Roast turkey & honey baked ham with 12 sauces

Together with misstamchiak, Justin, Keropokman, Hungry Cow, and Jasper & Saunders, we checked out the Christmas lunch buffet at Plaza Brasserie at the invitation of PARKROYAL on Beach Road.

I was most impressed with the juicy roast turkey, as well as the tasty honey baked ham. And to top it all, they have 12 different kinds of traditional and Asian-inspired sauces to go with the meats:

1. Traditional Giblet
2. Cranberry
3. BBQ
4. Black Pepper
5. Mustard
6. Laksa
7. Rendang
8. Thai Mango
9. Satay
10. Tong Gui Herbal
11. Sichuan
12. Pineapple

My favorites were Traditional Giblet, Cranberry, and zesty Thai Mango for its sweet, tangy, and spicy flavors!

Chilled prawn & mussels on ice

Lunch buffet also has a small chilled seafood selection. The prawns were supremely fresh and succulent.

There were several live stations featuring Christmas roast meats, Japanese sushi & sashimi, Indian food, and local Asian favorites.

Japanese selection

At the Japanese station, besides the usual sushi, there’s also sashimi that’s only sliced upon order to ensure freshness.

Oyster omelette

The oyster omelette was excellent! Juicy, tasty, with a hint of chilli and wok hei — this was similar to Penang-style oyster omelette. Definitely one of the highlights of this buffet!

Laksa

The laksa was another winner with its fragrant and lemak (coconutty) gravy.

Hainanese chicken rice

Another popular local dish is the Hainanese chicken rice. I found the chicken rice here to be rather old-school in style. The rice isn’t heavily flavored with ginger; instead it has the subtle flavor of chicken stock. The succulent chicken is chopped into large chunks with bone-in, the old-fashioned way. I like!

There’s also Indian curries and freshly made prata. Sorry, no pics, but the range of prata was rather creative. There’s both savoury and sweet pratas like ham & onion and even banana!

Salads & canapes

There’s also a decent selection of salads. They look simple but taste very nice! Same for the bite-sized canapes.

Desserts section

Being a Christmas-themed buffet, there’s Christmas fruitcake, gingerbread, and of course, log cake! There’s also the usual buffet selection of miniature cheesecakes and mousses.

For local desserts, there were sago pudding with gula melaka, mango pudding, and also fruit cocktail jelly.

Fresh fruits

There’s also fresh fruit and a DIY ice cream counter with various toppings (not pictured).

Amazing chocolate cake!

Psst! Grab this chocolate mousse cake if you see it. It’s definitely worth the calories! *wink*

Plaza Brasserie’s buffet would probably satisfy the tastebuds of those who are looking for a Christmas-themed buffet with an emphasis on Asian and local dishes. For instance, this menu would suit my parents-in-law as their palates are still very Asian.

The buffet range isn’t too extensive, but it should be sufficient for smaller eaters. Also, it’s attractively priced for a Christmas-themed buffet.

*Child below 3 dines for free. Child prices applicable for those aged 4 to 12. Prices are subject to 10% service charge & 7% GST.

Plaza Brasserie
PARKROYAL on Beach Road
7500 Beach Road
Singapore 199591
Tel: +65 6505 5710

Many thanks to PARKROYAL on Beach Road for the invite.

Sashimi (foreground) & canapes (background)

Since we were already planning to take mom-in-law out for high tea, we thought we’d take advantage of this promotion. I flipped through the brochure and saw that The Dining Room at Sheraton Towers has this offer where the 3rd diner dines at S$10 for weekday lunch, weekend high tea and dinner.

The Dining Room’s Saturday high tea is an Asian-themed buffet (12pm to 3pm). We got there late, about 1pm. It was full house. No doubt many were also there to take advantage of the promotion.

Live sandwich station

The first station I saw was the live sandwich station, offering a variety of breads with tuna mayo, otah, and egg mayo.

Hot savoury dishes

The hot savoury section didn’t look very promising. The items looked kinda, hmm, not so posh.

Gado-gado (Indonesian salad)

The gado gado didn’t look very appetizing either……

Nonya kuehs

For desserts, besides these Nonya kuehs — which I didn’t try — there was a mini chocolate fountain, assorted mini cakes and pastries, Movenpick ice cream, durian pengat, red bean soup, bread & butter pudding.

There was also a live station preparing chocolate lava cake, aloe vera jelly, and soy beancurd (tau huay) for dessert.

Dimsum + otah sandwich

First round: Started with open-faced otah sandwich and dimsum.

Otah sandwich: The otah was mushy, like a paste. Tastes like otah mayo, is there such a thing?! Hmm, sounds strange but tastes better than it looks.

