Hotel Review: Royale Bintang Resort & Spa, Seremban

The Royale Bintang Resort & Spa is a 4-star hotel resort in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. It is formerly known as Royale Adelphi and Seremban Hilton. Accomodation wise, this hotel provides the best rooms in Seremban.

Food
We have dined several times in Asiatique, the hotel's all day dining restaurant, which features Malay, Asian and International fare. They serve both buffet and a' la carte but we have only tried the buffet here.

One of the reasons why we dine here so often is because we have the Adelphi Gold card which entitles us to 50% off the food bill when 2 people dine together. Basically this means "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" for us. So, whenever we fancy some buffet, we will pop around to the Royale Bintang.

The first time we tried the buffet at Asiatique was during Xmas 2008. Although it was Xmas, rather than a Xmas themed buffet, it was a Japanese & Asian themed dinner buffet. I didn't mind since I like Japanese food. They had quite a variety of sashimi, I find that Malaysians often go for the raw oysters. I saw 1 girl eat about 20 of them! Yuk! There were unagi, chuka idako (baby octopus - my favorite!), sukiyaki, sushi (ebi, ebikko), tempura and chuka kurage (seasoned jellyfish). I liked the desserts the best, especially the green tea cheese cake.

Divine green tea cheese cake (far right)

We have also been here for their Mongolian & BBQ themed night, held on Friday nights. The Mongolian specialty they do here is similar to a teppanyaki, beef stir fried with peppers, mushrooms and onions but with a special sauce. I do not know how authentic this is, but it tastes nice. For the BBQ, they usually have chicken wings, beef, and a whole lamb. If the lamb on that day is lean, then you are in for a treat.

Mongolian specialty

One morning, we decided to come here and try their buffet breakfast. I have to say I was very disappointed with their buffet breakfast. The food quality is extremely poor. The "orange juice" was actually sickeningly sweet squash drink. Unless you're getting the breakfast for free, then it is not worth trying the buffet breakfast here.

We have also tried the hi-tea here. Do not expect the three tier afternoon tea variety. The hi-tea here is the teatime buffet, which features similar variety of food as their dinner. Actually, the desserts during hi-tea is quite limited.

Buffet Price: RM25++ (breakfast), RM40++ (hi-tea), RM55++ (dinner)

Read more about their Japanese Brunch here.

Spa

The hotel also features a spa, The Royale Spa. It is located by the poolside area. A massage will cost you RM120 (60 mins). The massages here are pretty good. Do go for the back and shoulder massage if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer in the office, it will soothe your muscle stress.

Body scrubs RM80 (50 mins), spa packages from RM170 - RM220.

Hotel Pool

Royale Spa

Rating: 4-star hotel resort

Food: Desserts are one of the best features of the buffet. Overall, if you fancy "hotel food", go for Klana Resort, the food quality there is much better.

Location: The Royale Bintang Resort & Spa Seremban, Jalan Dato' A.S. Dawood, 70100 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Tel: 06-7666 666

Website: http://www.royalebintang-seremban.com/

Vapiano Restaurant, Stuttgart, Germany

If you are in Stuttgart and looking for some decent Italian fare without the frills, Vapiano is the place to be. Vapiano is a German-based restaurant chain, serving various pastas, pizzas and salads. Vapiano also has a bar that serves alcoholic beverages. Upon entry, each customer is given a RFID chip card to charge their food and drinks into. Customers who lose their card will have to pay a fine of 50 Euros.



The great thing about Vapiano is that the ingredients used here are fresh. Pastas are freshly made in their own on-site glass-room and pizza doughs are made from scratch at the pizza-counter. The staff on duty at the pizza section were kind enough to pose for the camera!

The atmosphere in the restaurant is how you would imagine at a chain restaurant, bustling and full of activity. Perhaps not the best place for a quiet meal for 2! The restaurant is divided into a few counters; pasta, pizza and the bar. Customers have to line up, place their order and wave their card in front of the counter when ordering their food and drink. For those ordering pizza, you will be given a beeper device as pizza takes some time to be made. Once the pizza is ready, the beeper device lights up so you can go pick up your order.

We ordered a pasta - scampi e spinaci (8,75€) a spaghetti served with king prawns, spinach and a cream sauce and a pizza gamberi e rucola (8,75€) - pizza served with king prawns, rocket leaves, olives and tomatoes. The spaghetti incorporated a mix of fresh ingredients, the prawns were particularly good but the cream sauce was a tad disappointing as it lacked flavour. The pizza was done authentically with a very thin and crispy crust and generous toppings, just how I like it!

The spaghettiThe pizza

Basil and rosemary by the side of the table which you can pluck off to add into your food! Talk about fresh!

Comfort: Clean. Informal. Tables were a little limited as crowds were large especially during weekends.

Food: 7/10. Ingredients are fresh and the pizza is good. However menu choice is limited.

Price: Reasonable.

Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays, 10am-1am; Sundays and public holidays 10am - 12pm

Locations: There are 2 in Stuttgart; at Bolzstrasse 7 . D-70173 Stuttgart and Schlossstrasse 70 . D-70176 Stuttgart , Germany

Website: http://www.vapiano.com