Ever since stumbling upon the Rendezvous buffet dinner quite by chance a few years ago, I have returned at least twice every year to feast on the goodies.

While the buffet is international style with both Western and Asian dishes tossed in the mix, what I love most is the seafood. If I could use one word to sum up the dinner buffet, it would be quite simply “crayfish” — loads and loads of it!

Over here, the staff always refill the trays once the food runs out. You can be sure to get a bellyful of the shellfish each time!

Of course, apart from that you can also indulge in other seafood such as baby octopus, crab legs and scallops. These go especially well with the Thai sweet chili sauce provided, among other dips.

Look, the canapé is topped with a slice of bak kwa (sweet barbecued pork)! These days, bak kwa sure is showing up in many unconventional dishes, including mooncakes!

Spot a running theme here? Yes, the crayfish is omnipresent on every dinner plate. That is my single most favorite item in the buffet spread.

As for desserts, a few durian specialties are offered. The blended durian purée is melt-in-your-mouth goodness. If you love durian mochi, you would absolutely enjoy this!

Then there’s also the hotel’s well known durian fudge cake that is filled with layers of soft durian pulp, minus the durian stench. Yum!

Perhaps what is lacking in this buffet is a nice chocolate fountain and more ice cream flavors.

Love the colorful picks!

International buffet
Lunch 12noon – 2:30pm: SGD37++ per adult
Dinner 6:30-10pm (Weekday/Weekend): SGD44++ / SGD47++ per adult

Promotion

This June, every child dines free with each paying adult. Wow! Check out the buffet promotion. Don’t forget to join our Facebook Page to get fresh updates of new dining deals!

Have Your Say!

Where is your favorite hotel buffet in Singapore? Share with us below!

Straits Café
Rendezvous Hotel
9 Bras Basah Road Singapore 189559
(65) 6335 1777 | Website
Service:

Bus services: 7, 14, 16, 36, 77, 106, 111, 124, 128, 131, 147, 14E, 162, 166, 167, 171, 174, 175, 190, 502, 518, 587, 590, 598, 700, NR7, 162M, 174E, 502A, 502B, 518A, 518B, 700A, 857
Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, International, Rendezvous Hotel, seafood

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Update: Hotel Re! has updated the price along with these new additions to the buffet spread.

Over the weekend, we were invited to a “simulation brunch” for media partners. Having enjoyed their permanent themed set meals and that unforgettable wine pairing dinner, we are definitely eager to try this out! The spread pictured here is less than the actual thing, but should give you an idea of what type of food to expect.

Right off the bat, we spot a varied selection of cuisines ranging from the Japanese sushi…

… to Chinese dim sum that include the ever popular dumplings!

These “pouches” are glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

At this station, you can watch the chef whip up bowl after bowl of piping hot laksa.

Yum! Unfortunately the laksa does not come with hum (cockles), perhaps due to the recent shortage of the shellfish.

Of all the food I sampled, my favorite is the pasta which comes in a kickin’ bolognaise sauce. The meat skewers are too salty for my liking. The spring rolls and fried chicken, on the other hand, are delicious.

When it comes to pastries and desserts, the variety is much larger. These go extremely well with the coffee and tea provided, and fruit juices, too.

The mini sandwiches come with colorful picks!

Waffles are omnipresent at breakfasts and brunches! After all, it’s hard to say no to waffles.

These jello shots remind me of those colorful jellies from my childhood that come in conical plastic containers. Sweet stuff! Does any of you remember those?

More goodies abound in the form of swiss rolls, layered cakes and puddings.

The buffet brunch takes place at the new Re!Joice Ballroom, which is housed in a permanent outdoor marquee (fully air conditioned, of course!).

$2 Promotion

As the hotel is celebrating its second anniversary, it is also introducing an unbeatable promotion. The first 100 walk-in customers on 15 May, Saturday, get to enjoy this buffet brunch at just SGD2! Take full advantage of this promotion!

Have Your Say!

Are you a brunch person? What is your favorite spot for brunch? Let us know below!

