lime at parkroyal on pickering, chinatown (part 2)

very good, concise buffet spread at the new parkroyal on pickering. so I’ve told you a bit about this place and how pretty it is in my last post - and now let’s talk about the eatin’.

I feel the need to insert a caveat here – I enjoyed this spread because it had precisely the sort of thing I like to eat, but if you come here expecting the massive sort of round-the-world line-up the shangri-la provides,  then you might be a tad disappointed. I don’t personally go in for large spreads – I once filled up on popiah (a cheap local dish of braised radish) at another buffet to the desperation of my partner – and I appreciate quality over quantity.

lime at parkroyal on pickering, chinatown (part 1)

for part 2 of this post (with photos of the food!) – here’s it!

really good international-asianish buffet at the spanking-new parkroyal at pickering. it’s managed to bring some modern cool to this area – which despite growing into a hipster enclave, has kept to kitschy old-means-retro, rather than a modern aesthetique. this post also marks my first post back in singapore, and boy am I excited about that – I have an incredible backlog of posts and so ready to share.

so, the short: one of the better buffets, a small but good spread (might be subjective), and a lovely, gorgeous space with great service and no issues you’d associate with new establishments. this first post on the place is more space-descriptive – the eating comes in the next one here!

marriott café buffet, town

surprisingly, unexpectedly decent buffet spread at the ground floor cafe at the marriott. there isn’t much else to say about buffets (this is how blog posts always start before an astounding number of words follow) apart from the fact that it’s a manifestation of how greedy singaporeans can be (and are). there are people who try and strategise their day’s eating so as to make the most out of a single meal – I try rather to treat this as a sort of serve-yourself degustation menu. it’s far too easy to go overboard and hate yourself after the meal.

majestic hotel, chinatown

not a food post today so much as a conglomeration of photos I couldn’t not take while having a stroll through the majestic hotel. I’ve wanted to visit their namesake chinese restaurant for quite a long time, but an unfortunate combination of inconvenient location and mixed reviews means that I haven’t done it as yet – especially since every time I want dimsum, I essentially mean that I want a salted yolk custard bun. which means I want a damn good one – which brings me to taste paradise.

really a sort of fortunate-but-unfortunate-for-the-majestic cycle.

the lobby of this boutique hotel is filled with a mixture of artsy, new-retro hipster items like coffee books, childhood memorabilia (at a price that seems determined by emotional/nostalgic inflation rather than the national measure), and vintage ware. it makes for one cool display, and rather nice photos.

I foresee that there will come one day when I shall bemoan the demise of all these items, even in hipster shops, and then I guess this post and all the others I have written in opposition to the prevailing singapore-hipsterness will come and bite me on my behind.

the line, town

presumably the best buffet line-up locally, located in the shangri-la hotel. much has already been said about this restaurant on the blogosphere (there are such a great number of singapore food blogs – and I thought london was oversaturated!) so this is a short exposition for if you are a visitor to my blog and not familiar with singapore.

buffets are our local excuse to over-eat, and coupled with our no-lose mentality, they often result in us starving ourselves the morning/day before the buffet meal and then trying to lose ourselves in the food. the goal usually is to eat the equivalent cost of the buffet so as to ‘win’ though let me tell you from experience that the best way to attack a buffet is to eat moderately through the day without starving; if you try to starve your appetite, what usually happens is you end up being very bloated quickly and not able to eat much.

the line-up here includes cold seafood such as prawns, crabs and oysters – I was told lobsters are taken out during dinner time – cooked chinese food such as noodles and meat dishes, an indian counter serving curries and various tandooried ingredients, a dimsum steamer counter, a salad bar, a pizza and pasta bar, as well as a station with roast meats and another for sushi and sashimi. and if that wasn’t enough, the dessert here is usually pretty impressive, including quite a few jellies, cheesecakes, tartlets and a flowing chocolate fountain. I always end up sticking with fruit though.

angel house breakfast, krakow

this isn’t a restaurant review – but I thought I would make a note about the simplicity and beauty of breakfast.

we stayed at angel house (I highly recommend it! but it is five storeys up with no lift so be aware) for our trip in krakow – and it really is sort of like having a bed seat, but done professionally.

breakfast is simple, a bowl of cereal in milk – muesli for me – as well as a slice of local bread with some cheese. it brings so much pleasure to wake up in the morning to know you will be well-fed!