Dimsum: Shouldn’t have bothered! Siew mai and glutinous rice barely passable, but har gau (shrimp dumpling) was EPIC FAIL! The tough har gau skin was nearly 1/2 inch thick!

Clockwise from bottom: Mantou (fried bun), chilli crab, unidentified fried thingy, fried prawn, fried squid, assorted satay

Second round was better.

Chilli crab + mantou: Interesting presentation. Crabmeat in chilli crab sauce made for convenient eating.

Fried items: Reminded me of those fried items from Old Chang Kee.

Assorted satay: Nice blend of spices and aromatics. Beef was ok, lamb a bit tough, chicken was the most delicious of all three.

Roast beef & sashimi

This was hubby’s plate. I don’t eat roast beef and sashimi, so I asked for his verdict.

Roast beef tenderloin: Excellent! Very tender and juicy.

Sashimi: Salmon and prawn were good. The rest were ok. The yellow thingy is tamago.

Fried ee-fu noodle & grilled salmon in hoisin sauce

Ee-fu noodle: Very ordinary.

Grilled salmon: Surprisingly good. Mom-in-law went for second and third rounds.

Laksa

The Dining Room’s laksa is quite famous. Indeed, it was superb. The laksa gravy was very smooth and creamy, with well-balanced flavors and aromas.

Other items we tried but didn’t like: sushi (dry and not fresh), Indian rojak (hard and oily), and raisin scone (dry).

Mini pastries

Perhaps this was high tea, so the focus was more on pastries rather than savouries. Indeed, we found the desserts to be much better. In fact, all the chocolate items were good. Starting from top left row:

Chocolate praline with crunchy layer: Divine! We all loved the rich bittersweet chocolate with crunchy wafer.

Chocolate mousse in cone: Nice mousse, but the cone had already “lau hong” (lost its crunch), possibly due to moisture from the mousse.

Almond jelly with longan: Nice but ordinary.

Unidentified Nonya kueh: I didn’t like it.

Marble cheesecake: Nice!

Banana and chocolate cream puff: Very nice! Like I said, all the chocolate items here are safe choices.

Durian pengat

Another popular item at the buffet was durian pengat. Thicker and more flavorful, I thought this was marginally better than Merchant Court’s version.

Warm chocolate lava cake

I only discovered this live dessert station later. Was already very full at this point, but luckily I persevered in trying the ala minute chocolate lava cake (waiting time 5 mins).

Not the most delicate lava cake I’ve tried, but definitely one of the high points at this buffet spread!

Chilled aloe vera jelly with assorted condiments

The aloe vera jelly was extremely refreshing! A variety of condiments were provided — sweet sea coconut, soursop, strawberry, etc. A good choice to wash down all that rich food.

There was also fresh fruit, but very limited — only slices of watermelon, rock melon, honeydew, and decorative pieces of dragonfruit.

The Dining Room @ Sheraton Towers

The Dining Room’s weekend high tea is priced at S$35.80++ per person, which works out to about S$42.15 after taxes.

With the 3rd diner paying S$10++, we paid S$96.05 for 3 people, which averaged out to S$32 per person.

Even with the discounted price, I didn’t feel it was worth it. The lack of quality control over several dishes was just unforgivable.

The sweet items were decent, but the savoury items were disappointing. Only the laksa, roast beef, sandwiches, sashimi, and satay were worth the tummy space. The worst were dimsum (tasted factory-made) and Indian rojak (cold, hard, and oozing with oil). The canapes and sushi didn’t look fresh either.

I wonder if the $10 promo has caused corners to be cut, for the quality of the food doesn’t reflect the status of a 5-star hotel.

With each subsequent visit to The Dining Room, my impression of it seems to be going downhill. That’s such a pity as I really like the ambience here, with its tall windows, lush outdoor greenery and waterfall.

Mini waterfall in the mini garden

Hubby got bored while waiting for me and MIL to finish eating, so he went out to the garden. He took this photo. Nice or not?

The Dining Room
Sheraton Towers Singapore
39 Scotts Road
Singapore 228230
Tel: +65 6839 5621
URL: www.sheratonsingapore.com

The latest Tried and Tested article on inSing.com is out, and this time, it’s one of our most iconic Singapore dishes – laksa. What a fiery choice to kick-start the new year! Click here to see our recommendations for 5 not-to-be-missed laksa places in Singapore.

The famous Penang char koay teow stall in Lorong Selamat.

