cafe brio’s buffet, copthorne kings hotel

small buffet at the grand copthorne waterfront hotel along zion – this is going to be a short one, because while the buffet isn’t outstanding (pretty much at all), I thought it worth a shout-out for its quite reasonable price and decent spread.

I find buffets to be a good manifestation of the diminishing returns quandary – although there are fantastic, fantastic, large buffets that are priced equally exceptionally (by which I mean high), how much food can you really eat – and more to the point, how much do you want to pay for it?

this place is pretty much mid-priced, but I think its crowds on the weekends (especially at dinner, when there is a barbecue pit fired up serving up all sorts of meats and seafood) are testament to the fact that it feels pretty much worth its lower price (especially if you get the ala carte card, with which there is a further discount).

there isn’t much here that is fantastic, although I enjoy the roast beef when they have it, and can consume a pretty decent amount of cold prawns (usually fresh and meaty). the sashimi is more than edible, the sushi is quite lamentable, but the cooked food dishes (usually chinese and peranakan) do a good job of filling stomach space.

the dessert table is often questionable – sometimes you get a decent chinese dessert amongst the rather okay cakes, and there’s always fruit, fondue and ice cream, if you’re so inclined.

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the tldr version: cheaper than your average buffet, but decent for a family meal.

Café Brio’s Buffet
Grand Copthorne Waterfront Singapore
392 Havelock Rd, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel
Singapore 169663
tel +65 6233 1100
$$: 48++ onward (depending on lunch or dinner, weekday or -end)

the square, clarke quay

that first photo already screams buffet, does it not? and this is the hotel buffet of the novotel at clarke quay, a small one located up on level 17.

it’s a little difficult to talk about buffets, just because the format translates to far too many dishes to talk about, and very few that actually warrant that attention.

so I feel sorry about small buffets like this one – which need to go down the popular route and serve items like cold seafood (decent), sashimi (unfortunately mostly tuna) and sushi (really quite a sad selection – and also differentiate themselves.

kiseki, orchard central

not really a very good japanese buffet – but if you aren’t too fussy and want a buffet, this one gives you an option at a pretty decent price.

buffets are a difficult format to serve, in any case – food gets dried out from constant cooking by the ambient heat of the foodwarmer, the spread tends to be unimpressive unless you pay quite a lot, and quality gets overlooked in favor of quantity.

chihuly lounge, ritz carlton singapore

le massive sigh. chihuly was supposed to be the stuff of high tea dreams, what with the amazing superbrunch done here every year, and come on – it’s the ritz right? the damn ritz. the very name evokes connotations of luxury and all sorts of poshness, beautiful furnishings, great food and even better service.

and well, they got all but those last two right.

straits cafe at hotel rendezvous, bras basah

ok, so I promise this the last of chinese new food-related posts for this year at least; but this post was sitting forlornly in the drafts folder, and I thought to share.

I’ve reviewed this place before, and I pronounced it decent – which I would like to iterate now. what I should say in addition, though, is that while it may not be the best buffet in singapore, I think it the best for its utility-to-price ratio.

smokehouse charcoal bbq, river valley

the moluccas room, marina bay sands

indian curry house, bukit timah

good indian food – but rather abrupt service – at this hideaway restaurant in bukit timah. it’s not an area I venture too often to these days – lack of a driving license and the sparsity of public transport make it almost entirely not-worth-the-while – but the lure of a groupon promotion and an impossible-to-excuse-onself-from family meal meant I actually had the chance to try this place.

and it was a good meal – though really, it’s a cuisine marked by bombastic explosions of spice and a rather hedonistic use of carbohydrates, which gives it more than a robust starting point to start with.

melt – the world café, town (part 2)

this is literally and metaphorically the sweet section of a review on the buffet at melt. part uno on the savouries here.

rather fantastic desserts at this buffet in the mandarin oriental. if you’ve been hanging a while here – why hello there – then you know I have a sweet tooth. the long of the short is that the desserts here span cakes, mousses, little mignardises and modernesque dessert-in-spoons, fruit and a cheese board. and a waffle maker.

fresh on-the-spot when-you-want-it piping-hot waffles from a live waffle-maker. why, hello there. 

melt – the world café, town (part 1)

probably the best buffet I’ve had in singapore – in spread and overall food quality . buffets are a tricky beast to photograph – so many things on offer, and the whole public exposure factor involved in toting a camera to every dish. too daunting – but I tried my best.

this is a photo post – largely because of the sheer volume, but in short: high quality food – not the best in themselves, especially if considered separately  – but very good for the fantastically large range on offer. even better than the line at the shangri-la, which has seen standards dwindling in the past years. heavy sticker on this one too, but we walked waddled away overstuffed and happy – so perhaps an occasional treat?

oh, and I haven’t mentioned their fantastic post-dinner sweet section eh? very impressive, this one – more on that in a later post today here!