Oscar's Weekend Brunch @ Conrad Centennial Singapore

Hence and Tracy jio'ed us for a buffet on Boxing Day and we readily agreed. Loved this impromptu gang! They are known to have frequented Conrad, and for me, it'll mark my first time there.

decor

festive dining

There are 3 different pricing tiers for the buffet; $98++, $128++ and $158++. The $98++ package is the basic option with no alcoholic drinks.

Weekend Brunch Beverage List

There are 4 items which can be ordered through staff and served to the table, while the rest of the buffet items are served from the buffet counters. 

For BBQ, one needs to bring along the black pegs on the table when you want to order and once the food is ready, it will be served to your table.

take this along, when you want to order from BBQ counter

We were seated right in-front of the drinks counter, and my choice of drinks for that day, seemed to be just G&T.

Beefeater and Gordon's Pink Gin

Beefeater24 Gin

citrus and strawberry

As usual, started with oysters from the Ice Bar. How much oysters can we eat? Not much apparently... hahaa! Happy with 3.

Canadian Oysters - a dozen

Decided to try some festive items from the Carving Board; Turkey, Honey Glazed Ham, Ribeye and Cranberry Foie Gras Bread Stuffing. For vegetables, opted for some brussels sprouts.

from Carving Board

Cranberry Foie Gras Bread Stuffing

Turkey was nicely tender, ham was a nice if you get the inside piece and the rib-eye was nicely pink in the center. The bread stuffing was fluffy but unable to detect the foie gras.

Tracy's nicely plated ribeye

Hence helped us to order the Foie Gras-Egg Wild Mushroom Truffle Toast. There's spinach somewhere in there as well. Egg was perfectly poached and the bread was chewy.

Foie Gras-Egg Wild Mushroom Truffle Toast

perfectly poached egg

Loved the smokey smell from the BBQ items. Lamb chop and stuffed chicken wings were on the menu that day. Was surprised to see the size of the stuffed wings to be about the same as the lamb chop!

BBQ Lamb Chop

BBQ Stuffed Chicken Wing

Only managed one slice of the lamb and half portion of the chicken wings. Why? Because am feeling full~ Full from the love of my foodie gang.

Let's toast to that, cheers! And, I prefer the taste of the Juniper inspired classic gin with elderflower syrup than the first one.

Beefeater Gin - Juniper inspired Classic London Gin with elderflower syrup

lovely drink

And, because Hence and Tracy are regulars to this place, we got to enjoy the privilege extended from the kitchen by Chef. With off-menu item suddenly appearing at our table!

Fried Cod fish fillet, served with asparagus and brussel sprouts (off-menu)

Who doesn't like Cod Fish? Served hot, sweet and flaky, with mild fragrance from curry leaves and not spicy unless you purposely bite onto the bird eye chili... and that's a different story which Ivan, could tell you from his blog.

Fried Chicken, Bacon and Egg

Mala-spiced buttermilk fried chicken tasted more western than oriental. It was nice to have a light spicy kick when having the well-fried chicken. The bacon and egg were more fiery than the chicken per se. Quite shioks, but cant't have too much of this, especially after all the richness from the Foie Gras-Egg Wild Mushroom Truffle Toast.

But, I can have another drink to balance out, somewhat. But I made a request for a different garnish from the first two. Staff explained that strawberry fits Gordon's Pink Gin the best but will try their best to accommodate.

Ok, I admit. The drink with strawberry garnish was the prettiest. But was kinda hoping for the bartender to be more bold in styling the G&T.

Gordon's Pink Gin - with lemon and elderflower syrup

If you need to have carbs, there's the signature Lobster Laksa as well as Dan Dan Noodles. The laksa sauce was evidently very lemak! I didn't try any of the noodles because simply, too stuffed by now.

Lobster Laksa

Classic Dan Dan Noodles

Plus, Hence and Tracy insisted that we keep some tummy space for dessert. So off to our last course. Finale, with sweets.

black coffee with a side of milk

I returned with an unassuming plate of 3 items; Yule Log (2 types) and a praline. Ooh, the Yule Log choco version was so good with the crispy thing inside. Highly recommend. The praline looks like the pill from the Matrix (no, there wasn't any blue coloured praline..). This was good too with raspberry / cherry taste.

Yule Log (white), Yule Log (chocolate) and Praline

cakes and tarts - sacher, cheesecake (front), pecan and hazelnut tarts (back)

All the cakes and tarts were good. But there is one dessert that is highly recommended by Hence and Ivan.

must eat

Overall experience at Oscar's was good. Staff are pro-active in clearing the plates. The Chefs at the buffet counters were friendly and default portion was just nice for a taste. 

And, age is catching up on us and buffet will be that rare occassion. But hey, this life is worth celebrating once in a while, so cheers to our friendship and camaraderie!

Brunch date with Elle, Ivan, Tracy and Hence. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oscar's

Address: Conrad Centennial, 2 Temasek Blvd, Singapore 038982

Website: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/sincici-conrad-centennial-singapore/dining/

Contact: 6432 7481

Business Hours:

Daily 7:00am - 10:30pm

A Gastronomic Journey of Sichuan Delights @ Si Chuan Dou Hua Parkroyal Beach Road

Was staying at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites, and it was opportune to try out Si Chuan Dou Hua for lunch. Reservation is encouraged. This was before stabilisation phase where dining in groups of five was still allowed.

entrance

After all the necessary Safe-Entry check-in, and vaccination status verifications, we were led to our table.

table setting

The tea cup with the leaves are available on every table and the staff will enquire if you are having tea. Once affirmed, hot water would then be poured into the tea cup.

