Crab Extravaganza, Ellenborough Market Cafe

If you are hankering for this particular crustacean, Ellenborough Market Cafe's current Crab Temptations will keep your mouths (and hands) busy. The Ultimate Crab buffet dinner from 25 June to 12 July 2009 features crab, crab & more crabs alongside with their international, peranakan & local spread.

Salad of Hokkaido Crabmeat with Apple & Walnut

Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat

Crab Risotto

Crabmeat Fried Rice w Asparagus & Flying Fish Roe

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Couple of shortcomings aside, the appetisers contained fairly generous inclusions of crab meat to boot. What took centrestage was the real deal...4 enticing variations of crab which decently impressed. None was excluded from spice, but every dish bore its own distinct traits and flavours. Nonya Curry Crab whirled past like a marsala-injected fusion, Fragrant Thai Sauce Crab a unique execution perked up by basil oil, & Black Pepper Sri Lankan Crab dutifully releasing potent peppercorns. The Wok-fried Chilli Crab also debilitated my assumptions of fiery chilli- here's one sweet gravy surprisingly milder than the others.

Unfortunately more flaws than fancies were garnered for the rice dishes. The Crabmeat Fried Rice needed to tone down, whilst a weak stock was simply inadequate to uplift their overcooked Crab Risotto grains.

A crab feast cannot go without my favourite Man Tous. Deepfried to an even golden brown, i was glad Ellenborough's MTs soaked hardly any squirm of grease. Scaled down too for buffet-inclined reasons.

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It's always wise to halt before the crab-aphobia invades...and move on to freshen our earlier passive sweet-tooth. Their signature Durian Pengat is a perennial mainstay, or the row of assorted tongshuis many locals would fancy. While the rest cozied up on those, i filled my plate with western slices- a Pistachio Cheesecake dotted with real nut nibs & a reliable Bread & Butter Pudding, drizzled with bean-less vanilla sauce but nevertheless yummy. The other unsuspecting triangle was later identified to be Durian Cheesecake and so, instantly rejected to a side. Durian's not my thing.

And THEN came these friendly green bolters that drew the big bang finale. I was never a fan of peranakan or nonya food and would instinctively skip the cultural components (esp desserts) at buffets. Never would i imagine myself to glow upon a Kueh Dadah like a kid-sees-lollipop reaction! When you have it fresh and warm, it makes a whole world of difference.

Bestow on Chef Ivy's prized dessert, where your teeth sinks into porous, gently browned skins that relently subdues to pressure... stretching apart & freeing moist coconut shards simmered with gula melaka. *sudden serotonin rush and my hand reaches out for another.

For once i proclaim, i'm loving a peranakan kueh.

Note: Portions pictured are designed for a tasting session and may differ from the actual buffet spread. My sincere thanks to Sok Hoon & Yvonne, marketing communication managers of Swissotel Merchant Court for their kind hosting.

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Ultimate Crab Buffet is available for dinner daily from 25 June to 12 July. Priced at $46++ per adult, $23++ per child.

Ellenborough Market Cafe

Lobby Level, Swissotel Merchant Court

20 Merchant Road

6239 1848

Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous

Now i know, Rendezvous isn't just about Restaurant Hock Lock Kee (the nasi padang since dad's childhood days) anymore. The 4-month-old Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous reopens like a new-born after an intensive refurbishment project of the hotel.

... where a food tasting session took place.

with compliments.

Well, i thought the traditional-turned-modern transformation was worth the investment. The play of colours worked, and the apt lightings wasn't stripping of comfort or spaciousness.

Toss to the new year. An opening Prosperity Yusheng adorned with chains of auspicious lines to feel hopeful about. Though the dry shreds failed to shine, i found comfort in that luscious salmon morsels and crispy golden crackers pairing.

An extravagant showdown. The Poon Choi ($198 for 5 persons) featured bountiful layers of abalone, shark's fin, scallops, prawns, sea cucumber.... luxurious delicacies vying for every inch of attention. 15 ingredients, 6-hour long immersion, tagged with the chef's efforts and a hefty pricetag. Just a pity blemished by unjust flavour.

Fanciful salads & chilled seafood greeted at the buffet line, adjuncted by a range of condiments and sauces. The DIY Yusheng bar also provided free-flow of supplies for self-assembly. Comes in handy for Lo-Hei addicts who can't get enough of that festive staple.

