Sunday, May 25, 2014

Buffet Dinner at Marriott Cafe

Another one of many impromptu dinners with my fellow sistas. Initially we wanted to take advantage of the Citibank credit card 1 for 1 promo but there's a limitation of max. 4 diners per table, so we later used my PruPrestige birthday voucher that has a 2 for 1 promo for max. 6pax plus one 500g birthday cake (choice of 4 flavors). The weekday buffet dinner is priced at $68++ per pax.



As usual, I took a quick walk around checking out the spread before deciding on what to eat for the night. Here's a glimpse of what's available at the Marriott cafe.

Fresh seafood station
Oysters, prawns, crayfish and crabs along with an array of condiments to compliment the fresh seafood.



Sushi & Sashimi station
Fresh tuna & salmon slices for sashimi, and assorted sushi & 2 types of maki on display.


Cold cuts and cheese station
Marriott cafe has a good variety of cold cuts but limited cheeses on offer.




Salad & Breads stations
A rather extensive spread of fresh veggies and breads with all kinds of accompaniments for the discerning diner.



Baked & Roast station
Roast beef, Crispy pork saddle, Roast fish and Minced beef pie, again with more than a handful of sauces to go with the meat dishes.





Pasta Live station
I love this one, there's a choice of 4 kinds of pasta (spaghetti, penne, fusilli & squid ink linguine) and many condiments choices and sauces to choose from.


Chinese Roast meat station
Glossy roast duck and Crispy roast pork belly were available.



Laksa Live station
The patron is again spoilt for choices here, look at all the ingredients and condiments on display.


There is also a good spread of cooked western & asian food and soups on offer, but I've decided not to open the covers of every one of them for photos as this isn't an invited food tasting session :p

Desserts station
Cakes, tarts, pie, cookies, nonya kuehs, mousses, puddings, fresh fruits and ice cream in small varieties. No chocolate fountain, live station or DIY desserts, not an extensive spread though.







My food choices
For round one, I had fresh seafood, sashimi & sushi. Everything was fresh and delicious accept for the crayfish. I was quite disappointed that the crayfish has a powdery texture, an indication that it wasn't the freshest. For the buffet price of $68++, this is an unacceptable mistake!


Second round, I had cooked food. The chinese fried rice with shrimps and lup cheong was very good. Sauteed tiger prawns and asparagus was excellent too. As for the pork saddle, the meat was dry and tough but the skin was super crispy.



Third round was all about chinese roast meats. They did a pretty good job I must say. Roast pork belly has crackling skin and the duck was not too bad as well. I love the sweet sauce which complimented the roast meats very well.


Forth round, I decided to try the live pasta station. I picked the fusilli with bacon and mushroom cooked in tomato sauce. It turned out to be really yummy. The tiger prawns were from the cooked food station.


If pasta is not your thing, their laksa was very good too. My friends who had it were all happy with their choices.

Last but not least, dessert time. The jackfruit was not sweet at all, bummer. Nonya kueh and berries mousse was good though. Ice cream was my comfort food, no complains there.



As my tummy has no more space for birthday cake, I asked the serving staffs to pack my Raspberry Earl grey cake to go. I ate it the next day and it was GOOD.




Our overall dining experience at Marriott cafe was an enjoyable one, food quality was of good standard (accept for the crayfish), the spread could have been better though for the fresh seafood (no mussels and scallops) and the desserts station (no choc fountain and lacking in variety). I was happy with the cooked food, especially the pasta and the chinese roast meats. Service staffs were polite and cleared the dishes and topped up water frequently. I would gladly return if there's a good promotion available.


Marriott Cafe 
Singapore Marriott Hotel, 320 Orchard Road S238865
Tel: 6831 4605

Opening Hours:
Breakfast - 6.00am to 11.00am
Lunch - 12.00noon to 2.30pm
High Tea - 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Dinner - 6.30pm to 10.00pm






Coffee & Dessert time at Waffle Slayer (a.k.a. Strangers Reunion)

Went cafe hopping on a weekday afternoon with friends. We've heard a lot about Waffle Slayer's savory Squid Ink Waffles, and we're here to find out how it taste.

The worn looking wooden framed glass doors that used to be Strangers Reunion's entrance. SR has now moved next door to a bigger shop space. Waffle Slayer has taken over this space and is dedicated to serving waffles, and everything available at SR.



We were quite surprised to find that the cafe is almost full house at 4pm on a Monday. We had to squeeze at a small table at the back. Check out the crowd on a weekday afternoon!


The tiny cafe was very packed when we arrived, so we decided to order food and drinks first and waited till around 5.30pm to take photos of this place (when majority of the crowd is gone).

The cafe is decorated with retro style fittings and mismatched old & new furniture. Check out the 70s light switches, old school wooden cabinet and the Formica coffee table.












The Waffle Slayer's waffle & coffee menu and Strangers Reunion's food & drinks menu. 



Self service complimentary drinking water.


We ordered 2 sweet and 1 savory waffles to share, 2 side dishes and one beverage each.

Truffle Fries $12.90++, this was supposed to be served with cheese shavings but since some of us don't eat cheese, we requested it to be served with only truffle oil and mayo sauce.


The fries comes in a huge bowl, with the truffle oil and mayo served on the side. Both the fries and the sauce taste pretty good.

Spam fries $10.90++, with an interesting 'Jenga' style plating...cool. This was yummy as expected, an easy to prepare comfort food but yet the most popular. It was the first dish to be wiped out.


Squid Ink Waffle w/ Smoked Salmon $18.90++, served with poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. The waffle itself does not have much taste of squid ink but overall still taste good with the savory salmon and creamy poached egg which were nicely prepared.



Matcha Buttermilk Waffle $14.90++, served with Azuki beans, fruits and vanilla ice cream. This was the star waffle of the day. The waffle has a lovely matcha fragrance and goes well with the azuki beans and vanilla ice cream topping. Thumbs up!



Red Velvet Buttermilk Waffle $14.90++, served with pistachio tuile, chocolate fudge & vanilla ice cream. We find the waffle taste quite bland and the chocolate fudge sauce a little lacking. Although the pistachio tuile and ice cream was rather delicious, the combination of all these ingredients was lacking the wow factor.



For beverage, I had the Cafe Mocha $5.50++, it comes with a nicely done latte art, in fact all hot beverages with milk here comes with elaborate latte art. The mocha taste pretty decent though.


Cappuccino $4.90++, with a graceful swan latte art. No complains from my friend so I reckon its good.


Two of us had the Hot Chocolate $5.50++. I had a sip of this and find it rather chocolaty, not bad at all.



Iced Chocolate $7.50++, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with chocolate powder. A cool drink to have on a hot hot afternoon.



Waffle Slayer serves reasonably decent food and drinks, and the service staffs are friendly as well. This retro themed space could have been a great place to chill, but the tight spaces between tables and the constant crowd makes it hard to do so. We probably wouldn't be back any time soon unless they have more new and exciting stuffs to offer.


Waffle Slayer
37 Kampong Bahru Road S169356 
Tel: 6222 4869

Opening Hours
Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm