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DISCLAIMER If you have any comments/suggestions/places you think serve great food, do share with us! Email me at qiuyi_ong@hotmail.com or leave a comment in the tag board. Thanks and cheers to future gastronomical adventures! MY TO-GO LIST Au Jardin (Eaten!) Au Petit Salut Buko Nero (Eaten!) Cugini (Eaten!) Forlino (Eaten!) Gunther's Jaan (Eaten!) La Strada Le Bistrot Nicolas Pasta Brava (Eaten!) Sage (Eaten!) Tatsuya Tetsu (Eaten!) I LIKE Cugini Kuriya Le Figue LivinGreens Nanbantei Ootoya Original Sin Pasta Brava Sage Tetsu Valentino PAST ENTRIES May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009
Labels Australia Buffets Chinese Desserts European French Fusion Hong Kong Indian Italian Japanese Korean Macau Mediterranean Mexican Middle East New Zealand Organic Thai Vegetarian Western
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Sunday, August 2, 2009
Plaza Market Cafe
80 Bras Basah Road 2F Fairmont Hotel Singapore 6431 6156 Blogger has been giving me some trouble and I haven't been able to upload anything till now. I went to the Plaza Market Cafe for a buffet lunch ($32.90++) almost 2 weeks ago so this is a way long overdue post. Having been to the Merchant Count branch a few times (ever since I was a kid), I'm rather familiar with the type of food served here.  I didn't have any expectations at all when I stepped into the place since it specialises in Straits and Peranakan cuisine--something I have no interest in. My only comfort was that there was also an international cuisine section (supposedly).  Taking photographs at buffets is sort of stressful as people are always waiting to pounce upon the food and I didn't have the luxury of taking multiple shots for the best one. Anyone has any suggestions on how to overcome this problem? Maybe I'll just be the first to arrive next time! The selection of food was very poor. There's few choices of bread, salads, hot dishes and desserts. If you are looking for a wide variety to choose from, this would be a sore disappointment. To my disappointment, there wasn't even salmon sashimi! Desserts are always the most important part of a buffet to me. I didn't try the nonya kueh but it seemed to be quite popular as the tray was usually empty when I walked past. Another hot favourite was the durian pengat which I also didn't try since I really can't stand the smell and taste of durian. Even my grandmother (who has always been a die hard fan of Swissotel buffets) said that the selection and quality of the food have dropped dramatically over the years. I'm definitely not inclined to come back again in the future. Give me ala carte anytime! Labels: Buffets 2:22 PM ---------- Sunday, May 24, 2009
Cafebiz
1A, Cuscaden Road GF Traders Hotel 6831 4374 My family usually go out for buffets at least 4 times per year for celebration of birthdays. This is the 3rd one of 2009! Dinner is priced at $50++ per person. There's definitely no shortage of hotels serving buffets in Singapore so now, you may ask, why Cafebiz? Well... Read on to find out! (Or look at the photo below for a clue)  I always try to be rational when eating buffets as there's just too many varieties to sample! So, my tactic is walk around without taking anything first while "strategizing" which dish to try in which order. The starter section looked good with many types of salads like smoked salmon and asparagus salad. The seafood section is always one of my favourites at any buffets (2nd to desserts, of course!). There were oysters, scallops, prawns, mussels, lobsters etc. The ones I tried were very sweet and juicy.  The lobsters disappeared very quickly! I think all of us were waiting for the moment when they were replenished to pile as many as we can onto our plates. It was actually quite amusing. The lobsters were very fresh! But definitely can't be compared to the ones I had in Sydney.  Now, this is THE reason why we were here for dinner. White asparagus! Yes, they are in season now. These were not on the buffet spread and served to our table by the waiters personally only when we made a request for them. White asparagus is not exposed to light during the growing phrase and thus, has no chlorophyll. Less bitter than the green variety, it is very popular in the European countries such as France, Belgium and Germany, and also very expensive. It can cost $40 or more per kg! We had 3 orders of these beauties. I really love these! Fat and juicy, these were poached to perfection with a dash of salt to bring out the natural sweetness. Hollandaise sauce is the usual company of white asparagus but I prefer the plain ones with no sauce. Mmm... Of course, there were other cuisines such as sushi, sashimi, grills and cooked-to-order hot food. Trust me, these photos only cover a small portion