B4 Buffet @ QbaLatin Bar & Grill, The Westin KL

I just had an awesome weekend with the girls at the Qba courtyard. Thanks to the invitation extended by Ming and Yoke May from the Westin Group, we were given the privilege to indulge in some delectable Latin America food and free flow of alcoholic beverages.

B4 is the abbreviation for Beer+BBQ+Banda+Bandido. True to it’s name, it was a joyous night of beer, cocktails, grilled food and intensely good music.

Stand boasted of being the first restaurant in Malaysia that offers al fresco buffet dining, patrons get to enjoy the chefs in action behind those live cooking action. Everything is made to order to ensure ultimate freshness and taste.

And the best part? For only RM148 ++, we get to enjoy free flow of alcoholic beverages and cocktails!

wine – anakena
cocktail – bandido, frozen qba libre
beer – carlsberg draught (carlsberg beer glass), chang beer (bottle), corona beer (bottle), tuborg beer (bottle)
tequila
soft drink
juices

margarita bandido – a famous Mexican cocktail

Our bottles of Corona with traditional garnish of lime wedges. Push it down and voila! The foam rises really fast and we have to down it real fast! It was a very refreshing experience.

Apart from the tantalizing varieties from the live cooking stations, we have Irish oyster and shellfish ice stands (included in the buffet) brought to the table.

The freshness of the seafood was brought up by various qba salsa’s (habanero & tomato relish, jalapeno and lime crema, shadow benny, avocado).

#1 crustacea seafood stall

We also had cocktel de mariscos (Seafood Cocktails) from the crustacea seafood stall. It is a special combination of scallop tiradito, salsa verde, garlic chive cress and cashew nuts.

Another cocktail was the prawn and coconut ceviche where the seafood is “cooked” by the citric acid in lime and grapefruit juice.


#2 two fires: grilling the latin american way……

The next food station was the Latin America grill that uses wood fire and cast iron.

We had the seared salmon fillet with corn cakes, rosemary skewered prawns and red peppers, griddled goats cheese with spiced olives as well as the calamari and burnt tomato. Warm, gooey, melty goat cheese with a light and thin outer layer, I can just have the griddled cheese all day!

#3 Parrilla – the asadero open grill

What’s Grilling?
Angus sirloin steak
Chipotle marinated chicken
Lamb cutlets
Glazed beef short ribs
Sea bass in banana leaves with achiote and orange
Gold band snapper kabob a la diablo
Chorizo sausage kabob
Spit rotisserie whole lamb

The chef prepared a myriad of sauces to complement the grills – brazilian criolla, tequila habanero bbq, red chimmichurri, pico de gallo & jus,  herb butter, smoked chilli butter, herb and spice curry butter. Yes, they took their butter seriously. Have you ever tried chili butter? It is a very interesting combination.

We have some sides such as the cowboy baked cannellini beans, escallavida vegetables, columbian style baby potatoes, tomato and olive salad to go with the meaty meal.

#4 Taquero – tacos

Taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. There were many choices of fillings:

Grilled fish, citrus flavours, mango salsa
Grilled lamb carne asada, red onion escabeche, habanero salsa
Chorizo sausage, scrambled egg, grilled spring onion
Chicken al pastor(vertical spit gyro), roasted poblano rajas, sweetcorn
Red mole usda beef short ribs

#5 Arepas – south american filled corn cakes

We called it the Latin America burger. Some of the fillings to go with the corn cakes:

beef and green olive hash
black bean and cheese
grilled eggplant, dried tomato and feta cheese
perico, turkey ham and cheddar cheese

the arepas looks like pacman isn’t it? 😀

#6 giant torta – south of the border sandwich

with achiote spiced chicken, pickled jalapeno, mango salsa, guacamole, roma tomatoes, monterey jack cheddar.

it’s actually longer and bigger than it seems

#7 arroz – rice

That part of the world loves their rice too. We have paella, the spanish rice infused with saffron. There’s also a generous amount of chicken, prawns, live black mussels and little neck clams and chorizo found on top of it. The mussels and neck clams, freshly imported from New Zealand were so fresh and sweet!

picadillo con heurvos – cuban nasi campur We have beef hash ragout, steamed rice, braised canary beans, avocado pineapple and cacao salad, hot salsa, crisp plantains, takari and caribbean lamb curry.

some of the selection that we picked from the live cooking stations 🙂

and more 😀

Last but not least, the ladies were anticipating the dulces (sweets) because we have already set aside the extra stomach space for it.

tropical fruit paletas popsicles, coffee chocolate mousse and cinnamon churros and coconut macaroons

We adjourned to the bar area after our dinner. There are two floors to Qba, with the lower level acting as the bar.

We were mesmerised by the voices of the Colombian band ‘Piel Latina’. Chris even took up a 10 minutes salsa lesson with one of the hot ladies up there.

Upstairs house the cigar and wine bar with elegant leather seat, maroon coloured curtain and beautiful chandeliers.

We reckon that Qba is the place to go if you wish to get a taste of some authentic Latin America food. At Rm148++, the price might sound steep but if you are a (great) drinker, it is a great value for money. A tequila shot could easily set you back at RM20 out there!

Qba B4 Buffet
rm 148 per person
rm 99 per person for starwood privilege member
rm 74 per child (9 to 18 years old)
complimentary for children age 8 years and below

Westin Hotel KL
Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur, Selangor
For reservation, please contact Westin Dining at 03-2731-8333 or log on to westindining.com.my.