Rise @Marina Bay Sands

It was years since the last time we have enjoyed a buffet at Rise. Read online that it has been revamped, and yes, we did have a very pleasant surprise!

It certainly looks grander than before. The customers at the restaurants come from many nationalities. Being an international buffet, it has what it is supposed to have- Indian, Chinese, Western, etc.

Hello!

The table is set for 10! Love the potted plants from their own herb gardens! 

Breads section

Kept warm with the heated lighting. Lots of jams for you to choose from.

 Local Delicacies- Live Station

The Honeycomb

Yes, legit and dripping, onto chopped walnuts and almonds, to pair with your cheeses and crackers.

The pig. 

Seafood on Ice section

The Alaskan Snow Crab legs were, sadly, chopped into very small pieces, which somehow destroys the experience of eating such a great delicacy. 

Well, the live-shucked oysters made up!

Apart from these, we get the usual prawns, clams. scallops. 

Seafood on plates

Sashimi

Look at the thick, thick slabs!!

 Desserts

They have much more whole cakes, which can get really filling...

Live Desserts Station

Waffles and Crepe Suzette!

 The other side of the Desserts station

Thai Red Ruby, White and Milk Chocolate Fondue, Snickers bars, and Hershey Kisses...

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Verdict:

What we think:

For the price (30% off with Sands Lifestyle Card),  we think it's pretty worth the money. 

Food: 4/5

Lots of varieties! Interesting dishes to note: Legit honeycomb (at the cheese section), make your own Soda, as well as a whole Babi Guling!

It was year style="text-align: left;"> Service: 3/5

The waiters can be overwhelmed at times. Takes awhile to have plates cleared.

Decor & Ambiance: 5/5

Great for family, at the ground level of where the hotels are located. What more can we say? 

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

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About it:

Rise

Address: Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018956

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Escape Restaurant & Lounge @One Farrer Hotel

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Verdict:
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Total Score: 4/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Escape Restaurant & Lounge
Address: One Farrer Hotel & Spa, 1  Farrer Park Station Road, Singapore 217562
Price: $68++ per person (food only)

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Lime Restaurant @Park Royal at Pickering

We had full of hopes for this beautiful place after visiting it during a wedding fair. And after, you know, the Hit man: Agent 47 movie, as one of the scenes was shot in their beautiful Presidential Suite.

The place!

There were hits and misses.

Of course, the lovely decoration and ambiance is a definite 10/10 hit. It's one of the classiest hotel around. We love the restrooms especially. All the wood, shouting eco-friendliness. There weren't much people around on a Sunday, but the wait staff were quite attentive.

There was a special Peranakan feature in the buffet line, which is partly why we were there, for our Peranakan mother's birthday. Sadly, only the Durian desert made the mark, but the rest were pretty average.

The Peranakan spread...

No fancy Alaskan King Crab legs, but there were ample freshly shucked oysters. Tuna sashimi was not fantastic, tasting kind of rubbery, but the Salmon did its job alright.

The Western section is good, with live carving station of pork belly, which surprisingly, wasn't tough at all. There is a live cooking station of pasta, where they even serve Squid Ink pasta. You get to have as much cheese as you like. Oomph!

There's the usual Chinese, Indian section as well. Desserts is good, especially their Chocolate cake. They have their full and small cakes on display just beside their buffet section. A pretty smart idea, I thought, as guests would probably be tempted to purchase the beautifully decorated cake, and quite affordable (think of full-sized birthday cakes at only $45 for delicious chocolate or tiramisu!), while walking to get their food.

Whole Cakes at only $45!

As a friend was celebrating her birthday, I told the hotel about it, and the wait staff was especially thoughtful. She only waited for the birthday to leave the table and asked me questions like, when should the surprise cake be served etc. I was initially worried she'd ask me in front of the birthday girl and it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!

And... Yes, they did it! They brought the cake in from her back and she looked truly delighted at the singing staff and beautiful cake with a lit-up candle. The trio of staff and us sang her a birthday song happily, and of course, we are all happy customers.

