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