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.

borough market, take 2

I’m feeling quite terribly homesick for london right now, so I thought I ought to dash this one right off into the blogosphere. there is something about london in winter, and I wish I were back there – even with the blighting cold that seems to have hit earlier this year.

you’ll see now that my photos mark the date at which I was in london – it was barely midway through autumn where pumpkins abounded with mushrooms and other seasonal goodies, and mulled wine was starting to make its presence felt in the market through long queues at stores and the smell of alcohol and spices wafting through the air.

the medley of mushrooms in the second photograph are especially beautiful in light of the fact that you can barely get such a variety in singapore – and if they are available here, the prices are far too ridiculous. I had also never seen mushrooms as blue as the ones I saw at the market that day, and I think they would be amazing wilted down in a knob of butter and grated garlic.

there is much to enjoy in singapore food-wise, but especially on days like this one, looking at photos of my adventures in london take me back to a wonderfully unforgettable – and dearly-missed – period of my life.

borough market, london

a first of two posts on borough market – I love this place. there is something incredible about markets – the produce, the produce-producers, the products from the produce – my catalogue of posts about markets is rather testament to my fascination with them.

london doesn’t have nearly as many pedestrian markets as in france, and I’ve always found somehow that london markets have a higher ratio of cooked food and packaged food stores than actual grown produce. that’s just my impression though – and not necessarily a bad one as it means I can nibble from store to store (the remainder of that usually goes to my long-suffering partner and family).

dining at the whole foods market, london

okay food at the whole foods market food court along high street kensington. whole foods is admittedly a pretty awesome place for groceries – but sometimes its cooked food options aren’t the best. I’m happy enough with their salad bar on the ground floor – hugely exorbitant though – and some of their cold offerings behind the counter, but their hot food always seem a let down – usually overcooked, continuously heated food with grey-ing vegetables and I suspect, very few nutrients. the food court above fairs better, though I’ve really only patronized the mexican, the japanese and now the american barbecue store. it’s not bad food necessarily, and possibly could remain an option if you’re already doing your groceries there, but certainly not worth traveling for.

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.