OldTown Grand @ M Roof Ipoh

After sampling the breakfast at The Morning After the day before and not being too pleased with the portion sizes, it was time to give our other choice of breakfast venue a try.

And this one was a more familiar name, OldTown Grand @ M Roof, Ipoh and since it would be a buffet breakfast, we can (at least) be assured of a more filling meal.

I actually noticed their menu board (the day before) detailing what would be served...but before you get excited over the menu, let me tell you that it details the entire menu which will be rotated (probably on a daily basis).  So, I'm giving you the heads up that you won't be getting everything that's listed on the menu board (especially in some categories, you might get only one)! :P

To start, there was a selection of different types of bread and I went for their signature brown bread with butter and their housemade kaya.

Also available were soft-boiled eggs, which were found submerged in a pot of lukewarm water, so don't expect the eggs to be all that hot.  I saved half of my brown bread for the soft-boiled eggs.

Their western breakfast options included chicken sausage, ham, fried omelette, hash brown and baked beans (this was everything listed on the menu board).

For the Rice Section, the options were Nasi Lemak, Fried Rice and Kampong Fried Rice.  We got Nasi Lemak that day.  I had none since I've already tried their nasi lemak.  For Noodles, the options were Chicken Hor Fun, Curry Mee, Laksa, Prawn Mee and Fried Meehoon.  They served Chicken Hor Fun and Fried Meehoon that morning.

The Chicken Hor Fun failed miserably.  Luckily, I took only two spoonfuls of noodles.

The Fried Meehoon fared much better and was probably the most satisfying dish though it tasted a bit bland, so I added some sambal (the same one served with the nasi lemak) and fried omelette to bump up the taste.

There were also stations for porridge and cereals.  As for the fresh fruits component of our breakfast, it was between watermelon, honeydew or papaya...and we were given watermelon.

For chilled juices, the options were orange, apple, guava, grape or mango.  The orange juice came from those cordial types and this one was diluted in nature.

Luckily, the coffees saved the day morning with white coffee, kopi-o and black tea available.  The kopi-o was really "kaw" (concentrated)...hey, I like kaw! ;)

And that was pretty much our simple and plain breakfast, nothing quite in the same calibre as the one offered by MH Hotel.

We also dined here for supper one evening.  I had the Old Town Nasi Lemak with Turmeric Fried Chicken @ RM15.85 served with a piece of fried chicken thigh, sotong sambal, keropok lekor (a traditional Malay fish cracker snack), a whole hard-boiled egg, stir-fried kangkung, fried ikan bilis and peanuts.

The fried chicken was acceptable, the sotong sambal was made from those crunchy rehydrated cuttlefish (which I don't like), the keropok lekor was chewy and the sambal was fiery (even the stir-fried kangkung had a kick to it).

We also had the BBQ Chicken Dry Egg Noodles with Minced Chicken & Fried Wantan @ RM11.89.  The fried wantans were nicely crispy, the egg noodles sauce had a strong hint of sesame oil but what caught us by surprise was how spicy the minced chicken was (so beware if you can't take the heat).

I remember having OldTown's white coffee in KL and not liking it but surprisingly this White Coffee (Cold) @ RM5.66 was pretty ok.

My Personal Opinion

The menu board states the price for this buffet breakfast is RM21.  As a free breakfast that comes with the room, it served its purpose but I certainly wouldn't pay RM21 for such a limited selection...I wouldn't even pay RM17 (the price for hotel guests).  I'd rather have the one in MH Hotel (which cost around the same price) instead.

Though I really liked the accommodation, I can't say the same for their breakfast.  One (The Morning After), the choices were too limited and portions too little and the other (OldTown), the food too plain (both in taste and selection) to offer any sort of satisfaction.

With both on-site restaurants not hitting the mark in terms of the complimentary breakfast, I'd rather take my RM17 across the street to Medan Selera Stadium for some cheap (and good) food.  Unfortunately, there was no offer for just the room only from the hotel booking websites I booked with...haiz :(

OldTown Grand
M Roof Hotel & Residences
Lot 37499 Jalan Dato Lau Pak Kuan
31400 Ipoh
Perak
Tel: 05-5412901