蒙顶黄芽 (Meng Ding Huang Ya Tea) @$6++ per pax

The tea was mild and pleasant, much like Long Jing tea. It is said that Meng Ding Huang Ya tea (a type of yellow tea 黄茶)  is from Mount Meng in Ya'an, Sichuan. Used to be drunk by the royals, now is available for us to enjoy.

QR Code menu

By default, the QR Code menu links to the ala-carte menu. Hence if you are there for the buffet, do request for the buffet menu.

Sichuan Buffet Menu

The thing about ala-carte buffet, we weren't sure of the portion served but reckoned, it would be similar to dim sum buffet dishes, meaning everyone can try a piece that kind of portion.

The premium item on the buffet menu is the baby lobster 小龙虾 (one serving per pax). Four flavours to choose from, so we got one each. There were 2 spicy and 2 non-spicy flavours.

Sichuan buffet menu arrangement, by flavours

Our strategy is to order at least 10 items each round, as the preparation takes time and staff informed that each order will probably need at least half an hour to be served.

To order, just state the reference number of the item. Quantity is determined by total pax of the guest table.

first round of appetisers

The appetisers:

• Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce 夫妻肺片
• Chilled Chicken with Spicy Bean Paste 口水鸡
• Marinated Black Fungus with Preserved Chili 泡椒木耳
• Sliced Beef with Five Spice 五香牛肉
• Sea Clam in Garlic and Chili Sauce 蒜泥鲍贝
• Diced Cod Fish Deep Fried with Sichuan Pepper 椒盐鳕鱼丁
• Fresh Scallops in Sichuan Peppers and minced Spring Onions Sauce 椒麻带子

All the above I liked, except the five spice beef and the cod fish as these two were somewhat lacking in flavours. We re-ordered the black fungus and fresh scallops. So good!

Fresh Scallops in Sichuan Peppers and minced Spring Onions Sauce 椒麻带子

Marinated Black Fungus with Preserved Chili 泡椒木耳

Chilled Chicken with Spicy Bean Paste 口水鸡

Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce 夫妻肺片

The beef tripe and salivating chicken (口水鸡) were both pretty spicy, so get ready with your drinks when enjoying these.

Baby Lobster 小龙虾

flavour is indicated on top with a small sticker

reveal

Steamed Baby Lobster with Minced Garlic

Stir-fried Baby Lobster with Spring Onion and Ginger

Baby Lobster with Chili and Peppercorn

It was quite troublesome to eat the Baby Lobsters, so gave away half my portion but the noodles inside were enjoyable.

let's eat~

After two rounds of the food, we sort of know which one would be good and which wouldn't. For example, prawns and scallops were good and consistent. Though the sizes differ even when we chose another sauce/flavour to try.

Chilled Shelled Prawns with Plum and Sichuan Peppers

Fresh Prawns in Tomato Sauce and Stir Fried Prawns in Garlic and Chili Sauce

Actually, doesn't matter which flavour/sauce, just get the prawns (and the fresh scallops).

And, how can we not eat tofu when we are at Si Chuan Dou Hua? It is a must-have. Slurpingly good.

Beancurd in Spicy Minced Meat Sauce

Beancurd with Sichuan Minced Peppers

For meat dish, I'd say our favourite was the beef. Lovely tender texture and not too spicy. But hor, the cubes was rather smallish.

Stir fried Diced Beef in Sichuan Pepper

Pork dishes, was more misses than hits. Tried the pork knuckles, stir fried loin, pork belly and braised sliced pork. 

Can't count the braised sliced pork because I actually thought the star of the dish, was the rice bubble and the assorted vege in it. Hahaa!

The best from this lot, is the Stir Fried Pork Loin in Sweet and Sour Sauce. Well fried, and meat had a nice chew but not tough.

Braised Pork Knuckle with Sichuan Bean Paste

Braised Pork Belly in Honey Sauce

Stir fried Loin in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Braised Sliced Pork with Crispy Rice Bubble

For chicken dish, I enjoyed the chilled chicken (salivating chicken) and the diced chili chicken (辣子鸡).

Chong Qing Diced Chicken with Dried Chili 

For finale, we ended our meal with soups, noodles and dessert.

Hot and Sour Vermicelli

Sichuan Noodle in Onion Oil

Sichuan Minced Meat Noodle

Chuckled when we saw the size of the scallion pancake. This is a super mini version, so cute!

Scallion Pancake

For dessert, the serving was one piece and if you say 3 dumplings, then it will really be 3 dumplings served together. One piece per serving.

Glutinous Rice Ball with Sesame Red Bean Paste

Crispy Glutinous Rice Ball with Sesame Red Bean Paste

Sichuan Glutinous Pancake

My favourite is the Sichuan Glutinous Pancake which was a fried item and inside was so mochi. Not too sweet and not too oily.

There was a promotion with the buffet and one could get a glass of sake along with it, or if you are not into alcohol, then can swap it out for juice.

complimentary sake

The buffet is priced at $68++ per pax and there was a 20% discount for payment made via UOB credit card.

Thank you makan kakis for the quality time spent! See you in November for our next staycay!

Si Chuan Dou Hua Parkroyal Beach Road

Address: 7500 Beach Rd, PARKROYAL on, Singapore 199591

Website: www.sichuandouhua.com

Opening Hours

Lunch - 11:30am to 2:30pm

Dinner - 6:30pm to 10:30pm