It’s already Day 3, but I’d yet to try the most acclaimed Penang dishes like assam laksa and char koay teow! Well, this was going to be THE day! Our friendly taxi driver “uncle” took us to Lorong Selamat for the famous char koay teow in front of Cafe Heng Huat. Apparently, Lorong Selamat is one of the popular food streets in Penang. There are several roadside stalls and coffee shops that operate there in the day.

The larger-than-life char koay teow lady in her signature red beret and goggles.

One look, and I knew this is a master at work. Look closely! Deep in concentration, the char koay teow lady silently channels all her energy. Beneath the heavy cast-iron wok are roaring flames fueled by burning charcoal. With her spatula as a natural extension of her arm, she sears and swishes the rice noodles with a mastery that leaves you in awe!

Because there are also many other orders, and only small batches are cooked each time to ensure quality, we were told that it was at least a 20-minute wait. So we ordered food from other stalls outside. Yes, you’re allowed to order from the roadside stalls and bring the food into Cafe Heng Huat.

Laksa stall

Our taxi uncle told us this assam laksa is also very good.

Penang assam laksa, RM4.00 ≈ S$1.65

Doesn’t look very attractive, right?

Mix it all up!

But looks are deceiving! Penang assam laksa is totally different from Singapore laksa. There’s no coconut milk involved.

First, the broth is made by simmering mackerel for an hour until it disintegrates and creates a rich stock. Then, tamarind is added for that tangy taste. The end result is a sweet, tangy, and spicy broth!

This was my first authentic Penang laksa, so I’ve no benchmark to compare. But I found the broth sufficiently rich and thick with fish, and the overall flavours very pleasing! Hae ko 虾膏 (prawn paste), fresh pineapple, cucumber, and mint leaves make it even more appetizing. The thick rice noodles are cooked till soft and swollen, which kinda reminds me of udon.

Lorbak stall

We also ordered lor bak. Penang lor bak = Singapore ngoh hiang. Usually, lor bak is sold alongside fried spring rolls and prawn fritters.

Mixed platter, RM7.00 ≈ S$2.90

Penang lor bak is slightly different from our ngoh hiang. It’s braised pork which is chopped then rolled in beancurd skin and deep-fried. Sliced lor bak is served with braising sauce and chilli dip. I actually prefer lor bak cos there’s no 5-spice powder, unlike in ngoh hiang. Texturally, it’s also more meaty.

For this stall, I thought the items we tried were so-so only. Besides lor bak, there’s also fish (the yellow strips), prawn fritter (behind the fish), beancurd, and braised egg.

Char koay teow, RM8.50 ≈ S$3.50

Finally, after an agonizing 30-minute wait, this was our reward. We ordered the most expensive version, which comes with 5 unimaginably sweet, crunchy and juicy prawns! The prawns are seared till just cooked. Absolutely perfect timing! The cockles are just as fresh and succulent.

As for the koay teow, man, it had me weeping tears of joy. Fiery and smoking hot, it’s as if the noodles had come alive! Each chopstickful of koay teow was breathing with smouldering steam. And the charred noodles were slick but not oily. I’ve never eaten char koay teow with so much character!

The char koay teow is pricey by local standards, but I think it’s absolutely worth it!

Also read:
Penang Day 1
Penang Day 2: Hotel breakfast, Toh Soon Cafe, and tang yuen for supper
Penang Day 3: Char koay kak

Laksa, with cockles (S$5.90).

It’s been more than a year since my last visit to Prima Taste at Centrepoint. Actually, I shop at Centrepoint at least once a month, but after reading my archived post, I now remember why I’ve shunned Prima Taste for so long.

But it was a wet, gloomy day last Friday. And it was time for lunch. Suddenly, a craving for a bowl of aromatic, spicy, tummy-warming Singapore laksa hit me.

Since the vicinity ain’t exactly a mecca of laksa, I thought, “What the heck”. To be fair, Prima Taste’s laksa is nearly double the price of those at foodcourts, but the portion is larger and there are plenty of toppings.

At close range.

Just the sight of the bright orange gravy was enough to perk up my moody spirits. The thick rice vermicelli came with two large prawns, and lots of fishcake slices and cockles (optional). There was also a piece or two of chicken.

The coconut milk-based laksa gravy was good, but not as wonderful as I remembered it was. Could it be that there was too much dried shrimp, overpowering the flavors of the other spices? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Also, it was quite mild, but one could adjust the spice level with extra belachan chilli.

Nevertheless, it was aromatic. It was rich. It was comforting. Most importantly, it managed to satisfy my craving.

Prima Taste Kitchen
176 Orchard Road
#01-63/64 Centrepoint Shopping Centre
Singapore 238843
Tel: (65) 6887 3786
website: http://www.primataste.com.sg

cheers!

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