Penang's hotel buffets split cleanly into two worlds. Along Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah, the beach resorts compete hard on weekend seafood nights. In George Town and Gurney, the city hotels run cheaper, shorter sessions and more weekday lunches. Prices run from RM60 for a weekday lunch to RM228 for a weekend seafood dinner, and almost every hotel will give a group one free seat.
We read every price below on 4 October 2026 on the hotel's own website, offer page, menu PDF or newsletter, or on the hotel group's own online shop. All prices are nett (service charge and tax included) unless we say otherwise. Where a hotel's own pages disagree with each other, we say so.
*Image: Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang*
How to choose a hotel buffet in Penang
Pick the night before the hotel. Most seafood buffets run only on one or two nights. Eastin is Friday only. Hard Rock and Lexis Suites are Saturday only. G Hotel, PARKROYAL and M Social do Friday and Saturday. Rasa Sayang runs a seafood night Friday to Sunday and a cheaper international buffet midweek. If you want a weekday dinner, Sarkies at E&O and Rasa Sayang are your options.
Think about the drive. Batu Ferringhi is a long crawl from Bayan Lepas on a Saturday evening. If you live on the south side of the island, Eastin at Queensbay and Lexis Suites at Teluk Kumbar are much closer than the beach strip.
Do the family maths. Child prices are roughly half, but the free age varies: under 6 at Sarkies and Rasa Sayang, under 7 at PARKROYAL, and Lexis Suites lets one child aged 7 to 12 in free with each paying adult. PARKROYAL also has a separate teen price for ages 13 to 17.
Count heads. With four adults, the group deals change the ranking. At Eastin, buy 3 free 1 brings the RM158 seafood dinner to RM118.50 a head. At M Social, pay 3 dine 4 does the same. At PARKROYAL, the third diner for every two paying adults pays RM1.
Check the member rates. Shangri-La Circle members get dine 4 pay 3 on Rasa Sayang's seafood nights, and MyMillennium members get 15% to 25% off M Social's buffets depending on tier.
Avoid public holidays and their eves. PARKROYAL's seafood buffet excludes them, which matters with Deepavali on Sunday 8 November.
How to pick
For the best seafood spread regardless of cost, Rasa Sayang's Friday to Sunday seafood night at RM228 is the top of the market, and Circle members bring it down to RM171 a head for four. For value in the same tier, PARKROYAL at RM198 with a RM1 third diner works out to about RM132 a head for three adults until 30 November. If you want a buffet on a weeknight, Rasa Sayang on Wednesday (RM113.40) is the cheapest five-star dinner on the island. For a heritage setting any day of the week, Sarkies at E&O is the classic. Families on a budget should look at Lexis Suites on Saturday: RM128 an adult with one child free per adult. And the cheapest proper buffet in this list is G Hotel's weekday mini buffet lunch at RM60.
One more option if you are booking for two: Hotel Jen Penang sells its Saturday "Salt & Flame" buffet dinner as a buy 1 free 1 e-voucher at RM148 for two adults on Shangri-La's own online shop, valid until 31 December 2026. It publishes no single-adult or child price.
Buffet prices move with the seasons, and Christmas menus are already up at G Hotel and Hard Rock. Call before you go if you are planning around a holiday.
For buffets in other cities, see our price guides for KL and the Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.









