The Hilton Hotel is one of the few places in Cape Town where you can get a really classy fully halaal dining experience. So when I was invited to try out their Iftar buffet I was curious to see how they would keep a buffet classy. I knew they had salaah facilites available so was keen to have the full Ramadaan experience.

 

The setting

The atmosphere in this restaurant with it’s warm low light is always relaxing and cosy. We were seated a few minutes before iftar. Our waiter brought us a bowl of dates and informed us that Zam Zam water and Falooda was available at the console at the entrance of the restaurant. After breaking our fast we partook of the selection of starter savouries at the buffet. Some was standard fare like pies and springrolls, but their was also bobotie, roasted butternut and feta quiche and a tasty chickpea veda. The lentil soup was delicious and I had to stop myself from having too much and being too full for supper.

 

 

We went up to the mezzanine for Maghrib namaaz. The namaaz facilities are excellent. Separate sections for men and women. The wudu khana was immaculate and the namaaz room was comfortable. A thoughtful touch was that extra juba’s and scarves were available if needed and 2 chairs were available in the room if you needed to make namaaz seated.

 

 

The Food

For the main course we chose from a small variety of Indian and Malay dishes – Lamb curry, Dhal, Dennigvleis, Roasted rosemary and lemon Chicken and an assortment of veggies. There was also a variety of cold salads available. The food was all very tasty. I especially enjoyed the denningvleis and the dhal. I made sure to have a tiny bit of everything so I could taste all of the dishes. It was a good thing there was not rows and rows of options. We decided to take a breather after our mains and went back upstairs for Eshai namaaz before the sweet stuff.

 

 

For dessert there was a variety of mini selections. I tried the lime panacotta and cheesecake. The cheesecake was good, but the lime flavoured panacotta did not work for me. The vanilla sponges were delicious and there was also swiss roll with fruit salad, chocolate mousse and cheesecake cups.

 

I like that the buffet is not huge and that you are not faced with a hundred options. So you don’t feel like you are missing out on anything especially during Ramadaan when you cannot eat that much anyway. Also, the presentation is really classy. Instead of the rows of bain maries that is common of buffets each dish is in a colourful Le Creuset casserole or server. This makes for a much nicer almost homely setting which appealed to me much more. The only thing I would suggest is that their buffet menu could be a bit more interesting. The a la carte menu is much more interesting and I found the buffet menu a bit safe. The food however was well prepared and tasty and the service was excellent. My Iftar experience at the Hilton is one I can surely recommend.

 

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