of the whole spread. I only focused on the ones I like. The dessert section can be said to be the most important aspect of a buffet to people with a sweet tooth like me. The spread was quite comprehensive with a good selection of cakes, puddings, ice cream, tarts and pies. There was also a chocolate fondue! It was quite good as the chocolate was not cloyingly sweet. What caught my attention was the bowl of plump strawberries. They were so sweet and fresh! I think I finished one whole bowl by myself. Out of all the cakes, the Caramel Nut Almondier was my favorite. Surprisingly so, since I don't like caramel. But this was subtly sweet with LOTS of nuts in every bite. Since this was an international buffet, there were also Asian desserts like durian pengat and pulut hitam. I liked the herbal jelly as it was very bitter with very low level of sugar. It is almost inevitable to overeat at a buffet since there's just too much choices. There's definitely hits and misses but definitely more of the former than the latter here. Just having the white asparagus is enough to make me forget any of the misses!Note: Traders Hotel is part of the Shangri-la Group which houses the famous "The Line" buffet so the quality of the food is comparable to that at The Line. Labels: Buffets 7:09 PM ---------- Friday, May 1, 2009
Aquamarine #1
Level 4, Marina Mandarin Hotel 6845 1111 The Taste of Asia High Tea is priced at $35++ on the weekends and public holidays. As its name implies, the buffet mainly features local culinary fare such as rojak, laksa, chicken rice, satay, popiah and many more.  Since I don't like Chinese food, the Japanese section was my target. I had my usual salmon sashimi, edamame and wakame salad. The variety was rather limited as they did not even have unagi sushi. There was also some international dishes such as smoked salmon and a salad bar.  In line with the theme of Asian delights, the desserts section also featured sweets that we are familiar with, such as fried banana fritters, pulut hitam and mochi with peanuts.  The cakes section had to be my favourite out of all the others. The chocolate cake was good! Dark and rich layers of chocolate mousse and moist sponge satisfied the chocoholics in us. The mango and coconut mousse cake was well-balanced with the sweetness of mango and mild fragrant coconut taste. Apparently, those who tried the durian puffs liked them very much. But since I don't eat durians, I can't comment on it. I find that the spread is not very extensive. But this is a biased opinion of someone who dislikes Asian food! Nevertheless, this meal is to celebrate the birthday of a special friend who I've known for almost half of my life. And many thanks to her family for allowing us to join them and treating us. Happy 21st birthday, Yoke Yee! I love you, girl! Labels: Buffets 2:34 PM ---------- Saturday, April 11, 2009
Peony-Jade
Blk 3A Clarke Quay, #02-02 6338 0305 / 6538 3849 The family celebrated Sis's 25th birthday at this restaurant recommended by Wendy Auntie. All 8 of us had the ala carte buffet ($30++) which gave us unlimited orders of 50 dishes. The advantage to dining with such a large group is that we can try many different varieties without overstuffing ourselves.
 This was another dish I liked: Pan-Seared Prawn Mousse in Sugar Cane. It's interesting as the prawn mixture was wrapped around a sugar cane and the flavour of sugar cane compliemented the prawn mousse well, giving it a slightly sweet instead of savoury taste.  We had two orders of the Braised Sea Cucumber and Fish Maw, both of which are said to have collagen. Collagen is very good for the skin! A perfect excuse to eat more of it.  The Stir-fried ‘Kung Po’ Eel was different from what I had in mind. I thought that the eel would be similar to the unagi I always have in japanese restaurants. This eel was much more tough and lacked the tenderness and softness I was looking for.  I didn't like the Stir-fried String Beans with Dried Shrimps as it was too bland, too oily and the dried shrimps were almost nonexistent.  This was another hot favourite which warranted a second order. The Steamed Seabass with Lemon Jus was very fresh and flavourful. We had to wait for 30 mins as the seabass was steamed upon order but it was definitely worth the wait.  We were very disappointed with the Wok-fried Egg Omelette with Prawns and Chives as it was way too salty. The only saving grace was the prawns which were very plump and juicy!  I didn't like the Stewed Bean curd & Fish Fillet in Claypot as frozen fish fillets were used instead of fresh ones.  Here are 2 more dishes which I didn't try. The general consensus among the family was that the Marinated Egg-Plant topped with Chicken Floss was interesting and delicious.  