Lunch Buffet @ Swissotel Merchant Court

It has been a really long time since I last allowed myself to indulge in a proper buffet meal in a restaurant. And I don't mean the dessert buffet which I had at Goodwood Park Hotel a few months back in June. By MY definition, a proper buffet meal consists of a vast variety of starters, mains and desserts to keep the customers munching from the moment they set foot in the restaurant till the moment they waddle out with their bloated tummies. :)

Naturally, the choice to dine at the Ellenborough Market Café at Goodwood Park Hotel was entirely due to their durian pengat!

Most of the buffet spread consisted of local and peranakan dishes with a small selection of international cuisines in the likes of raw oysters. There was not a large variety to choose from and be prepared to be jostled about by the hungry crowd.

roti prata and pandan leave wrapped chicken

stir-fried prawns, rojak and orh-lua

indian rojak

Most of the dishes tasted decent except for the chilli crab. Presumably in their effort to cost down, smaller crabs were used and may I add that they are not of the freshest lot. The horror began when I realised that the crab claws were not pre-cracked nor were crab crackers provided. As such, I thought that the shell must be soft enough to be cracked with the teeth. Unfortunately, I immediately felt that a visit to the dentist was imminent after only the first attempt. Even after having requested for a cracker and quite an effort to dig out the fresh that seemed to be sticking stubornly to the inside of the shell, was I disappointed to find the crab meat tasting so dry that I almost couldn't tell the difference from those vacuum packed ones sold at the supermarket! So crab-lovers, beware and try it at your own 'risk'!

The buffet lunch cost slightly less than SGD$40 over the weekends and this excludes the ordering of beverages.

Philip's First Month Party

Just when we, as parents, were lost between the days and nights, a month just passed us by and on 21 August 2010, everybody came together to celebrate the milestone of Philip's first month into babyhood!
We ordered from Four Seasons Catering Pte Ltd which offers a Baby Full Month Buffet Feast package with the traditional red eggs, ang ku kuehs and even glutinous rice thrown into the buffet spread!
The package is competitively priced, buffet spread professionally setup, decent spread of tummy filling staple food and a good portion of finger licking desserts.

Stir Fried Dory Fillet in Sze Chuan Style

Deluxe Lo Han Chye

Deep Fried Nested Yam Roll

Signature Four Seasons Chicken

Stir Fried Prawns with Chilli Crab Sauce (the dish to get the most raving reviews!)

Wok Fried Noodle in Hong Kong Style

Fruit Mochi

Mini Cream Puff

Mini Swiss Roll

Yet another satisfied customer!

Dessert Buffet with Durian Pastries @ Goodwood Park Hotel

After having passed by Goodwood Park Hotel countless times and the thumbs-up from many friends about their durian dessert, I finally made the reservation for their dessert buffet with durian pastries.

Upon entering the Coffee Lounge, I managed to catch a whiff of durian which instantly fired up my salivary glands. There were a decent variety of desserts to choose from but not yet a great selection to wow me over.

I was immediately drawn to the durian section which featured six types of neatly arranged durian themed pastries - durian puff, durianmisu, durian oreo cake, durian pancake, durian pudding and durian roll.

clockwise from top: durian pudding, durian roll, durian pancake and durian puff

durian oreo cake (front left) & durianmisu (front right)

My favourite would have to be the durian pudding which taste the closest to my favourite durian pengat. Next on my hit list would have to be the durianmisu with the deadly coupling of kahlúa and D24 durian pulp!

After stuffing myself crazy with the durian desserts, there's naturally hardly any space left in my stomach to accomodate the rest of the desserts. Fortunately (or not), my 'partner-in-crime" is a durian-hater and therefore, I managed to capture some shots of the non-durian desserts as well as nipped a few bites from his plate.

Towards the end of an almost 1.5 hours dessert marathon, I decided to wave my white flag at the ice-cream tubs and heavenly big bowl of mango sago, which under normal circumstances are my absolute must-have desserts.

