MH Pinnacle @ MH Hotel Ipoh

During my recent stay at MH Hotel in Ipoh, I booked my room with breakfast included, so I had no choice but to have breakfast there for 3 consecutive mornings.

The buffet breakfast venue was at MH Pinnacle @ MH Hotel on the 20th floor.  If not bundled with the room tariff, the breakfast costs RM20 nett which is more than reasonable for the variety of food offered.

View from the 20th floor of MH Pinnacle

Coming for breakfast, I've read some 'not so great' online reviews (from hotel guests) that there wasn't enough food, the food wasn't replenished fast enough and there weren't enough servers to clear the plates (during the Christmas period).  So, I wasn't expecting a lot since Chinese New Year (CNY) is also a peak period.  But I'm glad to report that I had none of those issues.

Here are photos of some (not all) of the food stations (all photos taken on Day 1 and then I quickly got bored of taking them...hehe!) and just got down to enjoying my breakfast.

Bread, Pastries & Cereals Station - a staple

Salad Bar - was surprised to see some form of yee sang (!) on the 2nd day of CNY on the salad counter

Hot Food Section - menu changes daily with a variety of fried rice, fried noodles, chicken, fish, sausages, mushrooms and what not cooked different ways

Noodles Station - a different type of noodle each day

Porridge Station - available all 3 days

Desserts & Fruits Station - that changes daily

Buffet breakfasts are....well, just buffet breakfasts!  Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of taste, range and creativity...with some hits and some misses (of course) and some tasting better than others.  So, I'll just show you photos of what I had over the 3 days.....

Plate 1 - Fried Hong Kong Yee Mee, Grilled Fish with Teriyaki Sauce (good), Sausage with Brown Onions, Baked Beans with Mushrooms and Sauteed Mexican Potato.  Day 1 was also the only day I took a variety of food from the Hot Food Section.

Plate 2 - Nasi Lemak, always a crowd favourite at any buffets, was available on all 3 days.  On Day 1, it was "yellow" nasi lemak (turmeric-infused), on Day 2, it was "green" nasi lemak (pandan flavoured) and on Day 3, plain "white" nasi lemak (santan flavoured).  The nasi lemak was decent and the ayam rendang on Day 1 was the best tasting.

Plate 3 - Three different type of noodles were available at the Noodles Station namely Curry Laksa (Day 1), Prawn Mee (Day 2) and Soup Noodles (Day 3).  The Prawn Mee turned out to be my favourite breakfast item (although the prawns were a bit on the crunchy side but I certainly enjoyed the broth).

Plate 4 - On the first day, the dim sum station offered mini steamed buns of two varieties...a savoury option of barbecued minced chicken (the white bun) and a sweet one of red bean paste (pink bun which was the better of the two).  On the second day, it was four types of steamed dumplings...and on the third day, the steamers stopped steaming! ;p

Now, one of my favourite things to eat for breakfast is bread and eggs.  But, the Egg Station was somewhat obscure.  Initially, I couldn't see it but saw people having eggs, so I knew it was around somewhere.  Lo and behold, it was part of the kitchen where the cooks replenish the food (I passed by it a few times thinking it was just the kitchen).  They finally put up the sign on the third morning (when they realised that the guests were unsure) but I, of course, found the egg station on the very first day...hehe! ;D  You can ask for your eggs done any way and they'll fry it on the spot for you.

Plate 5 - Day 1: Omelette (I thought would be plain but came filled with diced veggies) with fried potatoes, sausages and toasted bread.

Plate 6 - Day 2: Sunny Side-up Eggs (perfectly runny)...ah, what a beautiful sight....let's just leave this as it is, shall we? :p

Plate 7 - Day 3: I just said Fried Eggs (and it turned out to be well done eggs, my son's favourite) with potato wedges, mushrooms in cream sauce, sausage and toasted bread.

Plate 8 - There was also a Soup Station with a different soup each day and this was the Tom Yam Soup (wished I had left this alone).

Plate 9 - Porridge

Plate 10  - There was also a station that offered three different things with one mainstay - rice, so I'll just call it the Rice Station.  On the first day, chee cheong fun (steamed rice noodles) was offered with some other stuff I can't remember.  On the second day, this might surprise someone (a fellow blogger) who hasn't seen chicken rice served in hotel buffets (actually, it's quite common)....I even got it for breakfast! XD

Plate 11 - On Day 3, they had this Nasi Impit served with Sayur Lodeh, Kuah Kacang and Sambal.  This is a vegetable curry dish made of compressed rice cubes with various vegetables (usually cabbage and carrots) cooked in a broth of coconut milk infused with turmeric served alongside a peanut sauce (that's reminiscent of satay sauce) and sambal.

Plate 12 - The Bread & Pastries Station, other than the common butter and jam, was filled with spreads of egg mayo, tuna and sardines.  In fact, I was quite happy with the combo of pastry with egg/tuna spread and went for a second helping.  Fried pastries like spring rolls, samosas and curry puffs were also available.

Plate 13 - I can't end without showing that I had at least one helping of salad, right?  I had fruits too, I really did! :p

You get a choice of two chilled juices (not of the fresh kind) each day...I had mango, lychee, guava and orange.  At least the orange on the third day was slightly better quality (like those Tropicana or Peel Fresh types, which has a bit of orange pulp) ;p

Of course, coffee is a must....every morning.....even if it's rather diluted...haha!  Now, after seeing all the pics, would you believe me if I say I ate all that? ;)

My Personal Opinion

Is there any cause for complaint for a buffet spread like this that's free with the room......or even at RM20 nett (if it wasn't)?  No, siree!

Seriously, I'd be a happy camper with just bread and pastries, made-to-order eggs and some egg mayo and tuna spread for the price....everything else was a bonus :)

MH Pinnacle
20th Floor MH Hotel
PT 212695B Jalan Medan Ipoh 1A
Medan Ipoh Bistari
31400 Ipoh
Perak
Tel: 05-545 1000