Posted by Veron in Food category | brunch, buffet, International, Outram, seafood

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With over 20 outlets worldwide, their goal is to spread Italian culture and provide diners with a true Italian experience. There are specially imported Italian beverages and authentic Italian food. Many of the staff are Italian. Even the flat-screen TV screens show Serie A football!

A tasting session comprising various gourmet food reveals that this is so much more than just a bar.

Pizza

Order pizza! That is my first advice to any customer here. You can’t go wrong with the house specialty of Pizza SI SI, which is the squid ink pizza.

Pizza SI SI
SGD22++

I’ve had black pasta before. As for black pizza, that’s definitely a first.

The pizza is smothered in a succulent tomato gravy with a good spread of seafood such as octopus, squid and prawn. The marvelous seafood flavor that fills the mouth bite after bite easily makes this the most enjoyable pizza I’ve ever had. Mmm… And that’s not all.

Check out how thin the crust is! Minimal carbs! Yes, you can indulge in this pizza without taking a guilt trip or ditching that Atkins diet.

Pasta

Tagliatelle Dello Chef
SGD19++

The chef’s special pasta of tagliatelle with a mild-flavored sauce comes with slices of chicken breast meat. The accompanying cheese wafer is crispy and delightful, and adds much taste to the dish.

Soup

Asparagus soup
SGD12++

The chilly days ahead are the perfect occasion to warm up to some cream soup. The zuppa di asparagi is good comfort food. Instead of the usual bowl, it’s served in a tall glass! While the texture is mostly creamy smooth, some small chunks of asparagus remain intact, providing that characteristically tender chewiness.

Next, we sample the house brand coffee and specially imported cocoa, as well as the designer gelati.

Coffee

“Your cappuccino with one liter of milk and a bit of coffee — this is not cappuccino, it’s café latte,” says founder Pietro Mazza.

Well, I have to agree. I can’t really tell the difference between the cappuccino and café latte we get at most coffee chains. Can you?

Here, coffee addicts enjoy a wide range of fresh coffee from the house brand.

Marocchino
SGD6++

The marocchino, not available elsewhere in Singapore, comes in a delicate glass cup. This is basically a shot of espresso coffee garnished with frothed milk and a light sprinkle of cocoa powder on top. The fresh coffee aroma certainly makes this a nice morning pick-me-up!

Gourmet Chocolate

For cocoa connoisseurs, a wide range of gourmet chocolate beverages from the Italian gourmet chocolate brand Cioccoliamo is available.

Gourmet chocolate
SGD7-9++

There, cocoa in a cup! These come in 12 exquisite flavors including White Chocolate, Gianduja Chocolate and even Chocolate with Chili Pepper!

Gelati

Aside from the pizza, what I find most impressive on the menu is definitely the gelati that are made in-house. It’s not only the common gelato scoops that you can get here, but entire sculptures of culinary arts! Adorned with fruit slices or rocher, these look more like elaborate floral displays!

Chock-full with low-fat gelato and assorted fruits like kiwi, orange and strawberry, this is certainly more healthful than your typical ice cream dessert. Perfect for sharing with someone close!

Coppa Della Casa
SGD20++

If you look closely, the pink gelato in this bowl of colorful delights has been shaped to resemble spaghetti. It reminds me of the spaghetti with meatball ice cream at Icekimo!

For more gelato art, check out these restaurant menu designs:

If we aren’t already stuffed, we would have gone for the Coppa Rocher, too. Filled with Rocher candies, it is every chocolate lover’s dream!

Aren’t these awesome? Every one of these gelato sundaes is so huge and impressive!

Abbondio soda drinks

Have you ever seen these cool soda drinks? They are from the Abbondio Vintage range, with soda labels featuring beautiful pin-up girls.

Colorful! And totally appealing to at least half the population in the world.

Aperitivo

One huge draw of Sapore Italiano is the free buffet spread of appetisers and finger food at Happy Hour (6-8pm daily). Feast on mini pizza, raviolis and fruit cocktails for free with any purchase of an alcoholic drink.

