Foodie Paradise

Hotel Phoenix Basement 1
277 Orchard Rd
Singapore 238 858
Tel: 6233 6129

 Ratings: 5.5/10

Price: $24.80+++ (Adult) and $16.80 (Child)

My aunt decided to treat us to a lunch buffet at Hotel Phoenix. How can I say no to a treat?

Before having my buffet there, I did hear praises about the delicious roti prata that they served during their buffets.  Upon eating, I felt that the roti prata was decent but definitely not delicious.  It was crispy, but the accompanying curry to the prata was salty.  What’s roti prata without a delicious curry to accompany it?

Roti Prata 

Some salad from the buffet 

During the buffet, there was also a rojak fondue.  Yes, it’s rojak and not the usual chocolate fondue.  Rojak is a fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.  Rojak, in Malay, means mixture.  The usual rojak ingredients such as the cucumber, pineapple, turnip, bean sprouts, taupok, and fried dough fritters were offered separately on the buffet table.  The rojak sauce, a dark sauce which is usually made up of water, belacan, sugar, chili, and lime juice (the ingredients vary among the vendors selling rojak), was used on the fondue.  So instead of the usual rojak we get that has been tossed nicely before serving, we got to skew the ingredients and dipped them into the rojak fondue instead.  To be really frank, it tasted bad.  It was also the most "deserted" buffet table that day when I was there, unlike the queues forming elsewhere on other buffet table.  Visually wise, as the rojak sauce is of thinner consistency, it did not have the grand and delicious look of the chocolate fondue that’s so pleasing on the eye.  To me, it spoils the image of this really nice local dish in Singapore, but I do have to say it’s a very brave attempt by the cafe to introduce something new in a buffet that also showcased plenty of our local delights.

On the whole, I’ll describe the buffet as good in the variety of food served, but poor in terms of quality.  There are more misses than hits among the food that are served on the whole.  The desserts are too sweet, and the main courses are decent but nothing memorable.  There were some seafood such as fresh oysters served at the buffet table but they were not fresh.  Though the food was served in a nice surrounding and the service was prompt, I guess there’re definitely better deals at some other restaurants.

The Fullerton Hotel (Singapore)
The Courtyard
1 Fullerton Square
Reservation: (+65) 6877 8129.
8pm-11pm (only on Fridays and Saturdays)

Ratings: 4.0/5.0

After three months of hard work (alright, not as "hard work" as I had hoped), burning midnight oil for the past three weeks (with an average of less than 6 hours of sleep), I had finished my thesis finally. Though I seriously think that my thesis is pretty crappily done, I had passed it up and there’s nothing more that I can do about it.

Thus, sorry for not updating for so long as I’ve been really busy.  However, do check back often recently, as there’re quite a few entries saved as drafts, waiting for me to complete them as soon as I have the time and inspiration to do some blogging.

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What is the best way to wind down after being hard at work for so long?

One way is definitely at the absolutely decadent and sinful chocolate buffet at the Fullerton Hotel.

There are over 20 different chocolate desserts that are featured at the buffet table, the definitely unforgettable Chocolate Fountain, where you get to dip marshmellows and fresh fruit into the chocolate fondue, and a drink station where chocolate-blended drinks are made right before you.

What I love most about this buffet is that the sweetness of the desserts is all perfectly just right. I was so afraid that after eating so many different chocolate desserts in one night, I’ll be absolutely sick of chocolate for the next few days. That definitely didn’t happen to me. Every dessert was perfectly crafted and absolutely delectable. My favourite that night was this green tea flavoured chocolate dessert, which had left me with such an unforgettable taste that I would have eaten a few more of it, if not for the fact that there were many other tasty desserts for me to try that night. The drink station where chocolate drinks are blended right before you is also a delightful addition to the buffet. Greedy me decided to indulge in this really concentrated chocolate drink (I think it was 70 %?). The drink was the ultimate indulgence for me, though some might feel that the chocolate is way too thick for them.

I also love the atmosphere at the Courtyard. It’s definitely a great place to chill out and unwind for the weekend while enjoying sinful desserts, and a place to have a great chat.

There is also a choice for the diners to complement the chocolate delights with Michele Chiarlo Nivole, a sublime and delicate dessert wine. I’m no wine connoisseur especially since I seldom drink, but I love that wine lots. It gives me this really sparkly and bubbly feel to it. Thus to me, it’s definitely a great addition to the table that night.