There were quite a few customers celebrating their birthday as well, as they did the same for all. It was really sweet.

I wouldn't go back again for the food, unless they had a one-for-one promo, but the ambiance and interior of the restaurant and the service of the wait staff is certainly one-of-a-kind.

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Verdict:
Food: 1/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 2/5
Total Score: 1/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Lime Restaurant
Address: PARKROYAL on Pickering, a PARKROYAL Collection hotel, 3 Upper Pickering Street, Singapore 058289
Prices:

		Adult (SGD)	Children  (Six to 12 years old) (SGD)
Lunch	Mondays to Fridays	48	24
	Saturdays	52	26
Dinner	Mondays to Thursdays	62	31
	Fridays to Sundays	68	34
Brunch	Sundays	98 138 (inclusive of Champagne and house wines)	49

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Triple Three @Mandarin Orchard Hotel

When our friends eagerly asked us the next day after we tried the dinner buffet at Triple Three, Mandarin Orchard Hotel, we shook our heads sadly.

The place!

Perhaps our expectations were initially too high- after all we heard many good reviews about the place. Also, the restaurant was always fully booked during its one-for-one promotion, especially on weekends. Maybe the spread during weekends were better than the Monday we ate on. Luckily we didn't pay the full price, because if I did, I would be twice as sad.

Imagine the long queues forming in this small space...

The Carving station

  

Desserts

There were too much waiting involved.
For example, there is a live carving station which had 3 meats but one staff carving. Everybody waits. The worst would be the live shucking Oysters section. The two poor chefs' hands seemed to be trembling from all the shucking for like, 20 oysters per person? And the stares of the hungry people waiting in line on them.

We had to wait for the Japanese Sashimi too, and they only gave a few small pieces per person. You had to wait for the naans or prata at the Indian station.
Forget about taking it for the whole table, then settling down to eat. Everybody has to queue. Everybody at the table is wondering where did one of us go to, and yes, they were queueing.

The next thing that put us off is the spread. The spread, was little, for say, Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, which was at a lower price. There were only three food lines, another desserts and cheese line. Local food, seafood, Japanese sashimi, Indian food.

The food was not that tasty...
There was a theme for everyday, and Monday was about crabs. But the only crab I could see was the Alaskan King Crab... legs and bodies. The legs were so salty, we wondered how long they've been submerged in salted water. After one or two legs, we gave up. They weren't sweet at all.

The vegetables came out under cooked and tasted raw because the chefs had to cook quickly to cater to the long queues.

The rest of the food were quite so-so. The beef from carving station was too tough and veiny. The only decent beef was the Teppanyaki, but again, you had to wait as it runs out quite quickly.

Liu sha bao is good, phew.

All in all, don't bother going if you're going to pay for the full price. If there's are one-for-one promotion, you might want to let me know if the weekends spread was better. Else, there're many other options around.

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Verdict:
Food: 1/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 2/5
Total Score: 1/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Triple Three
Address: Level 5, Mandarin Orchard Singapore, 333 Orchard Road, 238867
Prices:
Sunday to Wednesday: $88++ (Adult), $33++ (Child 6 to 12yrs)
Thu/Fri/Sat & Eve of Public Holiday and Public Holiday: $98++ (Adult); $33++ (Child 6 to 12yrs)
Sunday Lunch: $118++ (Adult), $42++ (Child 6 to 12yrs)
Top up for free flow of Chandon Brut sparkling wine at $30++ for 2 hours

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Caprilicious at Capri by Frasers @Changi

Sunday dinner buffet at Caprilicious at Capri by Frasers was a random decision. Hunger pangs at 4+pm, we decided to wait to fill our empty tummies with the delicious... lobsters!

The place!

We booked via Eatigo- my recent go-to app for meal ideas, as there is a 50% off for reservations made at 6pm for Caprilicious! Hoo-ray! Originally at $50, after discount, it's only $25++/pax!

