that it was edible, but I have tasted far better. As it is, most of the slices had a mushy texture and I think that’s a sign they have not been stored properly (or just too long).
Prawns - The prawns were fresh, thank god.
Dim Sim - I don’t know if they bought these pre-packaged or they were home-made, but they were quite tasty.
Peking Duck Wraps - Too much duck skin and beansprouts/vegetables in the fillings. It wouldn’t have hurt them to be more generous with the duck itself?
Lamb Rogan Josh with Nasi Briyani - Not too bad, this had a semblance of authenticity in it. The Indian attendant was polite too.
Perch and Scallops with Saffron - Very similar to the one they served in the Conservatory, you would think they used the same recipe! This was good, I enjoyed it.
Roast Beef - I had a slice of roast, and although the meat was tough in some places (to be expected), on the whole it was competently done, which was good because they shouldn’t be stuffing up something so standard.
Dessert: There were various confectioneries, puddings and jellies, plus a chocolate fountain. Besides the nougat glacé with dark chocolate (nice texture), they were ok but nothing to write home about.
I have to say, for a place that charges $69.50 per person, I was none too impressed with the quality of the food. To be fair, it was dinner on a weekend, but I would expect the quality of the food to be proportional to the price paid.
My chief complaints were, of course, the bad seafood. Maybe I visited at a bad time (?), but there is no excuse. I think you could find a place that charge a similar amount and still get much better food. As it is, I know I would rather go back to the Conservatory any time.
