Pampered Lunch at Melt ~ The Whole World (Mandarin Oriental Singapore)

Melt ~ The Whole World Cafe

Mandarin Oriental Singapore

5 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039797

Reservation: 6885 3082

This is by far the most top notch buffet I have tried in Singapore. The moment I made the reservation call, I was impressed. The usual details were given, and then the polite receiver asked if it was for a special occasion. I was taken aback by the question but replied a yes. "Certainly, we could arrange a mini cake that day." Even before I needed to ask for anything.

Before we were shown to our seats, the friendly waitress asked if it was our first time there and we nodded. Much to our delight, she explained and showed us the way to the various food stations. It was not crowded when we arrived, and I began snapping pictures before the lunchtime crowd arrived minutes later.

The Cold Station - breads, all sorts of cheese ((I like camembert!), salads, sushis, sobas. A must try is the duck rillet spread on toasted bread. It was vvv good!

A Centre Table of mussels, and prawns

The Cooked Station - pastas, noodles soup, kebabs and lamb chops

Indian cuisine - naans, masala chicken, there were so many kinds of curries, I had a bit of everything on my naans.

Western and Asian Cuisine - the cod fish was good, scallop in tomato sauce, beef, jumbo fresh prawns

The Desserts Corner - Waffles, Chocolate fondue, fruits, jellies and cakes

The stations were spaced far apart and they might looked 'little' at first, but we were surprised we ate so much after the whole thing. And to add, every dish was cooked very well and ingredients used were very fresh.

I like the fact that tables were spaced well apart and the food stations were at different locations of the room, allowing guests to eat at ease without having to queue/start from one end to the other or difficulty walking between tables to their seats.

Wen's cake came at the time we were settling for desserts (thanks to the attentive staff). Two waitresses came, and guess what. They asked if we would like them to sing the Happy Birthday song! Before I responded to Wen's waving hands, "please do!" was what I said to them! Haha...

We ate the dark mousse chocolate cake with our Tea (you can choose Chamomile, Peppermint and English Breakfast - complimentary from the buffet) and it was so relaxing.

We enjoyed the lunch very much and even though it was pricey (buffet prices have gone up everywhere else anyway), I felt it was worth it.

Happy Birthday, Wen.

Sakura International Buffet

Sakura International Buffet
10 Penang Road
12pm-2.30pm

Dhoby Ghaut Green... Just where is this place?
I found Sakura as a treat for a lunch buffet with my parents (the restaurant offers senior citizen rate for those above 55). The address on the web was puzzling to me and I couldn't find it on Google map. I found that it was close to Park Mall, but hmm...
We drove down to this place and got directions from nearby shops, and there it is. Right in the middle between Plaza Singapura and Park Mall.
An unique architecture, the central space holds an amphitheatre which is hard to miss. It serves as a showpiece to create and encourage public awareness to Art, Culture and Performances.

And part of this place is where Sakura is situated.

Picture from mnd.gov.sg

With all the greenery and being away from the shopping malls surrounding it, this place is appealing to those who like the distance.

Before you are ushered to your seat, payment has to be made at the entrance. We saw many senior people who were just as early as we came (12pm) and knew this place must have some sort of Senior privilege. And it did. $26+/ adult. Senior Citizen were priced at $20+. Pretty good.

I went straight to the food stations for some good pictures and was surprised when the waiter told me no photo-taking was allowed. Strange, why so? Their sushi looked just like sushi, hot station had the usual hot dishes, desserts had fruits we already knew. Anyway, too late. I took quite a few pictures already. Hee... I must commend Sakura, their food variety is exhaustive. Just looking at the stations and all the food made me salivate, literally...

Teppanyaki Station

Sushi and Salad Station

Hot Items Station

Desserts Station

Chocolates!!

These little round balls are actually white chocolates! Interesting!

Surprisingly, photos taken from the table were ok with them.

So I went ahead to take a few. Very nice lobster salad, lots and lots of sushi, tempura, Sakura did fare well with its Japanese dishes. The hot station served the usual international fare, including pizzas and dim sums. Besides that, the steaks station served well marinated beef, lamb chops, shishamos, dory fillets, chicken chops, and more. The drinks station offered many types of drinks - ice milo, grape juice, lemon juice, coffee, tea, etc. Children loved this station. And of course, the dessert station. Ice creams, chocolates, jellies, fruits, cakes, mochi...

You will definitely feel full after visiting this place.

Soup and Salad

Part of the Japanese eating culture, ya, people eat such things whole!

I couldn't... But I heard it tasted good.

Baked Oyster

Fresh Salmon

Crabs - Although they were small, but they were tasty

Some of our desserts...

For the price that I paid per pax, this place was worth the try, if not more.

Steamboat - Crystal Jade @ Holland Village

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
241/241A Holland Avenue
Operating hours for South Northern Steamboat Buffet
Monday - Sunday: 8:30pm - 1:00am
For reservation: 6463 0968

It was a cold, rainy late evening, and all we could think of it pipping hot soup with lots and lots of food! This steamboat buffet restaurant that gives us just what we need.

The menu includes many meat items, different types of fish balls, prawns, vegetables and dim sums too ~ my fave xiao long baos!

The restaurant has a variety of sauces that you can choose to go with your food, from sesame, bean paste, peanut, garlic, chilli... i gave all a try and love the bean paste + peanut!]

Before ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After

We went for the bi-combi soup base - pig bone soup & chinese parsley soup. We were so excited when the soup started boiling and dipping in our favourite items added new flavours to the already tasty stock.

Notice the stacks of Xiao Long Baos? Heh... We cleaned 5 stacks of that!
The gigantic Char Siew Baos were just as yummy.






It was an overall comfortable steamboat experience with a decent selection of fresh ingredients - definitely a recommended dining place for big groups and the late nite supper lovers!

Square@ Furama Riverfront

Furama Riverfront, Singapore
405 Havelock Road, Singapore 169633
Tel: (65) 6333 8898
http://www.furama.com/riverfront/

Not to be confused with Furama City Centre in Chinatown, this Havelock presence introduces an international buffet that has won Singapore Top Restaurants Wine & Dine for years.
The entrance intrigues your taste buds with their attractive dessert bar!




Here are some of the dishes picked
- The salmon was sooo good, and as you can see, it's really popular!








The main attraction of this place, though, comes with this ice-cream stick...
Unfortunately, each person is only allowed 1 serving of this dish and thus given out 1 stick each.


It is this... 'Live' Drunken Prawns!


Before getting "drunk", watch them jump!
Click PLAY!


The prawns were hauled from the tank and threw into a pot of boiling broth. Capped for a few mins, the chef poured a few tablespoon of Shaoxing wine (traditional Chinese fermented wines from rice) and added the boiled prawns and broth into the bowl to serve.


It was really good and bro & i were lucky that we had 2 non-prawn eaters with us and we got 2 servings each instead of 1! *wink*


& More Prawns!


Before getting too stuffed, I got to this inviting station and made some interesting finds.


This plate consists of Wild Strawberry Mousse, Citrus Chocolate Bavarois* & Semolina^ Almond Cake
*French word for Bavarian cream - thickened gelatin flavoured with liqueur.
^ purified middlings of hard wheat, usually coarse


My favourite Tau Suan (Split Green Beans/ Mung Beans soup)
- The fried dough sticks were alright and it wasn't too sweet.
However, I thought the beans were a bit hard. Pity.


One of my favourite dessert - The Blueberry Galette
Galette - a general term used in French to designate various types of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes
It had a rich, crispy and buttery tart with a center chiffon cake and a blueberry top.
Nice!


Enjoy a cup of Boncafé espresso coffee before you leave the place!