This is the Stir-fried Almond Cappuccino Pork Spare Ribs. We definitely ordered more than the above dishes but I didn't take any photographs of them as I was too busy eating and chatting. Moving on to the desserts, I didn't like the Hot Sweetened Peanut Paste and Sago. The sago was in an unappetising clump while the peanut paste was more savoury than sweet. Other desserts on the menu included the seasonal fruit platter, longan with sea coconut and ice cream, all of which were unremarkable.  Generally, this was a pleasant enough meal that lasted for more than 3 hours. Speaking from a non chinese food lover's point of view, the food was only average. I had a few qualms about the service though. When I told the waitress that the omelette was very salty, her only response was "shi ma?"("is it?" in chinese). We were quite irritated with that. To her credit, she did come back again to ask if we wanted another serving of it. But the 1st bad impression had already been created and not likely to be forgotten. On the whole, service was prompt but the waitresses looked unfriendly with no smiles at all. I'd rather have a forced smile than no smile at all, thank you very much.1:44 PM ---------- Thursday, April 9, 2009
7atenine
#01-10/12, Esplanade Mall 6338 0789 Having read many reviews about this new kid on the block, I wanted to see for myself how good or bad this place really was. For unlimited lunch ($37++), diners are at the complete mercy of its chef as there is no menu so elements of anticipation and surprise are incorporated into the whole dining experience.  The first dish seemed to portend a bad meal to come. The stuffed pasta salad did not impress me at all as the pasta was undercooked and the flavours were quite bland.  The tomato tartine was beautifully presented but nothing spectacular tastewise.  The celery soup was totally unappetising. I'm strongly inclined to use the word "disgusting" to describe it. At first sip, I thought it would be an acquired taste for most of us. But subsequently, the weird taste was more than I could bear. Finally, there came a dish that was decent enough to warrant a second order. Although the salmon tartare was simply executed, I enjoyed the raw and natural taste of the roughly chopped salmon. However, this did not fare well with Yong Huat as it was too fishy tasting. Next, the mushroom tempura was relatively good too. The batter was light and not oily but the real star was the button mushroom which was very juicy. The accompanying mushroom shot was simply mushroom soup in disguise. After the starters, the mains started arriving. The pan seared sea bass with the wakame salad was my favourite. Don't get me wrong, this was nothing exceptional. It's just that compared to the rest of the dishes, this stood out as one of the best with its freshness and well-balanced flavour. Our second order of this was better as the fish was more tender. This seems to question the consistency of the food served. I quite like the potato gnocchi with shrimps as the latter was very fresh. However, the tomato base was way too oily! The corn risotto was a culinary disaster: overcooked, mushy and gooey. We sent it back virtually untouched. I didn't try any of the meat dishes but according to my dining companion, they are nothing to shout about. See the layer of salt crystals on the roasted chicken? Yes, it's that salty! This is the roasted beef slices sitting on top of a bed of mashed potato. I was hoping that the desserts would be better but alas, my hope was dashed. The strawberry milkshake was good but milkshakes are not classified as a "dessert" in my dictionary. The apple crumble was not even the traditional type of baked crumble. This rendition was simply assembling stewed apple cubes with pieces of biscuits, topped with a minute scoop of vanilla ice cream. The grand finale was the dessert platter which consisted of tarts and macarons. The chocolate macaron was seriously a sugar overdose. It was much too sweet for my liking.  The whole meal was disappointing, to say the least. Nothing stood out with a "wow" factor. Most of the dishes are misses rather than hits. Service was also lacking. The waitresses who served us the dishes mumbled the names and I had to ask them twice on more than one occasion. There also seems to be a lack of coordination among the servers as we were asked twice "Are you ready to move on desserts?" despite the fact that we were still waiting for our second orders. Much have to be improved before I'm willing to step into this restaurant again. Fantastic presentation without substance just doesn't cut it for me. 1:04 PM ---------- WELCOME! LOCAL FOODIES' BLOGS Gastronomic Ruminations She Bakes & She Cooks Singapore Daily Makan Photo Small Potatpes Make the Steak Look Bigger The Orthorexic Foodie The Skinny Epicurean Timeless Facade Food Glorious Food FOOD FOR THOUGHT | |
