Lavish Buffet

Lavish Buffet

Wednesday, 4 June 2014

British Colonial Weekend Afternoon Tea at Cassia (Capella Singapore - 1 The Knolls, Level 3, Sentosa Island) Reservation: 6591 5045

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Visited on 31 May 2014 (Sat).  Weekend Afternoon Tea is available from 3-5pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. 

(3 Tier Stand + Complimentary Free Flow of Tea)

Price: $39.90++ per person  (Items are non-refillable)


Cassia is a modern chinese restaurant in a colonial building that reflects a sophisticated interior with lush fabrics and a unique blend of warm and cool tones. 

Cassia offers both Asian and Western type of afternoon tea (Dim Sum Afternoon Tea and English Afternoon Tea) so you can have the chance to try out 2 different types of high tea. (This only applies to Weekend)

We chose to have the English Afternoon Tea this round at Cassia and will definitely be back again to try the Dim Sum Afternoon Tea. 

Capella Singapore
Quiet and Beautiful Capella in a colonial building



The vibrant lobby to Cassia upstairs. The aircon here is much cooling than Cassia.. 





If there is no one at the reception here, take the flight of stairs up to Cassia on the right..




This is what you will see when you first enter the restaurant...Modern Oriental settings ...






Love this elegant seat so much!




The seating at Cassia is very nice but they're too low and a bit cramp under the table so not very comfy to sit long if 2 persons sit at the sofa together.


Love the relax and cosy ambience here!





There's a small private dining room behind this partition.


And this is how it looks like - Intimate 6-seater dining...









White Tea (Aromatized tea with Iris, Blue Lily and Orange Blossom) and Marco Polo (Scented black tea with Lychee and Rose)
Do note that the tea is refillable and they do not serve tea in a pot here. But the staff will take note of every table and come to refill your cup of tea regularly. We chose the White Tea (Aromatized tea with Iris, Blue Lily and Orange Blossom) and Marco Polo (Scented black tea with Lychee and Rose). The white tea tastes lighter with orange scent while the marco polo tea is slightly stronger with rose scent and we both preferred the Marco Polo.. :)


English Afternoon Tea
They served the clotted cream and jam for the scone with some strawberries..


Top Tier: From left to right - Horseradish Salmon Sandwich with Salmon Caviar (My Most Favourite!), Egg Croissant Toast, Salmon Burrito with Olive Oil Caviar, Cream Cheese with Pesto, Fresh Tomato & Cheese Lavosh



Second Tier: From left to right: Passion Fruit Macaroon, Cranberry Scone, Green Tea Pound Cake (My Most Favourite -  It was very aromatic!)



Bottom Tier: From left to right: Lemon Tart Meringue (My Most Favourite!) , Chocolate Pastry Cream Eclair, Fruit Tart, Opera Cake


Oriental Dim Sum Afternoon Tea


I have to rave about the English Afternoon Tea here - This was one of the BEST that we had! We enjoyed every single item as they were all very high quality, really nothing to complain about. 

Just that we were a little unhappy about their service at the initial stage - We were the first to arrive and order for the afternoon tea before the next 2 tables arrived but we were the last to receive the 3-tier set which made us feel we were treated unfairly. Other than this incident, the service was very good, our tea was refilled regularly.

Remember to leave the restaurant by this outdoor terrace to overlook verdant gardens and the distant city.





*Highly Recommended*


Afternoon Tea at Capella Singapore:

Mondays to Fridays - Only available at The Knolls from 3-5pm (English Afternoon Tea)

Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays - Only available at Cassia from 3-5pm (English Afternoon Tea / Oriental Dim Sum Afternoon Tea)




Note: Complimentry Carpark Coupon available!


Tuesday, 3 June 2014

(CLOSED DOWN) Lunch Buffet at Open House (Grand Park Orchard, Level 4 - 270 Orchard Road) Reservation: 6603 8855

Visited on 30 May 2014 (Fri). Lunch Buffet at $28++ per pax = Total bill of $56 for 2 pax. (After 15% off)
(Complimentary parking is applicable from Mondays to Fridays at 12-3pm only)

Current Credit Card Promotion: 15% off for DBS/HSBC!

Open House is a chic and vibrant restaurant with four live cooking stations, serving a la minute signature dishes including pizzas, dim sum, laksa, claypot favourites as well as roast meat with noodles or rice. Of course not forgetting the delectable dessert station! 

Don't expect wide variety of food as this buffet only costs $28++ per pax during lunch time. I feel that the variety of food here is just nice to fill up our normal empty stomach. Let's have a look at the photos of this cosy ambience restaurant below!







First Station - Roast Meat


I do not have high expectations on their roasted meat station initially as most of the roasted meat at 5 star hotels disappoint me. To my surprise, the soya sauce chicken, char siew, roasted duck and pork belly here appeared to be one of the best that i had especially the soya sauce chicken - melted in the mouth. Maybe i was lucky to get all the tender parts of the meat on this plate! 

2nd Station - Noodles



All Time Favourite - The Laksa here never disappoint me. The coconut curry gravy was thick enough and the ingredients were fresh too!


Healthy Slice Fish Soup - The broth was light and and nice. The fried fish slice was tender - melted in the mouth!