Now you know where to go for an authentic Italian experience!

Sapore Italiano
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road #01-15
Singapore 179103
(65) 6333 4236
Service:

8am – 12midnight (weekdays)
10am – 12midnight (weekends)
Happy Hour: 6 – 8pm daily

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, dessert, Ferrero Rocher, Italian, live football, pasta, pizza, Raffles City

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Now, with the opening of their new outlet at Ion Orchard, they have rolled out another fabulous 1-for-1 deal: all-you-can-eat ice cream and dessert buffet at SGD18.90++! That comes up to around SGD11 for each person!

Have your fill from over 50 ice cream flavors, 40 toppings, cakes (oreo cheesecakes, anyone?), waffles and even the ever-popular chocolate fondue! Bring a friend along to Swensen’s Ion Orchard to enjoy all the desserts you both can stomach! Indulge with care!

Swensen’s [ Halal Certified]
Ion Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #B1-31
Singapore 238801
(65) 6884 5967 | Website

Bus services: 36, 77, 124, 128, 143, 14E, 162, 167, 171, 174, 190, 502, 518, 700, NR1, NR2, NR3, NR5, NR6, NR7, NR8, 162M, 174E, 518A, 518B, 700A
Nearest MRT: Orchard

Opening hours:
10:30am – 10:30pm (Mon – Thur)
10:30am – 12midnight (Fri)
8am – 12midnight (Sat & PH)
8am – 10:30pm (Sun)

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, cake, dessert, Halal, ice cream, Ion, Orchard Road, promotion, Swensen's

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The moment we walked into the tea lounge we were greeted by the sight of the dessert station. And what a fabulous spread! In place of the usual macarons and bite-sized sandwiches, you get a whole new array of Christmas goodies!

Weekend Afternoon Tea Buffet (Christmas edition)
SGD46++
Buffet rating:
Buffet hours: 2:30 – 5pm

The first thing that caught my eye were these tiramisu desserts in shot glasses. They had little gingerbread man biscuits (and they were SMILING!) that totally won my heart!

Once we had settled down comfortably into our plush seats at a low coffee table, the waitress handed us the drinks menu. There are different types of tea (earl grey, English breakfast, etc) and coffee (regular, mocha, cappuccino, etc). These are all part of the buffet unless you’re going for pricier stuff like the Blue Mountain coffee.

The tea and coffee that we ordered came with a rather elaborate offering of gold-tinged porcelain ware and silverware. There’s both white and brown sugar (in perfect semi-spherical shapes!), milk, lemon and a cute little tub of honey!

At one end of the room is the dessert station while at the other is where you’ll find the appetisers and finger food. We started from the appetisers before slowly working our way to the desserts. Gotta save the best for last right?

All the appetisers I had tried, I loved most of them. And because they are in neat petite sizes, there’s room in the tummy for everything!

The seared scallop is extremely satisfying, with a full-sized scallop topped with salmon cavier.

You would also find offerings that range from the more ostentatious foie gras mousse…

… To the more down-to-earth roast duck.

Dining here is certainly a feast for the eyes. I never would have imagined something like roast duck to look so visually appealing!

There are also the bread items, all in miniature sizes. Go easy on these, because they can really fill you up quickly.

Cute mini burgers!

Even something as basic as toothpicks look great with that colorful weaving!

The deep-fried crab claws and roasted prawns come with their own individual spicy dips which are delicious and go very well with the food.

Even though the appetisers are good, all this while my mind was really on the desserts!

If you find the usual chocolate log cake to be too rich or sore throat-inducing, there are various fruity alternatives such as the raspberry log cake. It looks pretty grand!

This baby pink log cake not only looks gorgeous, it tastes divine too! There’s lychee in it, and the layer of strawberry cream is actually mousse! It’s available at the buffet, but you can also buy the whole cake for $55.

Chocolates! No Christmas should go without them. And these are the richest!

A star-shaped cookie for Santa? I love the Christmasy touch given to the cupcake in the form of a gold snowflake white chocolate crisp. The icing is extremely sugary and diabetes-inducing though.

Strawberry dessert shots for the girls. How pretty!

There’s also a chocolate fondue fountain somewhere in the room but I really didn’t have room in my bellyful of goodies for more.

During the buffet, a waiter would move from table to table to make vodka shots for diners. Our lychee vodka came in colored glasses. Clink!

Despite being in a 5 (or is it 6) star hotel, the mood is comfortable and relaxed. To further enhance the festive atmosphere, a live jazz band plays Christmas songs in the background. With the music, the quaint little delights and the soothing ambience, it sure is a great way to chill out on a weekend afternoon.

Chihuly Lounge
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039799
(65) 6434 5283
Service:
www.ritzcarlton.com

Bus services: 36, 56, 75, 77, 97, 106, 111, 133, 171, 195, 857, 960, 70X, 107X, 162X, 961C
Nearest MRT: City Hall

Posted by Veron in Food, Holidays category | buffet, high tea, holiday food, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Western

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Like these agar-agar (jelly) in assorted colors. I love the blue ones!

This plate of colorful agar-agar is part of the Asian buffet in plaza brasserie at parkroyal hotel. Boy, it’s already my fourth buffet in the past one month! Looking at the frightening quantity and rate that I eat at, some people ask me how I watch my weight. It’s simple enough: I don’t! But you guys wouldn’t actually know that I’m practically ballooning behind this blog persona, would you?

Just as colorful as the agar-agar was the stained glass ceiling at plaza brasserie! It was a half-filled restaurant on a weekday evening. The buffet spread wasn’t as large as I had anticipated. But well, at just $33 per person for a hotel dinner buffet, I shan’t complain much now. Besides, I had written it all down in the little white feedback card.

Kung pao chicken is a staple in any Asian buffet. It is always cooked in a nice dark sauce with dried chili. A good kung pao chicken dish should also have cashew nuts. The kung pao dish at plaza brasserie had both chili and cashews. But guess what? It didn’t have chicken! It had Turkey instead! Wow, I had never seen kung pao Turkey before. It was good, although chicken would work better.

My favorite dish of the night was the soft shell crab tempura. It was light, nicely fried, and tasted of yumminess when dipped into mayonnaise.

At the Indian food station, roti prata (indian flatbread) was made in assorted flavors. There was the usual egg and plain prata, as well as sardine and banana prata. But the best one had to be this:

Chocolate prata! I’ve never had roti prata in chocolate flavor before!

I thought it might taste a little odd because chocolate and roti prata didn’t seem to mesh. But the combination was surprisingly yummilicious! And utterly sinful too!

Desserts in cute little shot-glasses. There was tiramisu, blueberry and a range of other fruity flavors available.

Still, I would have liked to see more desserts available, such as some of those bite-sized cakes in different flavors. But I’m glad they had a chocolate fountain. It kind of saved the day!

It was a five-tier fountain similar to the one at Cafébiz in Traders Hotel. I tend to judge the quality of a buffet by whether it has a chocolate fountain. And I’m glad plaza brasserie had one, along with marshmallow dippers and hard biscuits. Yay!

Sadly, I wouldn’t return for another buffet. The price is decent but the buffet spread is simply too small! Not too satisfying for a big eater like me!

Plaza Brasserie
Parkroyal on Beach Road
7500 Beach Road Singapore 199591
(65) 6298 0011
$33+++
Buffet rating:
Service:
www.parkroyalhotels.com

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, International

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We were a party of six and got a table by the window, which was nice and near to the buffet spread. One thing I noted was that there were many pyramidal stacks of chocolate balls on displayed, with each chocolate wrapped in red cellophane. Specially arranged for Christmas, I presume.

For a seafood buffet, I thought the seafood spread was rather limited. I didn’t spot any lobster or crayfish at all whereas there were quite a number of meat dishes. For now I would simply let the pictures do the talking.

The fish was my favorite. Very flavorful!

I confess, I really do not know how to get crab meat out of their shells and pincers.

Huge ass prawns. Too bad they weren’t peeled though. I’m so lazy!

My favorite part of the buffet turned out to be the desserts. There was a delectable selection of cakes. The tiramisu was my favorite, as well as this white chocolate and coffee cake. Isn’t that an awesome combination?

The ice cream was a disappointment though. All the flavors ran out quickly and a long period of time lapsed before the ice cream was finally replenished. There was also no chocolate fondue or fountain available.

But the biggest disappointment of all was the service. Our glasses were rarely filled even though there were so many waitstaff walking about. The young waiter in charge of our table hardly ever appeared. The floor manager (since he’s the only one in a suit) was constantly tending to another party of six next to us while conveniently bypassing our table the entire time. Probably if we were a bunch of caucasians or middle-aged people in suits we wouldn’t have received such silent treatment.

For a world-class hotel such service standards is certainly unacceptable. But having said that, the last time I went to the chihuly lounge at the same hotel, the service was excellent.

Anyhoo, those of you who are looking for an excellent seafood buffet with a wider variety and more efficient service, you would be better off at Cafébiz in Traders Hotel or the town restaurant at Fullerton Hotel. Give greenhouse a miss!

I do retain some nice words for the hotel though. Loved the Christmas tree, the giant red Christmas balls and candy canes. Sweet!

Greenhouse
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia
7 Raffles Avenue, Level 3
Singapore 039799
(65) 6337 8888
$43+++
Buffet rating:
Service:
www.ritzcarlton.com

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, International, Ritz-Carlton Hotel

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We were having a Christmas buffet and every dining table had its own little Christmas tree. I thought that was a very nice touch! Restaurants hardly ever do this, do they?

In addition, there was also a cosy gingerbread house by the restaurant entrance. After all, what’s Christmas without the good ol’ gingerbread house? Icing became the snow on the roof. Colorful candy lined the frame of the door. Pebbles on the pavement? They were chocolate beans! What a deliciously sweet little house!

But that’s not all. There’s even a jolly old man in pink living inside the house, with a candy walking cane! And, and, his furniture is made of chocolate! Ahh! How very Christmasy!

For a Christmas dinner, there has to be a turkey and a delicious chocolate log cake of course.

Okay that’s turkey breast and a half-eaten log cake.

Here’s another gingerbread house for good measure. Merry Christmas!

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Nominated for “Best Buffet”

Posted by Veron in Food, Holidays category | buffet, Christmas tree, holiday food, International, Rendezvous Hotel

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Alaskan crab

One of the first things I sampled was the Alaskan crab. The crab meat had the sweetest, richest and most succulent flavor! I am no crab expert, and found it hard to believe that this was the natural flavor of the crab. Whoa!

Lobster (with Alaskan crab legs)

The lobster paled in comparison. Its flesh was totally bland! On a scale of 1 to 10 its flavor was a 0; there was no taste to it at all! Again, I am no lobster expert. But isn’t the lobster supposedly king of shellfish?

Salmon sashimi & crab claw

Of course there were the usual fares like sushi and sashimi. I stuffed myself with heaps of salmon sashimi, my absolute favorite! One of the unique offerings at Cafébiz is their lok-lok (dip-dip) station with sticks of raw food such as crab claws, prawns and chicken meat. To accompany the lok-lok, there is a huge array of sauces such satay gravy and sambal belachan (fermented ground shrimp). Yum! No worries if you aren’t too adept at cooking. A chef stationed at the lok-lok booth would offer to cook it for you in soup and serve it at your table. Great service!

Another example of great service was when I asked for teriyaki sauce. Being a picky eater, I always, always ask for teriyaki sauce when eating Japanese food. But they did not have it, which was rather unusual for an Asian buffet restaurant. So, the waiter got the chef to MAKE the teriyaki sauce from scratch. Wow! I could not be more impressed!

Dim Sum

There were very few offerings of dim sum however. I tried the crystal dumpling and prawn dumpling which were not so good in comparison to those at dim sum eateries. But the chicken bun that had been slightly baked was a real treat! If I wasn’t so stuffed already I would have downed a couple of those yummies.

