Lavish Buffet

Lavish Buffet

Friday, 12 September 2014

Crab Ah at Atmosphere By The Sea (Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa - 101 Siloso Road, Sentosa, Singapore 098970) Reservation via Email: fbreservation.sen@shangri-la.com

Visited on 5th Sep 2014 (Fri). Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa, Singapore presents Crab Ah! from 1 August 2014. This was held during sunset on the waterfront of the South China Sea on Every Friday - 6.30pm to 9.00pm. 

You can enjoy the 5 course set dinner for two :
(Appetiser + Around 1 kg Sri Lankan Crabs + Shrimp Fried Rice + Seasonal Vegetables + Dessert + Free Flow of Bottled Tiger Beer + Red/White Wine = $138++ for two persons (Total bill of $162.40)


You will see this cute "Crab Ah" signboard at the Rasa Sentosa's open carpark!











The hotel is resort style so be prepared that the whole place including the hotel lobby is non-air-conditioned..




Tada - This is Atmosphere By the Sea! The venue where we will be having the 5 course set dinner by the romantic seaside!


The first 3 tables nearest to the waterfront are the best seats to enjoy the charming sea view! An intimate outdoor dining experience! :)









Be prepared to see many peacocks come near you.. There were a total of 4 peacocks came when the food was served. I think it's because they smelled the aromatic food so they came to check it out. Haha! I was really afraid that they will come and disturb us. The staff told me not to worry as they will just pass by and will not come to disturb us. So remember do not feed them any food and they will go off by themselves after a while..


A small tent for an array of desserts


That includes nonya kuehs and a ice-kachang machine for you to make ice-kachang yourself.





Free flow of Teh Tarik


Nice table settings with all the finger bowl and crab crackers ready.



First Course: Deep-Fried White Bait
The white bait was deep fried with garlic, salt & pepper! Very crispy and highly addictive!! Fantastic Appetiser to start off the meal while waiting for the main crab!


2nd Course: We chose to cook the Crab in Superior XO Sauce + 6 pieces of Golden Deep-Fried Mantou Buns
You can dip the Mantou buns into the XO sauce. Yummy!


You can choose to cook the crab in your favourite style with a choice from the 4 sauces (Chilli, Black Pepper, Salted Egg Or Steamed in Superior XO Sauce). The first 3 choices are very common that you can find at anywhere so we decided to choose the last choice that are not so popular. To our surprise, this XO Sauce complemented very well with the crab, super nice, it's something like oyster sauce! It's too aromatic till only our table attracted the flies. Most of the tables ordered Chilli and Salted egg but no flies.. We still enjoyed the yummy fresh crab though.. The crabs here were very fresh and nice!!


3rd Course: Seasonal Vegetables
Note: After the crab is served, they will serve the vegetables & the fried rice together shortly for you to eat the crab with the fried rice & vegetables together. If you do not like all to be served together (Unable to consume all at a time and the food get cold easily), remember to inform the staff to serve the side dishes at a later time when you place your order.


4th Course: Shrimp Fried Rice
I love the shrimps here, very succulent! A fragrant shrimp fried rice!


5th Course: Tropical Ice-Cream Gelato
1 Scoop of Teh Tarik and 1 Scoop of Pandan Gelato for per person to end the feast on a sweet note! I don't really like the Teh Tarik, i prefer the Pandan. The Pandan Gelato here has a super strong Pandan fragrance which i love so much!!! But it's a tad powdery otherwise it will be perfect!




Very coarse ice here, hawker ones are much more nicer. You can skip this ice-kachang..


They have very nice Teh Tarik drink here, you can help yourself from the pot at the tent there.. The nonya kuehs were nice too!


A romantic night with free flow of wine and beer! Enjoying the red wine with the sea breeze.. Damn shiok ar.......



