Summary
Like a cake with a dense texture and melt-in-your-mouth wagyu beef? Or a flower crab that makes your taste buds dance and your fingers keep licking? These were the most impressive parts of my meal at the Grand Mayfull Hotel’s Palette buffet after spending NT$2,000. Opened just last year (2016), the Palette buffet restaurant at the Grand Mayfull Hotel in Taipei’s Neihu District is a five-star hotel buffet restaurant that is worth a visit due to its fresh ingredients, high-quality meat, and spacious and bright dining environment.
There are many five-star hotel buffet restaurants in Taipei, each with its own signature dishes or selling points to attract customers. The Palette buffet restaurant at the Grand Mayfull Hotel naturally uses the high-quality meat products that the Grand Mayfull brand is known for as its signature. It attracts many food lovers who enjoy eating beef. In addition, the fresh seafood ingredients at Palette are another reason that attracted me on this trip. With these two reasons alone, it is worth bringing two children to have a satisfying meal.
The Grand Mayfull Hotel in Neihu, which opened just last year, has an impressive entrance!
The high-ceilinged and brightly designed atrium, as well as the festive Christmas tree, create a holiday atmosphere.
This time, I chose to dine during the weekday dinner time. One reason is that Daizhi is very close to where I work on weekdays, and I hope to avoid some of the crowds during holidays. Another reason is that the main course dishes at dinner are better than those at lunch, which is another incentive. Because it is a five-star hotel, it is recommended not to dress too casually when dining.
Dining Environment at the Grand Mayfull Hotel
The Palette buffet restaurant at the Grand Mayfull Hotel uses bright lighting and high ceilings to create a dining environment that does not feel oppressive. In addition, the windows use large dark-colored floor-to-ceiling windows, although there is not much night view outside, it creates a romantic atmosphere. It is suitable for couples to sit by the window.
Just the design of the generous entrance is enough to attract the attention of food lovers.
The colorful glass design on the ceiling echoes the name “Palette” and adds different colors to the restaurant.
The overall layout of the dining area is also good. The gaps between the tables are quite large, so there is no feeling of sitting too close to the next table. The table tops are also quite large, so even if four people sit at one table, there is still enough space to place the dishes.
The appropriate gaps between the tables and the large floor-to-ceiling windows make the dining environment feel more spacious.
Even during the weekday dinner time, there are still many diners, which shows the attractiveness of the Grand Mayfull buffet restaurant.
Introduction to the Dishes
The dishes at the Palette buffet restaurant at the Grand Mayfull Hotel include Chinese and Western soups, Western dishes, Chinese/Japanese/International cuisine, grilled pizza, barbecue area, desserts, and a beverage bar. There are a variety of options to meet the diverse demands of different consumers. In addition, because the Palette buffet restaurant at the Grand Mayfull Hotel updates its menu regularly, the menu in this food review may be slightly different from what you will experience when you dine there.
▋ Delicatessen and Japanese Cuisine Area
Because the flower crab and fresh shrimp are so tempting, I started by tasting the deli and seafood and Japanese cuisine area, which is closer to my seat.
The dining area for deli, seafood, soup, and barbecue is quite spacious, so diners won’t be crowded when getting their food.
Including flower crab, white shrimp, abalone, clams, and other seafood, the freshness is quite good. Friends who like seafood should not miss it.
There are plenty of seafood ingredients, making it irresistible to take more.
Because this area sells quickly, even on weekdays, the chefs are constantly replenishing the ingredients.
The flower crab meat is very plump, even someone like me who finds eating crabs troublesome couldn’t resist finishing a whole one.
On the right side of the seafood area is the Japanese cuisine area, which includes dishes such as angel shrimp, sashimi, and sushi. If you are not satisfied with the seafood, you can enjoy different seafood dishes in this area.
The Japanese cuisine area has a variety of sashimi, such as salmon, swordfish, and fresh raw seafood such as octopus and angel shrimp.
There are also traditional Japanese sushi to satisfy consumers who like starch or rice dishes.
The sushi rolls are very cute and delicious. Even if you feel that starch takes up too much space in your stomach, you can’t help but take two.
▋ Soup and Barbecue Area
Another unforgettable part of this Grand Mayfull food review is the soup section. The main offerings on the day of the meal were freshly brewed fish soup and beef soup. Especially the beef soup, which is cooked in a way similar to Tainan beef soup, where fresh wagyu beef slices are blanched in hot soup and a little tender ginger and basil are added to enhance the sweetness of the soup and meat.
Only fresh ingredients dare to be prepared by blanching on-site. This alone shows the Grand Mayfull’s attention to ingredients.
Thin slices of wagyu beef with basil and tender ginger, it’s the traditional Tainan beef soup!
The clear beef broth is also very sweet, and the flavor of the meat is infused into the soup.
