Le Cafe  

we came here for the dinner buffet as a birthday dinner for a family member.
this is not the first time we came here for buffet, but as i recall, i think the quality of last time (which was probably years ago) was better than this time.

Table of six went to Novotel hotel le cafe for buffet with 20% off, two days later another dinner gathering take place at le cafe again because my positive comments.

Novotel is a world-known brand with high-end service. Greeter at Le Cafe with cheerful smile which impressed a lot. Server change dish quick enough which is remarkable, and can clearly tell the food source is also important. But when waiters and waitresses explain terms for open rice coupon and special offers, they become blur which makes me not understand in both two nights.

Food is not fast-turn enough for this size restaurant, empty plate and lines up see often. Maybe this is just HK buffet habit.

My buffet habit are mainly appetizer and desert, skipping main and hot food, honestly only concern quality never about quantity

I like the most is the oyster, the waiter said it is new zeland pacific oyster. I personality like smaller shelf oyster, techically difficult to open the shelf and may have lots a small cracked shelves when don't handle with care. Small size would bring strong sea favor, this pacific oysters are creamy as well. My all time oyster preference would be mouth pieces size, less mess and able to taste the full body one at a time.

My second favorite is smoke salmon not just because the strong favor of salmon also like the lemon juice with olive. Usually hotel will prepare their homemade smoke salmon not like buying ready to eat pack. This hotel smoke salmon are mild with no strong smoke favour, yet did not overwhelm the fish favour which I believed their fish source should either Norway sea nor from pacific ocean. My friend which is a fisherman told me the reason they smoke salmon is because they want to preserve the fish when they fished plenty, so that is why less smoke favor means fresher fish. More olives are recommended

Salad nothing special, their creamy dressing are not my favorite, too strong of cheese and dairy which cover everything. Bacon bits are in crump and dry (hard) to eat.

My friends said roast beef are great very nice and tender, juicy and rich beef favor. Believe that should be American beef.

Can't resist hotel quality of dessert. My all time favorite! Love: new York cheese cake, brownie, passion fruit puddings, Ben & Jerry ice cream especially chocolate favor. Other pastry with no surprise.

My favor are pineapple, taste like Hawaii grown but some are over cut

As my GF got "buy 1 get 1 free - lunch buffet" coupons, so we, total 6 peoples go there to try try. Actually, before we go there, when we have a look at openrice comments, we really have a plan B to go elsewhere to have lunch.

When we get there, (booked 12:00), a number of people already enjoy their lunch here, and it is quite full (~90%).

We are all happy with the foods with the price we pay (i.e. $188x1.1/2 = $103.5)

Food choice is limited, but still have some. (e.g. 3 types of 魚生, etc)
即煮 Food have few types, spaggati, noodles, 串燒
"hot" and "cold" food are around 10 types, normal kind.
Can order the drink last, normal standard.

As a summary, we agree that $105 is worth to try (our pay), $150 is just ok, but we do not think it is worth for $188.

Although the food is excellent, services are good, environment is good (new renovation?) and moreover, they have provide some functions for children to play. quite interesting.

Should definitely be kept in mind if you wish to go to a Value for Money buffet!!
For just under $300 per person, you get all you can eat Oysters / Prawns / Fresh Salmon sashimi etc etc!
Can't say anything was particularly exciting but at least it's got it all there! I have a feeling that one of the main chefs is Indian as they serve several different curries and even have Papadum!! (Papadum is the thin crispy cracker that you always get with Indian food)
I guess the main thing to point out is that most of the food there are served Fresh! Just choose your own ingredients and you get freshly cooked pasta / chinese noodles / freshly carved roasts / cooked oysters and prawns! It really is a big bonus to have this kind of quality in inexpensive buffets nowadays!

the worst thing was.. ICE- CREAM....really really cheaaaaap ice creammmmm......
BUT... you can always grab nice ice cream elsewhere after dinner

all in all....not bad...worth a try!

saw the discount coupon thingy on OpenRice. 25% off regular price, plus unlimited soft drinks or beer. good deal.
with this kinda deal, i know i have to be "strategic" in fishing out the good stuff to make my meal worth its price. in gist, you come here, don't expect what you'd get in Cafe 2, Cafe on the 1st, or any top notch buffet places. you are only paying HKD200 per person, and thatz HALF of the normal so-called high-end price.
i walked into the restaurant slightly after 7. not full - which to a certain extent is a good thing, you wont have noisy chumps eating franticly around you and fighting for food.
here are some of the stuff i found worth mentioning: -
oysters - both cooked and raw. fresh, better than standard quality. i read from previous comments saying they arent fresh, have to wait, bla bla... HEY, be fair. when have you ever walked into a buffet that doesnt require you to wait a little for the good stuff? and of course there would be a few pieces that would be looking less good from every platter right? i helped myself with several rounds of oysters, each time 3-4 pieces. not bad at all. the cooked ones are prepared fresh, so that required a bit of waiting.
fries - freshly prepared again. more impressively, apart from the boring KETCHUP, they have several choices of mayonnaise to choose from as dip. Not even cafe 2 has it. 1 point le cafe~
beef - from previous posts there were comments about their roast beef tasted like beef jerkies. i had 2 rounds - i must say they have improved! well it is nowhere near fabulous - but tender, and not dry - up to standard la, not something that deserves negative comments.
concerning beef, i am SURE alot of people missed out on this - right beside where they cooked the soup noodles, they actually have a section where they make jap-style pan-fried steaks!! now thatz a thumbs up - you can have the steak done according to your own preference, and the beef itself is not bad too. tip - after getting your beef from this counter, go find some garlic from the soup noodles section. perfect match with the beef.
soup - i am not a big fan, but i wanna mention their soup coz it is HOT! alot of places only serve warm soup, but here they dont have this problem. thumbs up!
pizza - freshly made pizza! another thing that is quite rare for buffets.
pan-fried shrimp - looks are better than tastes. not to the point you can say they are STALE - but not as attractive as the restaurant has projected them to be.
sushi n other cold dishes - standard. but they do refills quite fast.
desserts - the cakes are pretty impressive (for a middle range buffet, that is) and they have hot bread puddings - they are made fresh, so it is hard for them to taste bad anyway. ice cream - thumbs down. totally get the feeling that i am eating CHEAP ice cream. ugh.
hot dishes - sorry to say, but i didnt even bother to go thru them. not attractive at all. (as some of the previous comments have mentioned)

thatz about it. to conclude, they do have several impressive features, and they also have alot of their food made fresh - and when food is made fresh, it cant taste THAT bad. be strategic if you want to have your value for money - i had mine.
remarks - good service. fast plate changing, and the staff is quite polite too. 2 hours free parking at the hotel!! impressive!!! (3rd hr onwards charges HKD30)
Cooking requires HEART. Eating does too.