Edited: The buffet costs $32++ w/o the wine and $40++ with the wine.

Rose Veranda
Shangri-La Hotel

Orange Grove Road,
Singapore 258350

Operation Hours:
12pm to 6pm on Monday to Friday
12pm to 3pm and 3pm to 6pm on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday

Cost: About $40 per person

www.shangri-la.com

Ratings: 4.0/5.0

The place that I was at before I went for the blogger.sg after-party.

To be frank, I was torn between giving it a 3.5 star rating and a 4.0 star rating. The main reason is because I’m usually pretty sceptical about the quality of food served in buffet. Just like the saying “the jack of all trades is good at none”, this can also be applied to food. With such a huge variety of food served, it’s inevitable that there’ll bound to be some dishes on the buffet table that doesn’t taste good. However, the food at the buffet was surprisingly nice, in comparison to some other buffets that I’d gone to, and I love the atmosphere of the place. Thus, I gave it a 4.0 star in the end.

The lovely atmosphere for the place is not a surprise. It’s ultimately one of the best hotels in Singapore. The sofas are nice and comfy, and you’re being served with exquisite tableware and cutlery. Nice palm trees greet you when you look out of the glass panels. The glass panels allows ample afternoon sunshine to shine in, and with the sofas, it’s the perfect place in the afternoon to just kick back and relax, enjoy a cup of tea and some pastries, and have a engaging conversation with friends.

Basically, all I can say is that this place spells out the perfect lifestyle for the tai-tais.

However, I’m not a tai-tai and I definitely can’t afford to be one. Thus I definitely didn’t just have a cup of tea and some pastries while I was there. To be honest, I only had breakfast that day, and had combined my lunch and dinner into one meal for this buffet.

Shortly after I was seated, I was given a menu by the pretty waitress there. I was amazed by the huge selection of beverages there, which is mainly made up of tea (I’m a bit duh here..it’s high tea after all). Basically, the beverage there is free flow. Being totally a coffee person and totally not a tea person, I have no idea what are the best teas to order. I randomly ordered a pot of Nana Morcca mint, a herbal infusion tea. In the end, the tea tasted like toothpaste, so I didn’t finish my pot of tea. But I guess I was the unlucky one, or probably because the tea didn’t suit my palate. I tried the other teas that the others ordered, and they tasted great.

The buffet is supposed to be a local cum English high tea. The main local food they served when I was there was mainly the Indian cuisine. I was actually very sceptical when I first saw the variety of curry there (I think there were about 5 different curries). Somehow I can’t equate Indian cuisine with Shangri-la.

However, the first taste of the curry changed my entire view. It’s delicious. No doubt it’s not the best curry you can taste in Singapore, but it’s pretty good for buffet standards. My only qualms about it was that the curry wasn’t spicy enough, but I supposed it’s because of the crowd that they’re serving, or it may be also because my threshold for chilli has reached a state that can cause discomfort to many.

The salads there were really nice too. I know basically, no one can go really wrong with salads, but to have a salad that makes you feel like taking a second-helping of it is another matter, because that’s what I did in the end.

I also had my first taste of goose liver there. It’s the greyish brown gooey-liked food next to the smoke salmon. I’ll say goose liver tastes pretty ok for me, but a few small bites will be sufficiently enough for me personally, because I don’t think the entire taste will bode well for me if I finish the whole thing.

There’s also mee rebus there, which you have to prepare by yourself. It’s also ok, except I found it too sweet for a mee rebus.

The place also has a pretty decent selection of pastries. The pastries tasted fine, though not exceptional. However, do try the chocolates there. I love them lots! There’s also a strawberry dipped in white chocolate being served when I was there and it tasted marvellous. Two favourite foods of mine combined into one! Probably the next thing I should try should be a chocolate buffet.

After eating, we sat there for a long time chatting, despite the fact that the restaurant was already closed (6pm). The nice thing about the place is that they don’t start chasing you or hanging around you hoping that you’ll get the hint to start leaving.

Sidetrack: Haha, for the Blogger.sg party that I went after my high tea, Agagooga was asking me if I wanted to rate it 0/5.0. I’m not that cruel. DXO actually has a lovely setting and environment, and a centralised location. What’s missing I supposed, is people. A hype and happening crowd I supposed that wasn’t there (nope I’m not referring to the bloggers there. I suppose the bloggers are the only hype and happening people around there!).

~Sanz