The chefs in the barbecue area keep flipping the skewers and ingredients on the grill to ensure that the meat is cooked to the perfect tenderness.
There are also many types of barbecue, including pork skewers, beef brisket, and lamb cubes.
▋ Chef’s Specialties, International Cuisine, and Noodle Area
The international cuisine area includes Thai and Western dishes. In addition, the chef’s carving station and chef’s cooked dishes are also located in this area, where you can taste the high-end cuisine of a five-star restaurant. Because there are so many options, I only took a small piece or a small bite of each dish, so that I could try the deliciousness of each dish.
The chef’s carving and cooked dishes alone are enough to make diners spend a long time choosing at the bar counter.
The chef’s carving station with wagyu beef, you must try a piece here.
There are also many choices of condiments, and I want to try each one.
The chef’s cooked dishes include red wine braised beef, baked scallops with lemon, French lamb chops, seafood risotto, sea bass with tomato and cheese, and fried foods.
The grilled pizza also looks delicious, but I didn’t take any in the end because I was afraid it would take up too much space in my stomach, which I regretted a bit.
Thai cuisine area, including rice noodles, minced pork, curry, and shrimp cakes.
The freshly cooked noodle area offers a variety of noodle options, such as danzai noodles and aged beef noodles, but I passed on them because I was afraid they would fill me up.
▋ Salad and Fruit Area
Because it is a five-star hotel, the salad and fruit area offers a wide variety of options, and the quality feels quite high. For the fruit part, there is freshly squeezed mixed fruit juice, which is different from the fruit juice in the dessert area. In addition, the salads are very refreshing and suitable for appetizers before the main course.
The fruits in the salad and fruit area look very fresh, but because of the limited space, I saw many people only drinking the fruit juice.
There are many choices in the salad area, and the freshly grated cheese is very eye-catching and interesting.
▋ Exquisite Desserts and Beverages
Finally, there are the exquisite desserts and beverage area. I have long heard that the desserts at the Grand Mayfull’s Palette are very attractive, and there are many varieties. This time, I was truly amazed and indulged in a feast for the taste buds. The only regret is that men don’t have a second stomach for desserts, so I apologize to many delicious-looking desserts.
There are so many choices of desserts that diners can hesitate for a long time in front of the dessert bar.
Every dessert in the display case looks very exquisite and delicious. I want to try each one.
Desserts such as macarons, pistachio-flavored cakes with gold foil, panna cotta, and custard cream puffs are all very delicious. By the end, I felt very satisfied.
Top-tier ice cream from Movenpick and Haagen-Dazs, even though my stomach was already full, I still had to have a few scoops.
The beverage area offers fresh fruit juices, including orange juice, guava mix, and mixed fruit juice.
There are also various flavors of fruit vinegar. It is suitable to have some fruit vinegar before enjoying the desserts to refresh the palate.
▋ Dinner Main Course
Finally, let me introduce the highlight of the dinner, which is the individual main course that each person is limited to. There are two options for dinner: slow-cooked wagyu beef cheeks and Iberico pork, or lobster tail and deep-sea cod. Although lunch also offers individual main courses, the price is different, and the ingredients and presentation are of a higher standard.
The choice between the two main courses for dinner alone is enough to make people hesitate.
The slow-cooked wagyu beef cheeks and Iberico pork for dinner are already mouthwatering just by looking at the plating.
Even before eating, just looking at the cross-section of the meat, you can feel the deliciousness of the ingredients.
The lobster tail and deep-sea cod main course are equally tempting, especially the texture of the cod is unforgettable.
Overall, the dishes at Palette may not have the highest value for money (after all, the price is on the higher side), but the texture of the wagyu beef and other meats, as well as the fresh seafood options, are enough to amaze and impress. Especially after leaving the hotel, the lingering taste of the food on the palate and the feeling of almost being full to the throat, it is still very worthwhile. In addition, the overall dining environment and the comfort of the restaurant are also a major plus, making it very suitable for important family gatherings or anniversaries, or for couples to visit. If given the opportunity, I would definitely consider revisiting the Grand Mayfull’s Palette buffet.
Grand Mayfull Hotel | Palette Buffet Restaurant Information
Hotel Information:
- Address: No. 55, Lequn 2nd Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City (near Jianan Road MRT Station)
- Phone: (02)7722-3395
- Opening Hours and Prices:
- Breakfast: 06:30-10:00 (Weekdays) | 06:30-10:30 (Weekends and Holidays), NT$860+10% per adult
- Lunch: 11:30-14:30, NT$1,500+10% per adult
- Afternoon Tea: 15:00-17:00, NT$980+10% per adult
- Dinner: 18:00-21:30, NT$2,000+10% per adult
- Official Website: http://www.grandmayfull.com