A couple of them scored. The chicken salad and smoked salmon were adequately seasoned; and i found total delight in those succulently plump and saucey japanese baby octopuses.

Steamed beancurd with prawn mousse in lobster butter sauce was eye-littingly novel to see, yet falling into the love-it-or-hate-it category. Think chilli-less otah paste dressed up in a western suit.

The mediocre chilled somen with unagi and fishy-as-ever tuna maguro sashimi may be worth skipping, but you wouldn't want to miss their salmon sashimi. Voluptuously silky and fatty... it oohs me.

Over to the dessert section, an equal mix of western and asian slices stood. My personal advice: hit the chocolate walnut brownie, tiramisu icecream, then proceed on to the asian players like pandan kaya fudge cake, durian puffs.. or the notably-praised durian penyet.

Steer clear from the 'blueberry cheesecake', big time.

Special thanks to Christina, the marketing communications manager, for her kind hospitality throughout the meal.

Thanks for making my first food-tasting session possible.

Chinese New Year Festive Buffet (28 Jan-9 Feb)

Lunch $38 (adult), $23 (child)

Dinner $48 (adult), $29 (child)

Chinese New Year High Tea (31 Jan, 1.7.8 Feb)

Adult $35, Child $21

Straits Cafe @ Rendezvous

Rendezvous Hotel Lobby Level

9 Bras Basah Road

Vienna International Buffet

we've seen how Pariss fell... from several outlets to one.
we've learned how Vienna survived with one and only.

there must be a reason why.

My mum's a buffet-guru who claims to have tried almost all the buffets in Singapore, even multiple times for some of her favourites (especially nyonya peranakan). If only she could be more critical and knowledge-armed about evaluating food, publishing a buffet-review book would be her major source of income LOL.

A pity she isn't, and all she can say is "nice lor" or "not nice lar".

Rated NICE by buffet-queen-mummy is Vienna International buffet at United Square, where she had brought me for a treat. Strong crowd on a friday night. Full house. No reservations, out you go. (i mean to the seats outside)

Gloriously dressed food sections, sashimi cuts... and whole sliced cakes- not the petite bite-sized squares of typical buffets.

You begin by spooning upmarket ingredients from your bowl of 'gem soup'. Mushroom, abalone piece, ginseng... strictly ONE BOWL each. A choice of juice is on the house too , refillable, provided the waitress cares to top them up.

crayfish, cold prawns, salmon tuna yellowfin sashimi

tako sashimi, smoked salmon, seasoned baby octopus, prawn salad, chasoba

more sashimi, more prawn salad, chawanmushi

Sashimi! What not a way to kickstart my meal. I had a few helpings of those thick salmon sashimi slices, which completely overshone its salty smoked cousin. The chuka lidako (seasoned baby octopus) were deliciously plump and i was especially keen on that thai-chilli drizzled prawn salad.

herbal poached prawns, unagi, scallop with bbq sauce

tempura prawn, satay, roast duck, fried yam & fried durian

The hot food section had a mind-boggling variety prepared the vienna-way. Chefs were constantly on duty for repeated productions as the diners cleared out the unique dishes. I took a japanese style baked crayfish, only to unwrap a foil of half a crayfish doused in blackpepper sauce. Puzzling. Oh, and i was hoping for a wamer unagi kabayaki.

corn soup with puff pastry

teppanyaki salmon

teppanyaki vegetables

A-la-order stations included teppanyaki and pasta, we only went for the former. Raw fish cuts and a mix of veggies are placed in access to diners for choosing their preferred fillets and portions. Glady, our orders of salmon and vegetables came thinly coated in oil, not drowned in pools.

There were more than sufficient desserts to fill. Asian to western, plus a small chocolate fountain for the chocoholics. I'll highlight the desirably-textured new york cheesecake and their white fungus, papaya & harshma soup, both worth going for extra helpings. I had 3 servings of the latter!

The final bill came close to $80 for two, which was a price only worth paying for any stamina-eaters. I would add an extra word to mum's remark...

QUITE NICE.

heh, hits & misses, like any other buffets.

Vienna International Seafood & Teppanyaki Restaurant

101 Thomson Road

#B1-01 United Square

6254 6686