What's more, this price's for a Boston Lobster buffet.

Sashimi from the buffet line

More from the buffet line...

When we reached there, we were told it's a semi-buffet, but trust me, if everyone orders 2 lobsters to share, that's actually quite a lot. Plus, the little buffet is good as well. Though basic, nothing fancy, they have the decent Chinese cuisine, Japanese tuna and salmon sashimi, no crabs, but they do have prawns. They have a pre-sliced beef station with brown sauce and potato wedges, and a bread station. The desserts located at the entrance is quite good too! A whole line by itself! That's pretty much.

We liked their Rock Lobster Bisque! A tad salty, but hey, it's really rich, and we're pretty much convinced it's made of the real stuff, after all, the remnants of so much lobster has to go somewhere right?

Here comes the lobster meal!

There're appetizers, mains (Western & Asian) and desserts to choose from, but we chose all from the first two. Desserts seem kinda not-worth-the-price.

Desserts line (aka the entrance)

Desserts (from the buffet line)!

Latte!

I guess the pictures speak for themselves! 

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Verdict:

Food: 1/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 2/5

Total Score: 1/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:

Caprilicious

Address: 3 Changi Business Park Central 1, Singapore 486037

Prices:
S$50++ per adult
S$27++ per child (Children age between 5-12 years old)

Buffet theme ongoing in this post: Caprilicious Boston Lobster Dinner Adventure
- Every Sat and Sun evenings from 6pm to 10pm
- Choose 2 lobster dishes from delectable selections each time you visit

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Cafe Mosaic @Bugis, Carlton Hotel

We've always walked past this place and wondered what's with the happy faces of the people inside.
And finally, a card promotion (one-for-one) finally allowed us to have the chance to dive into this buffet without much consideration. At $91 after taxes, it works out to be less than $50 per pax.

 Fruits!

Fresh seafood and salad

Live cooking and carving station

Desserts Station

Which honestly, we'd suggest you skip this place.

They were doing some promotions on bountiful seafood, but honestly, other than oysters, mussels, prawns, endless salmon sashimi, there's not much variety. No crabs, no crayfishes, no Alaskan King Crab legs. Stuff yourself silly with salmon sashimi. And a salad station.

Live stations, there was laksa, which was quite tasty, and LOTS OF SAUTEED vegetables. Kang Kong, cabbage, beansprouts, shitake mushrooms, dou miao. We ate the most dou miao ever in our lives.

Carving station, they only had roast beef. That's it.

Chinese food, they had your usual soy sauce fish slices, rice, etc.

The desserts station consisted of only slices of cakes and puddings, with 3 soupy desserts. One of it Red Ruby, which we jumped for joy, but felt eeky after the first mouth as the chestnut has all become soggy, not crunchy at all. Nothing interesting, no fondues, no ice stations, etc. The ice creams were a low key affair, with coconut being a substitute for vanilla, and the topping stations a few steps away from the ice cream chest. Pretty weird setup.

No Indian food station, no different cuisines. It was the first time we actually had space in our stomachs two servings of ice cream.

The decor is great, but the varieties are just too little. If you're going to visit this place paying full price, I'd recommend you to visit other buffet lines.

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Verdict:
Food: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 1/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Cafe Mosaic
Address: 76 Bras Basah Rd, 189558
Price:
Exclusively for Citibank, DBS/POSB and UOB Cardmembers for a limited time only*

Enjoy 1-for-1 Adult Buffet
Lunch: Mondays to Fridays
Dinner: Daily

Lunch Buffet, 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Mondays to Fridays       $53++ per adult, $26++ per child

Dinner Buffet, 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Sundays to Thursdays     $78++ per adult,  $39++ per child
Fridays to Saturdays        $88++ per adult, $44++ per child
Free flow of soft drinks and chilled juices at $9++
Sommelier selected wine at $11++ per glass and $52++ per bottle

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