There was a live band going around to each table to let you choose a song for them to sing in front of you. And i chose the song "Love Me" by Colin Raye.. Though it's not easy to sing this song, but the team still manage to finish the whole song. Really appreciate their effort! When the live band sing directly to us in front of our table, i feel a bit awkward as this is my first time experienced such moment as we usually only see such scenes on TV drama.. Haha... There were a few tables celebrated their birthday here so you will hear the live band sing Happy Birthday song to them. So for those who runs out of idea for birthday celebration, you can consider to celebrate here. A very special place! :)




The staff will put a LED light on each table when the sky turns dark..




Beautiful Rasa Sentosa Resort at night time!


You can come here to stroll by the beach after your meal. 


Service here was quite good and the food was nice and served fast! As the whole place is non-airconditioned, i suggest just wear in casual so that you can enjoy the dinner comfortably. Though the crabs are not that much, but with the appetiser, side dishes, array of desserts & free flow of beverages will definitely make you very full. Overall it's a very delightful & unique experience, so do bring your date to enjoy this crab ah dinner and the beautiful sunset together. Happy dining! :-)

Important Note: Atmosphere by the sea only opens on every Fri night, hence there will be no one to pick up your call to take down reservation with the number indicated on their website. So you can either email to them--> fbreservation.sen@shangri-la.com or call the hotel directly at 6275 0100 and request them to transfer you to dining reservation. As they're quite slow in response to email, do email to them at least 4-7 days in advance.


Complimentary carpark coupon available here!

*Recommended*


Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/singapore/rasasentosaresort/press-room/press-releases/pincers-and-pints-await-at-crabs-ah/

Thursday, 11 September 2014

Oriental Weekend Brunch Buffet at Jiang-Nan Chun (Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, Level 2 - 190 Orchard Boulevard) Reservation: 6831 7220

Revisited on 6 Sep 2014 (Sat). Previously visited on 19th April 2014 (Sat).

Ala Carte Oriental Weekend Brunch Buffet (Featuring extensive selection of dim sum items and chef's signature dishes)

Price: New Menu at $78++ per person = Total bill of $183.60 for 2 pax. 

(Only Saturdays and Sundays  - Inclusive of Free Flow Chinese Tea + Orange/Mango/Guava Juice)

Saturday - 11.30am - 2.30pm (3 hours)

Sunday - First Seating: 11.00am - 1.00pm (2 hours)
Sunday - 2nd Seating: 1.30pm - 3.00pm (1.5 hours)

As you can see from the above seating time slots, only Sat can enjoy the ala carte buffet with no rush. This is due to there're more crowd on Sundays than Saturdays which is why they need to split into two seatings on Sundays.

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Jiang Nan Chun is an authentic chinese restaurant that serves classic Cantonese fare in a luxurious setting.

The restaurant has three private dining rooms - Hangzhou, Suzhou and Yangzhou, named after famous cities in China that can seat 14, 10 and 6 guests respectively.


You can take a lift or the staircase up to level 2 to Jiang-Nan Chun. Here is what u will see...



There's a piano here!







Jiang-Nan Chun will not open until the time is up.


This is their entrance...



You will see this main hall when you step into the restaurant. The lighting here was quite dim so i prefer to sit near the window that has more natural lighting.



The restaurant was separated into 2 partitions. And i have chosen the inner table by the window


 (The One & Only Direct Window Seat) I like the cosy and relaxing ambience here!



Their tables were at least with 4 seats so it's good for 2 pax like us, we can put our bags on the extra seats and eat comfortably! The chairs were very comfy with cushions too, good for a long 3 hours lunch:-)


Hand towels were provided before we start our lunch..


The juices and chinese tea are free flow! The Orange Juice was freshly squeezed, not too sour not too sweet - Enjoyed the brunch with free flow of juices!















You can add on the specialties at an additional cost as indicated above on top of the buffet..



Doubled-boiled Abalone Soup with Chicken & Ginseng Flower
Omg all the goodness can be found in this soup! Full-flavoured and the abalone was very tender too! The chicken was a tad tough so just focus on the abalone & the soup, 1 word to describe - Excellent Soup!



Braised Hashima with Shredded Fish Maw, Dried Scallops & Golden Mushroom
This soup was a tad pale in comparison with the above abalone soup (Perhaps the abalone soup was too good) The broth was quite thick, tasty and full of ingredients. I think you will find this soup nice if you have not try their abalone soup.


