For the longest time, we've been wanting to try The Line at Shang - the best buffet in town, apparently. But after a trip to Paris, the J-couple decided that buffets should include foie gras and macarons, so MELT seemed to be a better choice.
This was exactly a week after my prosecco brunch at The Lighthouse. So, despite the fact that the Sunday brunch does offer the optional champagne (and premium champagne at a higher price), I decided that another round of bubbly might just draw me into addiction.
I reinstated my stand at MELT - that there's no such thing as a gourmet spread, simply because of the unjustifiable pricetag. For S$88++, I don't think we should expect anything beyond decent foie gras and baby lobsters. It's about the variety and here at MELT, the choices are sufficiently enticing.
Buffets are about having fun (soberly or not) and this is the best time to play around with your food. Mixing your food, I mean. There I was, making myself a burger combining ground beef patty, gherkin, mustard and foie gras, and created a surprisingly workable cold inaniwa udon with air-dried beef. In between the sashimi, egg benedict, fish cutlet with cooked dragonfruit, grilled ribs with red wine rendered cabbage, prime rib slice, honey-glazed ham, Yorkshire pudding and some oriental dishes, there were sorbets as palate cleansers. Desserts make up of, at most, 2.781% of my interest at the buffet table but at MELT, I must say the sweets were lovely. The macarons, profiteroles, cheesecake, ispahan and chocolate pudding, yes, especially the rich chocolate pudding, are worth a mention. It was a good ending to the non-bubbly affair.
The earlier plan was to have a long run in the evening but instead, I slept through the cool evening. No regrets, of course.
Fresh Seafood
Inaniwa Udon + Air Dried Beef
Beef Burger + Foie Gras
Tiramisu, Macaron, Profiterole, Cheesecake, Ispahan, Chocolate Pudding
MELT @ Mandarin Oriental Hotel
5 Raffles Avenue
Marina Square
Singapore 039797
Tel: (+65) 6885 3082
17 comments:
I don't like to go for buffets but if I do, desserts make up of, at least 97.2191% of my interest at the buffet table hahaha.
88SGD? Wah....
(But that is quite a lot of "expensive" food offered so I guess it's quite worth it?... But how much is it for the buffet with champagne?)
Hmm, Devil still owes me a treat at Shang punya buffet. I wonder if I can upgrade to MELT @Mandarin Oriental? Hmm... ;)
Recently I can't really enjoy buffet. Maybe due to my catching up of age. So, a la carte is my preference.
I thought MELT was good - better than The Line in my opinion... but I just tried a new one that surpasses them both - 333 @ Mandarin Orchard!
Less variety but much better/fresher ingredients.
There is no such thing as too much champagne, sweetie. ^_^
Cool bananas - making your own burger. Imagine, you can make a triple decker and show off your eating skills (ze mouth can open really big, no?).
Lovely pictures, as always. :-)
foie gras buffet? oh dear, i can imagine me stuffing foie down my throat like hoow the geese r being force fed..(kinda sick rite?)
$88 can have foie gras for buffet, quite a steal, do u think so?
Inaniwa Udon Air Dried Beef looks sp paper thin.. must be awesome.. wah somebody's like major luxe tastebuds now hor.. gourmet burger all, chis.. got fwah grah! hehe
Huat ah! Even the price so auspicious wan, 88 ;)
The spread looks delish bro. And I agree with meenachi, there is no such thing as too much champagne.
Kong Hee Fatt Choy!
A well worth buffet with all the food that you mentioned.
Wow you finally blogged this! :D
MELT sure has a lot of variety, but the hot mains generally suffer from being left on the warmers.
Seafood, cheeses and desserts are superb though.
dude, you are SO EVIL! how could you? after brunch at lighthouse, and now this? :D
I find it hard at buffets to eat as much as my brain tells me to! But oh everything looks beautiful, especially the udon.
It's on the pricey side, but the food looks mega-yummy.
Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
ice, i KNEW it! hahahaha! i was surprised that the desserts were good! am looking forward to try that k ki place you blogged about! :D
j, yupe, agree! that's why i thought the spread was quite good. ;D oh, champagne/wine at S$118, premium champagne/wine at S$338.
kenny, go for Shang lah! then i can join y'all. the buffet monster is waiting to be unleashed, yet again! hahaha!
Shell (貝殼), haha, you are right. i can't take as much as i used to as well. but it's fun sometimes to just go crazy with food, i think...haha!
ernst, thanks for stopping by! and thanks for the recommendation as well! surpassing the two is a feat and i'm looking forward to it!
lyrical lemongrass, you know best, sweetie! ^_^ are you saying that i've got a big mouth?? hahahaha! ya know, i was tempted to have 3 pieces of foie gras in my burger but a bit shy to ask for 3 at one go..haha. thanks for the compliment, yo.
joe, well, my first stop was the foie gras station! haha. but these days, i try to eat less foie gras and go for the good ones. the stories on the internet are quite sad la.
mimi, yeah, i agree! it's not often that we find buffets like these. and the seafood corner's quite good too. unlimited baby lobsters and oysters. shiok! :D
cumi & ciki, the beef was a last minute find! *happy* aiyoh, where got luxe tastebuds? once in a while only. i'm still a hokkien mee guy at heart! hahaha! come over, we go eat!
unkaleong, ooohhh, i didn't realise the huat factor in the pricing! hey, hope to see ya this cny. in the meantime, gong hei fatt choy to you! win BIG-BIG!! :D
ck lam, i agree! money well-spent. there were lotsa other dishes that i didn't mention as well. :D
camemberu, yeah, i finally blogged about melt. too many things to blog about la...hehe. oooh, i didn't get to check out the cheese section because i was having too much fun with the burgers! another visit? :D
ladyironchef, coincidental, that's for sure! haha. i was basically back to greens and rice for the next month. :D
diva, hey, thanks for dropping by! :D i agree that at buffets, the mind's saying "let's go" but the stomach's saying "no!". haha. i love inaniwa udon and basically had a small portion to go with every dish. love the cold dressing too.
alexander, the spread was yummy! hey, give it a try when you come back to singapore! this cny perhaps? :D
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