3rd Station - Dim Sum



 Hmm.. their dim sum here doesn't look appealing at all -  Both siew mai and char siew bao... Really don't know how to describe the appearance of their siew mai here. Plain and ugly? The taste was alright, better than how it looks.. But they really need to put in some effort to make it more appealing.. 

The skin of the char siew bun was quite soft and the sweetness of the char siew was just nice. Just that the appearance doesn't look appealing as well..



4th Station - Claypot and Pizza




The Kung Po Chicken here was very disappointing..  The sauce was way too sour.. Probably too much vinegar or lemongrass...



We ordered half Hawaiian and half Margherita. The pizza that day was average, nothing special.  We used to have Otah and Terriyaki Chicken Pizza here which was super nice so was a tad disappointed on that day.


Dessert Station



Love the Mango Mirror here but have to act fast.. They have very limited mango cake so once finished, they will replenish other type of cake...


The Chocolate Royalty and Cappucino cake was average but the strawberry cake was very soft and nice! The strawberry cream puff tasted quite bad..


Oh i've forgotten to touch the pear pie and the nonya kueh!


Hmm.... None of these was nice...  :(


Photo taken in 2013 - All these shot glass desserts were so nice back in 2013....





Hot dessert of the day was Pulut Hitam!


I like their Pulut Hitam - Light and nice! You can add how much coconut cream as you like to enhance the taste. 


Nice Vanilla Bean and Chocolate ice-cream!


Sushi and Salad Station


Appetizers and Seafood on Ice Station




Top up additional $5++ for free flow of soft drinks/juices!



Overall it's quite a decent and value for money buffet. But the standard of the food and the service here has dropped quite a lot compared to year 2013. 

The service was average, not very efficient compared to last year as most of the staff was different and some of them seemed very young with no experience. We ordered 1 Orange Juice (Additional of $5++) but it was not served for very long until we told another staff. 

As the buffet prices here is not on the high side so it's still acceptable with the quality of the food and service here. But it would be good if they can improve in these two areas to attract more people.


Website: http://www.parkhotelgroup.com/orchard/dining/open-house/



Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Weekend Brunch Set Menu at TWG Tea on the Bridge (The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands 2 Bayfront Avenue, B2-89/89A) Reservation: 6535 1837

TWG stands for The Wellness Group, was established in Singapore. It is a luxury concept that incorporates an international distribution network to professionals, unique and original retail outlets and exquisite tea rooms.

All the TWG Tea Salon's patisseries are freshly handmade and crafted daily by Executive Pastry Chef Philippe Langlois.

I personally love the 2 TWG Tea outlets at MBS: 

1) TWG Tea on the Bridge  - Visited on 25 May 2014 (Sun)

2) TWG Tea Garden (Elegant Round Settings) - Will try this outlet next time for the high tea!

Weekend Brunch: 10am to 3pm










Every set is actually for 1 person's share. But their prices are really steep so we just chose the Gourmet Brunch Set Menu which is also their cheapest menu to share and try how good is the quality of their food.. With such prices for per pax, we can easily have a sumptuous breakfast buffet at a 5 star hotel.


We can choose a pot of TWG Tea. They have a very extensive tea list, too many selection see until i'm blur. For brunch set menu, we can only choose those tea at $11... In the end i chose my favourite Vanilla Tea. Love the Vanilla fragrance in the premium TWG Tea! Glad that Orange juice is included in the set as well. :)



It's so relaxing to dine on the bridge and above the small river, whereby you can watch sampan ride pass by underneath.. 



French Brioche Toasts served with TWG Tea Jelly


I really love their tea jelly so much! A tad sour and a tad sweet -  Very refreshing! It's a pity the portion is so small... 



I love this so much! We usually see Egg breakfast comes with ham, sausage or bacon. But here, the chef is very creative. They replaced the usual boring items to shrimps and smoked salmon which made it more atas! The scramble egg with matcha was cooked to perfection, just nice! The 3 shrimps were tasty with the natural sweetness. Last but not least, the yummy smoked salmon. A special splendid brunch that i had so far! :-)


We can have a choice of their TWG Tea Patisserie from this trolley!


This is the TWG Tea Patisserie collection for that day. We can choose any patisserie on the plate except those mini ones at the center...


I chose this passion fruit cake - It has a very unique taste! The top layer is quite sour but very refreshing with subsequent layers of different tastes like cheese, chocolate and the last layer, i reckon its either matcha or those lotus that are used to make mooncake.. So overall the combined taste really gave us a very special and happy feeling! A sweet ending to end our meal! :)


Note: I must say the food quality here is quite high, not to mention the tea as well.. Very relax ambience.. Definitely worth a visit... But they must really improve in their service level to complement the quality of their food. If the service is bad here, we might as well go to hotels, pay the same amount of $$ but receive much better service than here. 

As we were there very early with just less than 4 tables, the service was still quite bad. We have finished our meal for quite some time and expect the staff to come and clear our table but the staff just stand there and look around, saw our table but still didn't bother to come and clear the plates. I still have to ask him to come and clear and serve us our dessert. This kind of service shouldn't have happened at such a luxury place at TWG....


*Highly Recommended for the food* but not the price and the service!



Website: http://www.twgtea.com/ourlocations.html