Just realised that I have been trying out Hi Tea buffets from different 5* hotels with my girlfriends. For the past 18 months I've visited a total of 7 hotel restaurants specialised in Hi Tea buffets. So how do they fair? I've done a basic ranking of the different restaurants based on their quality of food, service and ambiance. One thing is for sure, high prices does not necessary means top quality food and service!
The list of Hotel/Restaurant I have patronised...in chronological order.
1. Marriott Cafe, Marriott hotel (visited Sep 11)
2. ChiHuly Lounge, Ritz Carlton hotel (visited Oct 11)
3. Rose Veranda, Shangri La hotel (visited May 12)
4. Tea Lounge, Regent hotel (visited Jun 12)
5. L'Espresso, Goodwood Park hotel (visited Jul 12 & Mar/May 11)
6. The Landing Point, Fullerton Bay hotel (visited Dec 12)
7. 10 Scotts, Grand Hyatt hotel (visited Jan 13)
Rank #1
The Landing Point
Coming in at first place is The Landing Point, good food, great great service and very tastefully decorated dining area with tall ceilings, plush sofas and scenic seaview.
There were many good reviews about the food here and we were certainly not disappointed. Although some traditional X'mas items (we had the festive menu) tasted too sweet for our liking, majority of their creations were yummilicious! As there were no buffet stations, waiting staffs walked around the dining area with trays of refills checking with every table if they would like to have additional servings of food.
Service here was excellent and the waitress who took our order was very attentive...she noticed the wrong tea was being poured for me (the wrong tea has a darker color) and immediately changed a new cup for me. We thoroughly enjoyed being a tai tai sipping tea on a lazy afternoon at The Landing Point. A revisit is already in the cards as I write this post.
The Landing Point is open daily:
7.00am to 12.00am (Sunday to Thursday)
7.00am to 1.00am (Friday to Saturday)
Breakfast: 7.00am to 10.30am
Lunch: 11.00am to 2.30pm
Afternoon Tea: 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Cocktail/Dinner: 6.00pm till closing
For enquiries and reservations, please call (65) 6597 5277 or email landingpoint@fullertonbayhotel.com
Rank #2
The Rose Veranda
At 2nd place is Shangri La's Rose Veranda. Being a very established hotel here, the dining experience here is certainly enjoyable. Located on the 2nd floor, this place has tall ceiling with full length windows overlooking the swimming pool. Decor is of a modern contemporary style with red color chandeliers adorning the ceiling.
Food here was served at the buffet stations. Unlike The Landing Point that serves only finger food, this place serves an international lunch spread with dessert stations. Food quality was very good, I loved their fresh and juicy scallops! Desserts were alright, nothing impressive nor offensive about it.
Service is generally good, the restaurant manager was prompt to change the complimentary birthday cake when we highlighted that there was a small fly on the cake.
Opening Hours: Weekdays
High Tea (11.30am to 6pm)
Weekends and public holidays
High Tea (11.30am to 2.30pm, 3pm to 6 pm)
Telephone No.: 6213 4486
Rank #3
Tea Lounge
Making its way to Top 3 is the Tea Lounge at Regent hotel. This is one popular dining place for weekend hi tea buffet...we had to make our booking 3 months in advance to secure enough seats for a big group. The dining area has an English Reading room style decor with cozy couches and coffee tables.
The spread here is huge...cheese station, salad, sushi, sandwiches, local delights and a big spread for dessert station too. There is also a live station producing piping hot souffle and crepes on request. Everybody loved the chili crab seafood gravy with fried mantou dish...we had repeated servings of that! Desserts were nice to look at but doesn't taste as good as it looks...my lavender macaroon tasted like...air freshener!
Service was mostly ok, they were slow at times during busy hours but were very friendly and polite. Nothing much to complain about. Prices was on the high side but worth visiting at least once to try out their signature dishes.
Opening Hours:
Afternoon Tea: 12 noon -5:00pm (Mon - Fri)
High Tea Buffet: (Sat – Sun)
12 noon - 2:30pm (First seating); 3.00pm – 5.30pm (Second seating)
Reservations
T: +65 6725 3245 / +65 6725 3246
Email: tealounge.rsn@fourseasons.com
To be continued...
Part 2