What sets Cafébiz apart from other buffet restaurants is that it has several unusual offerings. Apart from the lok-lok as mentioned earlier, there is also Churrasco, a South American specialty. A couple of waiters make their rounds with huge skewers of grilled food, stopping at each table to slice off chunks of meat onto the diners’ plates. We were offered sausages, chicken wings, and roast pineapple!

As if that’s not enough, Cafébiz also offers authentic la mian (hand-pulled noodles)! An in-house chef hailing from China is available to hand-make la mian upon request. He was rather enthused to “pull” some noodles for me but I had to decline as I was stuffed! He then offered to chop up a roast duck for me! But once again I declined and asked for a chicken drumstick instead.

Chinese chicken drumstick & Indian food

Mom and I both agreed that the chicken drumstick was awesome! The meat was smooth, succulent and juicy. On the same platter is some tandoori chicken and other North Indian food. Those were prepared by an Indian chef and were delicious!

Clockwise from top left: Kung Pao chicken with cashew Nuts, fish fillet in pistachio Sauce, Moroccan chicken

More unusual fares followed at the hot food station. There were dozens and dozens of delectables with names I have never heard of. Not being very adventurous, I tried out the safer options such as Kung Pao chicken with cashew nuts (very yummy), fish fillet cooked in pistachio sauce (an instant favorite) and Moroccan chicken that came together with some fruit in yellow stew. I can’t exactly remember for sure.

Fruit jelly in assorted flavors

Desserts! Arranged in neat rows were these fruit jelly cocktails. They came in cute delicate glasses and had flavors such as lime, apple and mango. For me they sort of served as appetisers for the desserts that were about to follow. Appetisers before the real desserts, get it?

Strawberry, Chocolate & Coconut Ice Cream

The ice cream counter was a very modern one. It had just eight flavors, but I really liked the fact that the ice cream was not too hard. I was able to scoop comfortably. You know how some places serve ice cream that is so frozen you have to break a nail and a knuckle just to get a scoopful? Over here the temperature is set just about right. Also, when you place the metal scoop back in its holder, there is some sort of suction mechanism that automatically cleans it instantly. Wow!

Egg tarts, pandan cake, green tea cake & tiramisu

And what’s a buffet without cake and tarts? I enjoyed the pandan cake and tiramisu. Thankfully they had been cut into very thin slices. Cafébiz must have anticipated that its diners would be too stuffed to polish off regular slices. I loved the prune pie most. It’s one of those pies that come in a big metallic platter and you scoop off the portion you want with a huge ladle. Then you have fun drenching it in vanilla syrup. And I absolutely love vanilla syrup!

And now, the grand finale. Are you ready for this?

Chocolate fountain

Ta-da! A five-tier chocolate fountain! How glorious it looked! The chocolate was absolutely heavenly!

Dipping foods to go along with chocolate fountain

There were the usual dipping foods like fruits, marshmallows and hard biscuits. I didn’t exactly care for those fruits. As with chocolate fondues, I like my chocolate with marshmallows! And boy did I love it! I stood there by the fountain, skewer in hand, and helped myself to all the chocolatey goodness. For that moment in time I was in chocolate heaven. Warm chocolate in my mouth. Warm chocolate everywhere. I didn’t even notice I was dripping chocolate all over the place until a waiter helpfully pushed a plate beneath my chin.

Orange juice
SGD9+++

Finally it was all over. A tall glass of orange juice to cleanse my palate and aid in the digestion, and we’re all set! That was the most wonderful meal I’ve had in a long, long time. And with such wonderful, five-star service, it certainly wouldn’t be my last visit to Cafébiz.

Cafébiz
Traders Hotel
1A Cuscaden Road
Singapore 249716
(65) 6831 4374 | Website
Dinner (Weekday/Weekend): SGD45+++ / SGD50+++
Buffet rating:
Service:

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Winner of “Best Buffet”
- Nominated for “Best Service”

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, International, Tanglin Mall

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Dory Fish Teppanyaki

The first thing I had was the dory fish teppanyaki. Along with other teppanyaki and barbecued dishes, the chef prepared it on the spot. Every table in the restaurant is assigned colorful tags labeled with the table number. These tags can then be used to queue for food which would be served at your table once it’s ready.