Priced at $24.80 per pax, I would strongly recommend all durian-lovers to GO FOR IT before the durian fiesta ends on the 25th July 2010.

Celebration of a Union

@ ONE ROCHESTER

Canapé

(Mushroom Rugout stuffed Tartlets with Truffle Oil)

(Smoked Salmon Rillettes with Caviar)

Appetizer

(Seared US Scallops with Chestnut Puree & Shisco Cres, Vanilla Foam)

Soup

(Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil)

Salad

(Pan Seared Foie Gras with Brandy Prunes & Petite Salads)

Intermezzo

Mains

(Choice I: Crustacean Bolognaise with Linguine & Caviar)

(Choice II: Slowed Braised Chicken Stew with Baby Onions, Mushrooms & Lardon Served with Puff Pastry)

(Choice III: Oven Baked Miso Codfish with Celeriac Puree & Asian Green Vegetables)

(Choice IV: Char Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Gratin, Truffle Mashed Potatoes & Borderlaise Jus)

(and of course there's something for Baby Alicia as well!)

Dessert Buffet

(Apple Crumble)

(Lemon Madeleine)

(Profiterole with Chocolate Fillings)

(Panna Cotta with Summer Berries Compote)

(Valrhona Chocolate Fountain with Fresh Fruits & Mashmallows)

~the beginning~

Brunch Buffet @ Café Swiss

The Sunday brunch buffet at Café Swiss costs a whopping $50++ for a limited spread. After merely two helpings, I'm already down to the final stage of narrowing down my selection to the favourites before the grand dessert finale.

While the true-blooded Singaporeans flocked to the priciest plate of oysters, I was hovering around the bread section - eyeing the fresh walnut loaf. The combination of walnut bread with melted cheese is truly a match made in heaven...Ohhhh...

The other selections worth mentioning would be the baby octopuses which was a good appetiser to excite my palates before I moved in on the tender beef slices.

There were the usual spread of Chinese cuisines which was good but not yet raving good. The fresh prawns were a disappointment to me. While they were crunchy to the bite, it lacks the natural sweetness of fresh prawns.

Being a sweet-tooth monster myself, the dessert section was a total flop. Not only did I managed to scan the varieties within a mere 5 seconds, the selection didn't entice me to go back for a second helping.

I'm just glad that I didn't pay a single cent that afternoon. :)

Treat from Uncle Edwards

Despite the downright depressing global economic outlook, Uncle Edwards still gave all of us a buffet lunch by the sea at the SAF Yacht Club.

The food fare was simple but nevertheless, tummy filling.


The non air-conditioned restaurant offered a vast view of the sea but the afternoon sun was scorching hot that day. Nevertheless, I could imagine the venue to be a great place to sit back and enjoy a chilling cocktail while the sun sets over the horizon.

Merry Christmas Uncle Edwards!

Shokutsu 10 Osaka @ Jurong Point

There's a newly opened secluded section in Jurong Point call Shokutsu 10. From the name alone, you might have already guessed that it's dedicated to anything Japanese. But what specifically?

Yep, it's food alright! :)

It's easy to miss this section of the crowded shopping complex with it's numerous shops and roll-cart stalls lining the shopper's walkway if not for the huge crab display.


It's only a small corner really and there's only about 6 Japanese restaurants at the moment. But what fascinated me and had me happily clicking away at my camera were the large and colourful food displays outside the restaurants. And it seems like there are already plans to further expand this section of the shopping complex to accomodate more restaurants or shops!



Being the greedy Singaporean, my family chose the largest restaurant - Kuishin Bo. It's a buffet restaurant with nice, spacious seatings but a long queue.

The buffet spread has not so much variety and the food tasted okay. More interesting for me would be the dessert section where I find the tiny cakes and doughnuts adorable and simply irresistible!



As baby Alicia would have put it :"Mum Mum Mum Mum Mum...."