Crispy Fish Skin with Salt & Pepper
Very crispy, great for appetiser!


Stir-Fried Shredded Duck with Capsicum
The shredded duck portion was super tiny and little whereby the beansprouts, onions and capisum was so much. Surprisingly this dish tasted very aromatic!



Stir-Fried Scallops with Savoury Sauce
 The scallops were succulent and complemented well with the savoury sauce!



Deep-Fried Grouper Fillet with Cereal
 We usually had cereal with prawn or beancurd. So this is our first time having fish fillet with cereal. The combination was not bad, fillet was quite tender as well!



Wok-Fried Chicken with Dried Chili and Cashew Nuts
The chicken was tender and nice but i don't really like the sauce, quite sour and it's too spicy!


Steamed Bun with Salted Egg Yolk

The salted egg yolk custard was very fragrant and good but the bun was quite a let down, not fluffy and quite rough. Chef needs to improve on the bun!


Baked Flaky Pastry with Barbecued Chicken Coated with Sesame Seeds
Jiang Nan Chun does not have Char Siew Shu so this is the next similar alternative choice. I like the exterior pastry more than the bbq chicken filling inside, it would taste much better if the filling is char siew.


Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun
The bun was quite tender but it's not fluffy enough. The char siew not too sweet just nice!



Oven-baked Mini Egg Tart
The egg tart tasted much better now than my previous visit. There was some fragrance in the custard but the pastry still not that perfect. The pastry was a tad rough, pastry must be loose then will taste nice.



Steamed Pork Dumpling with Shrimp and Mushrooms
The siew mai was tender and the shrimp inside was succulent. Overall it's quite good!



Steamed Spinach Dumpling with Seafood
The skin was smooth and the shrimp inside was succulent as well..



Deep-Fried Dumpling with Foie Gras, Chicken & Shitake Mushrooms


Crispy dumpling with very aromatic ingredients!



Deep-Fried Dumpling with Pork, Mushroom, Dried Shrimp & Truffle Oil
When you bite on the dumpling, it's a tad starchy interior but not sticky, with the aromatic ingredients and truffle oil.



Deep-Fried Dumpling with Mushrooms, Carrots, Celery, Asparagus and Minced Pumpkin
Recommended by the waitress as we were told that this little pumpkin very cute! As we're not really a pumpkin lover so we find this ok only..



Crispy Roasted Pork Belly + Barbecued Honey-glazed Pork + Roasted Duck
All their roasted meat were average..



Chilled Aloe Vera with Lemongrass Jelly
This is the one & only nicest dessert at Jiang Nan Chun - Aromatic and Refreshing!



Chilled Herbal Jelly with Sago Pearls & Osmanthus
The herbal jelly was already a tad bitter, so i feel osmanthus and herbal jelly cannot complement well..


Chilled Cream of Mango & Sago with Pomelo
The taste was a tad sour and was too creamy.. 



Fresh Mango Pudding
I prefer those sweet pudding type but this is more to watery type on top and was quite sour, not to my liking...



The food quality has improved a little compared to my previous visit during April 2014 but still not great, have to improve on the areas that I've mentioned above. But you can taste the ingredients were those high quality type. Desserts were still a let-down at Jiang Nan Chun as usual. 

Service level has dropped a little as most of the staff and manager has changed but overall still quite good and polite. That day was quite crowded and they seemed short of manpower to handle all the tables so need to wait a while to get them. Food waiting was not long, the food were mostly served in standard waiting time. 

Overall this place is definitely worth a visit as the ambience was very relaxing and the food quality was quite high except some areas need to improve on. And it's very rare to see chinese restaurant serves free flow of selected fruit juices for weekend brunch buffet.. A plus point to attract people as it's really nice to have buffet with fruit juices! This is the Best place to give your mum or dad a treat on their birthday or anniversary as well! :D


*Recommended*

Note: Complimentary 3 hours carpark coupon available here!


Website:
http://www.fourseasons.com/singapore/dining/restaurants/jiang_nan_chun/