Anyway, the dory fish teppanyaki was a good choice. It had a lot of flavor and fared much better than the salmon teppanyaki, which turned out bland and stiff and was quite hard to swallow.

Salmon Teppanyaki

Salmon Sashimi, Scallop & Mussel

Fresh salmon sashimi was a much better option. A pity the salmon wasn’t too fresh. It flew off the shelf pretty quickly though and the staff had to keep replenishing it. The scallops and mussels were very fresh in comparison. I love those!

Shark Fin Soup

There did not appear to be any miso soup. What I could find was shark fin and cream of mushroom soup. Had me a bowl of shark fin soup which was a little on the thin side but otherwise quite okay.

Chicken Satay

Chicken satay was also barbecued on the spot, and served with peanut gravy already ladled over it. The chicken flesh was tender enough and the gravy was decent too.

Unagi Satay

If you love unagi you would love it in the satay form. It had been nicely marinated and was juicy and savory. The cook didn’t do a good job of barbequeing. It ended up being slightly burnt, which was a real shame.

Fried Stuff

Stay away from the fried food section. There were chicken nuggets, chicken popcorn, breaded crab claws, breaded prawns, etc. On paper these sound yummy but the real deal was all oily. The moment I sank my teeth into a breaded prawn, oil came oozing out. Ugh!

Dim Sum

I made a bad decision in eating the dim sum. They were rather bland and did a lot to fill me up. I felt quite stuffed after eating those.

Ice Cream

The best part of the buffet had to be the dessert. For ice cream they had twelve different flavors. My favorite was the strawberry ripple — yummy and not too sweet at the same time. Strangely I couldn’t find a chocolate tub anywhere. The toppings of chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles and chopped nuts were a real delight! We had fun making our own sundaes.

They also had some of those strawberries with ice cream fillings. Is there a name for those things? They are getting pretty popular these days. I don’t really like strawberries, but those things sure are fun to eat. First you unwrap the clear plastic wrapper. Then you spend some time admiring the pretty fruit. You bite into it, and finally taste the first hint of ice cream.

Miniature Cakes

Other than ice cream there was also a huge assortment of miniature cakes for dessert. That’s hands down my most favorite part! Just looking at those cute little cakes alone was enough eye candy! Each one looked so adorable, and there were so many of them! Marbled cheesecake, New York cheesecake, oreo cheesecake, peppermint, strawberry mousse, white chocolate lavender, chocolate eclair, etc. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

One major gripe I have with Sakura is that the plates were not properly cleaned. I had to search through stacks of supposedly clean plates to find one that didn’t have specks of food left behind! I didn’t really care to know what the previous user had eaten. So Sakura or Suki, if you’re reading this, please invest in better dishwashers!

Other than that, with the vast range of food available, this buffet really promises to cater to multiple tastes. With all the sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki, Chinese dishes, dim sum, good desserts, it probably wouldn’t be the last time I visit.

Sakura ( Halal certified)
Various outlets
$28 (weekend dinner buffet in Orchard)++
Website

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Winner of “Best Value Buffet”
- Nominated for “Best Buffet”

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, Halal, International

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People here in general have been really nice to me. The latter part of the week was mostly about saying goodbye. Lydia, a manager from another department who’s perpetually based in toronto offered to get me from there! Adrian, one of our suppliers took me out to a farewell lunch at Swensen’s. And on Friday night, my own boss allan gave me a farewell dinner at the Fullerton Hotel.

Dinner was at the town restaurant. It’s the one with the alfresco area overlooking the river. I have passed by that place many times but never once dined there. So I was thrilled when allan picked the place for dinner.

It was a seafood buffet, which was fantastic. It meant I could help myself to huge servings of salmon sashimi, crayfish, butter prawns, tempura, etc. Here are some small samples of what we had.

