Oriental (Melt - The World Cafe): Nice Quality Food

After reading so many raves abt Melt's buffet, I simply had to try it myself even if it means eating alone.

So today, I made my way to Oriental ALONE after failing to find a lunch khaki that can afford a 2 hour lunch and me being ultra impatient, cannot wait anymore.Upon entering Melt, I was greeted by the staff and I promptly informed her that I wanted to eat here alone (sheepishly) and was expecting a weird stare which did not materialise.

I was then showed around the buffet area and given an introduction of the food spread that was lined.Dessert StationThe first station that greeted me was (gasp!) the dessert station which also happened to be the determining factor of buffets for me (I am a "desserterian"). The spread looks good and held my attention for a long time while the server went on to show me the fruit station. Desserts include a big variety of puddings, cakes, fruit tarts among others.
Naturally the ever popular chocolate fondue with fruits, waffles and mashmellows, all "on sticks" and ready to dip in the chocolate pool.
There is also a station that makes delicous waffles with ice-cream, honey, peanut butter...take your pick, whatever u want, they most likely can offer. I had THREE waffles with ice-cream. The freshly baked waffles are delicious and coupled with ice-cream is enough to make anyone go ga-ga in the knees.
The blueberry cheesecake and chocolate moouse cake are average (a lil disappointed). Sadly I did not have a lot of room for all the puddings and nice little things in cups after my rampage....

Fruit Station
They have an extensive range of fruits from mangosteen, kiwi to strawberries (only fruit missing is durian...LOL).

Cooked Food
In most buffets, this is usually the weakest link. However, in Melt, they cooked food is as good as the desserts. They have several stations - Thai, Western, Indian and local. I tried a little of each and found most of them to be good with the exception of the char siew duck which happened to be too dry and somewhat lacking in taste. The "3 taste chicken" from the Thai section was flavouful and the naan (under "assorted bread") from the indian food was good and I stuffed in 1 garlic naan and another pc of something which tasted real good but I am not sure what it was together with the fish curry. I also tried the chicken kebab which was pretty nice.

I had the most cooked food from the western section. They had lamb stew, beef, 2 kinds of fish, lamb (carving of the day), sauteed mushroom (nice!), Brocoli grautin, Char siew duck (can't rmb the others) and a variety of sauces to go with the meat.

There is also a noodle station which I did not try (obviously not a big hit with moi). Overall the cooked food is commendable. I also happen to overhear one chef telling a staff to make sure all the food is hot.

Starters Station
Featuring Japanese mainly. Sashimi (salmon, maguro, swordfish..) are fresh and generous. There are also some salad - seafood, fruits...etc. Smoked salmon and cod are nicely done. There is also soba and sushi. Salad bar for the health conscious albet the selection is not vast.

Overall, it was a very pleasant dining experience with prompt and attentive service staff. Just 1 note though, the price for lunch buffet has increased from 37+++ to 42+++. With the HSBC card, I got a 15% discount though.

Melt - The World Cafe
5 Raffles Avenue
4F The Oriental Singapore

Raffles the Plaza (Plaza Market Cafe): 1 for 1 Buffet Dinner

Being a new Buffet Fanatic, how can I miss the chance to take advantage of this offer? So I promptly made a reservation for 2 in the first week of July to feast myself silly.

Upon entering the cafe, I was greeted by throngs of crowd. Apparently many people already knew of this offer. The food station appears to be somewhat messy perhaps due to the large crowd dishing food from the trays and dropping food on the tables. A bad first impression!

Ok, onto the food. Walk round and surveyed the food selection.
The first station is the Japanese. They have sashimi (which ran out very fast), the server replacing the sashimi did not do a good job and simply transferred the sliced salmon from a big tray onto the buffet table which makes it look like a cheap supermarket counter.
Also seen are soba and some sushi.Walking further down, there is a Kuey Pie Tee area which appears to be very popular with the diner for reasons I could not understand. They tasted extremely normal to me and this is the messiest station of all with egg and crumbs all over.
Up next is the popiah station, they have a chef to roll the poppiahs for you. Again nothing fantastic abt the popiahs, they were too sweet to being with.

They variety of cooked food is also limited. However, they do have all kinds of meat - chicken, beef, fish, lamb and the carving of the day is pork leg which helped to salvaged the buffet somewhat.

Also avaliable is a salad bar and a nonya station where you can find some sambal kangkong (very spicy, not for those with weak stomach) and assam fish among others. Another save is the sweet and sour pork which was pretty tasteful.

After the disappointing main dishes, I proceeded to the dessert station and the first thing I went to was the durian puree which again left me disappointed. The puree was somewhat not as tasteful as the one in Merchant court and I could taste some "not so ripe" durian flesh among them so after 1 bowl, I moved on to savour the cakes. I tried the cheesecake and chocolate moouse cake which was pretty ok (better than the durian puree). The dessert offering again is not fantastic and coupled with so-so quality makes it a miss with me.