Despite being on diet, I threw caution to the wind and ate like a pig! I loved the crayfish and salmon sashimi especially. The salmon was very fresh! Desserts were totally yummilicious, especially those topped with vanilla.

I think we spent at least three hours there. It’s great to be able to enjoy a long conversation with your own boss as if you were friends! How many bosses can actually put their high ranking status aside and do that with their subordinates? Not many!

One of the main factors why I enjoy working at celestica is definitely the people. There are so many interesting and unique characters over here. Like what allan says, you can practically write a book about our department alone, with each chapter dedicated to each person. There’s the guy who smokes a lot, another who keeps speaking in Hokkien and spewing vulgarities to suppliers over the phone, etc. Hilarious!

And finally, there’s my boss of course, who is so great I think he deserves to win the “best boss award”! He’s a “people” boss who’s very understanding to his employees. From what I’ve seen in my three months over here, he has never raised his voice at any one of us no matter how much stress he is facing.

Whenever he needs me to do something for him, he says it as though he was asking a favor even though it is my job to do what he asks. And he also takes care to meticulously explain why he needs it to be done. Even at times when I need advice for things other than celestica-related stuff, he would be genuinely helpful and patient in listening to me and giving me advice, no matter how busy he is.

What cast the deepest impression on me was this one incident. At that time I haven’t found a new job yet. I asked allan, what if you found a new assistant before I found a new job? What would happen to me? He assured me that no matter what, he would wait until I found a new job before he hires someone. I was so touched!

There should be more bosses like him around. I sure hope there would be future opportunities to work for him!

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Runner-up for “Best Buffet”

Posted by Veron in Food category | alfresco/outdoor dining, buffet, Fullerton, International, waterfront

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On Thursday evening we were at the sizzler restaurant in Toa Payoh. I didn’t realise there were only two sizzler restaurants in Singapore! This time round I thought the menu was a lot more sparse than the one in Bangkok. I had a tough time finding something I liked. In the end I opted for the teriyaki chicken. When in doubt, always go for the chicken!

Teriyaki Chicken
SGD19.99++

I thought chicken sizzling in teriyaki sauce can’t go wrong! The sizzling factor definitely gave it bonus impression points. But as it turned out, the chicken fillets were a tad stiff and dry. They weren’t tender enough and definitely weren’t drenched in delicious teriyaki sauce as I thought they would be!

Their signature all-you-can-eat salad bar didn’t disappoint though. The buffet comes free with all a la carte items and it’s the deepest impression sizzler left me with after I dined there twice in Bangkok. With so many delectable items, even the fussiest eaters can pick something they like.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

The cream of mushroom soup is the richest of its kind. Rather filling actually.

Salad bar items

A few other salad bar items that I liked were the Hawaiian chicken, chili prawn, and satay chicken. A pity this time we were in quite a rush. I didn’t get to check out the sundae bar because I was too stuffed by the time I finished all the food on my plates. Until next time then!

Sizzler
Blk 190 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
#02-516 Singapore 310190 [map]
(65) 6258 7336
Service:
www.sizzler.com.sg

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Nominated for “Best Value Buffet”

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, Toa Payoh, Western

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We were there last night and the all-you-can-eat buffet was only SGD16++ per person. And it was inclusive of one red plate too!

I love the salmon, love the unagi, love the fried scallop!

I love the fried gyoza, love the fried tofu, love the fried crabsticks!

Most of all, I love the chuka hotate (scallop wings)! Yummy yum yum. Everyone should go for the supper buffet. It’s value-for-money and at that hour, the restaurant isn’t very crowded. The offer is valid only at Marina Square though, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm til midnight. When we were there last night, there was this overly smiley bespectacled waiter. It got a little uncomfortable when he just wouldn’t stop smiling! I think he was just enthusiastic though.

February 3, 2007: My list of Best (& Worst) Restaurants in Singapore for 2006
- Nominated for “Best Value Buffet”

Posted by Veron in Food category | buffet, Japanese, promotion, Sushi

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