Service staff however are pretty prompt to clear table.In summary, for a 1 for 1 offer, I would say it is a good offer. If there is no promotion, I do not think that 42+++ per pax is justified for this spread.

Raffles the Plaza (Plaza Market Cafe)
80 Bras Basah Road
2F Fairmont Singapore

Merchant Court (Ellenborough Cafe): Star of the Show - Durian Puree!

The title says it all.

The best thing from the buffet is the Durian Puree. I had FOUR bowls of the durian puree until I was almost ready faint from "stuffation".
Since I am on this topic, let's start with the dessert. The dessert selection is actually plentiful, however, mostly local and peranakan desserts. They have red bean soup, sesame paste, bo bo cha cha among others.
The peranakan kueys are also delightful though some are a little sweet (but then again, I have a sweet tooth). The chocolate bread and butter pudding was yummy and I had 3 servings....*guilty look*.
As a cake lover, I was somewhat disappointed that the cake variety is almost non exsistent. There is only chocolcate mousse cake and coffee cheesecake which did not appeal to me (not a coffee lover). There is also ice-cream available, 2 or 3 flavours - raspberry and I cannot rmb what but all tasted pretty decent.

The cold station is found at a distance away from the cooked food. You can find prawns, oysters, sashimi and soba here. Not a cold food fanatic, I only had some sashimi which are pretty fresh.

Onto the cooked food, the selection is not vast and all the food here is somewhat biased towards peranakan. The seabass with bean paste is fresh and meat tender. You can also find braised sea cucumber, roasted duck, chicken, veggies, mutton rendang among others.
Being a Tuesday lunch, the action station that day is satay. Meat is thick and succulent and noodle station is Ipoh Hor Fun which I did not try.

The place is croweded and the service is ok. But due to it's popularity, the attention of the staff is somewhat divided. Glasses have to be asked to be topped up.

This is one of the most value for money buffet in Singapore with lunch being $26.90+++. Will definately go back again even if it's just for the durian puree!
There was a promotion for 1 free diner for every 3 paying adults when I was there.

Merchant Court (Ellenborough Cafe)
20 Merchant Road
GF Swissotel Merchant Court

Mezza9 - Hi Tea Buffet

After a little head scratching, we decided to go to mezza9 for a make-up Mother's day makan session.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were immediately greeted by their staff. Informed them of our reservation and we were shown our seats.
The ambience of the place is good with soft music and comfortable lighting.

I quickly scurried off to survey the spread. Being a high tea buffet, there isn't much cooked food to begin with. However, there is a japanese station offering handroll and sushi.
Worthy of mention is the salmon yakitori made up of salmon (of course) and some veggies. The salmon is fresh and generous. Top it up with yakitori sauce or eat it plain, either way you have a delicious munchie.

Over at the cold cut station, you can find sashimi, oysters and cold prawn. 1 disappointing thing is that the cold station has only a few pieces of each food and will only be replenished when they are emptied. This makes the cold station look bare and does not give the impression of plentiful which is something I dislike in a buffet.

Now for the main highlight of the show - DESSERT! The spread of dessert is actually not very big but the quality of all the cakes and pastries are excellent. You can find cheesecake (was strawberry on the day of my visit) which was fantastic, very chessy and the best cheesecake among all the buffets I have tried to date. The chocolate mousse cake is very "chocolaty" (is there such a word?) and rich (Totally brings out chocolate lover in me!).
The bread and butter pudding however is only average. Tarts, chocolate eclairs, cream puffs and the chocolate fondue are all of good quality.
Also present are large strawberries and fragrant and sweet mangos to satify the health conscious sweet tooth (who goes to hi-tea to be health conscious anyway?!)

One thing I really liked about this hi-tea is they offer a variety of REAL juices - guava, orange, water melon and chocolate milk. All taste great!
But this comes with a price tag of 35+++ per pax.

Mezza9
10 Scotts Road
2F Grand Hyatt

Kim Gary - Reasonable Price and Decent Food

I was introduced to Kim Gary by my sister. I wasn't a big fan of HKG style cafe but I was quickly drawn to KG after my first visit.

I have had their sets twice - once with fish baked rice and the other just baked fish with rice. Both are pretty decent food and the price is very reasonable.
The must try in HKG cafes are needless to say - thick toast (I am a sucker for these). Except for 1 time, I ordered the thick toast every visit. My friends and hubby have commented that the toast is too thick though I like it (I am a bread lover too!)

Almond tea is nice and fragrant. The snow ice is not really good though, I would suggest giving these a miss.

One note though, they are definately short-handed. Attention from the servers needs some efforts.