Meat & Foie Gras Dinner Buffet @ Ellenborough Market Cafe Paradox

One of those rare occasion where we opted for buffet. I think Tracy saw it from some viral post in insta and decided to try. Thanks to Shermaine for making the reservations!

first plate

I was a tad hungry, so went to the counters where there were less people. There were long lines to the foie gras and grilled meats, so I went elsewhere instead.

Took some babi tau yu (soy sauce braised pork), nonya chap chye (braised vegetables), wagyu beef something, pasta bolognese and bendi (blanched okra) paired with sambal belachan.

recommended

The okra was tender and tasted lovely with the chilies. Pasta was good too and I saw the kids at the neighbouring table enjoying the pasta. Braised pork and the cooked wagyu were enjoyable too.

foie gras and rilettes

The Chefs decided to do thin slices of foie gras during that round, so the presentation wasn't great.

grilled pork and lamb chops

grilled chicken

wagyu beef

Thank you Tracy and Shermaine for getting us the grilled meats. Best in the lot was the grilled wagyu. It was more tender than the lamb chops. Chicken breast was firm. The satay sausage was interesting for its yellowish hue and sweet taste.

wagyu beef shoyu ramen

Singapore nonya laksa with prawn

The wagyu beef ramen tasted like sweet shoyu while the nonya laksa broth was good.

kueh pie tee

Thank you Shermaine for constructing the kueh pie tee for us. 

cold seafood - prawn, salmon sashimi

pineapple and rock melon

I liked the taste of sweet pineapple with a dab of wasabi soy sauce. Yums.

hot cross bun with butter

ice-cream

reconstructed

And of course, can't miss the durian pengat (which got replenished). Tasted intense.

durian pengat

Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for the get-together! 

Side note: Do check with staff on which credit card that has the best promo for the buffet before payment as Citibank was the highest at 50% off during the date of visit.

Buffet Info:

Website: https://www.paradoxhotels.com/singapore/dining/ellenborough-market-cafe

Thursday to Sunday & Public Holidays

$98++ per adult | $42++ per child

1st Seating: 6:00 - 8:00PM

2nd Seating: 8:15 - 10:15PM

Dinner at Mosella @ Pan Pacific Orchard

We've known each other for like 3 decades (since Primary School days) and everyone's gone off to different continents in the world, though a handful of us are in Singapore. So when Jun Ling says Lydia is in town, it was decided that the 'locals' will bring her out for dinner.

Dinner reservation for 6 pax was made, though the booking site required some inputs that was kinda confusing for me. Nevertheless, I was excited to connect again with old friends. 

The restaurant lights were rather dim, so it would've been romantic if not for us oldies who needed light to see the menu proper. 

Some of us opted for sparkling, and some opted for still water. All bottled, and service was good with staff coming by to top up the water in our glasses, or just to come round to ask us if we would be needing anything else.

sparkling water

I've already seen their online menu and was just waiting for the rest to choose the dishes. We opted for a rather conservative selection of 2 appetisers, hamachi tiradito, burrata and heirloom tomatoes, 2 pasta dish; King Crab spaghetti and spinach ricotta ravioli, 1 grill; Cochinillo Asado and 2 desserts; mangosteen and pionono. 

Complimentary bread was served after food orders had been confirmed.

rosemary bread

bread dips

The rosemary bread was mildly scented by the herbs and goes well with both the dips. Loved the salted center.

Burrata & Heirloom Tomatoes @$28

My first impression of the burrata was not great... I was like, "why is it so flat..." But it was soon replaced with a pleasant surprise as the overall taste together with the arugula, basil oil and candied walnut was good.

little bit of creamy burrata, sweet tomatoes, tangy dressing

Hamachi was alright but it didn't stand out. My friends said they enjoyed the appetiser.

King Crab Spaghetti @$38

tasting portion of the spaghetti

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli @$32

Thanks to Jun Ling who chose the ravioli dish. It had strong flavours and at least 2 pieces for each of us. All things combined, this was tasty and a delightful. There was some rosemary bread left from earlier, so I used that to mop up most of the ravioli sage butter sauce. Delish.

small morsels of flavour

The Spanish Suckling Pig did not disappoint. Originally plated as two pieces, so we asked the staff to help slice it for the 6 of us. It came back beautifully. While the skin was not as crispy, its meat more than made up for that with its gentle tenderness.

Cochinillo Asado @$38

Then, it was time for desserts. The signature Mangosteen was cutesy but it was indeed smallish in size. The mangosteen 'fruit' was cream-like while its 'skin' was thick chocolate shell. 

The Mangosteen @$14

Spanish Pionono @$12

The Pionono was well-liked by our table. Loved the pastry, the cream and mascarpone. 

Staff brought out a towering slice of cake for the birthday girl and we ended the evening, feeling contented. 

Thank you to the service crew who took care of our table that night, especially Yusof and Ms D. 

Special thanks to Jun Ling (who gathered us), Lydia, Su Chin, Lily and Yen Boon for spending time together and reminiscing on our school days as well as catching up (maybe just a small snippet) with the latest in everyone's life.

Mosella 

Address: 10 Claymore Rd Singapore 229540

Website: https://mosella.sg/

Business Hours:

Sun - Thu: 6:30 AM–10 PM

Fri: 6:30 AM–10:30 PM

[Staycation] One Night @ Pan Pacific Singapore

The last stay was at in 2024 and it was time for a revisit. The staff looked super busy and all three check-in counters at the lobby seemed to be engaged. I had forgotten that they have a separate one for GHA Discovery members. Haha. Took about 10 minutes before the staff was available to process for the next guest. Got upgraded to the Executive Marina Bay room at level 20.

Executive Marina Bay Room

Guests staying at the Executive Marina Bay room have access to Studio26, a self-serve place for non-alcoholic refreshments. But since it was located at Level 26, I didn't use this. Was happy with the mini-bar in the room.

Executive Marina Bay room (46sqm)

view from small balcony

coffee, tea

Intenso was my fav

drop it in

cups, glasses

mini bar

Mini bar was well stocked with drinks. Had accidentally kept the 'Do not disturb' sign on and that prevented housekeeping from coming into the room to restock the mini bar at about 340pm. Didn't see the note that they slipped in either till the next morning. Oops!

bath things

rainshower, handheld and fixed

bathroom

This room doesn't have a bathtub and the bathroom was rather smallish in comparison with the rest of the space.

narrow compartment for bathrobes

open space for hanging clothes

lovely SG60 box

macarons~

I enjoyed that box of macarons, thanks to Pan Pacific and GHA Discovery. But I think there was supposed to be a note from Discovery. Hmm.

day time, cloudy view

night view

day time, good weather view

Breakfast at The Edge

Breakfast on a weekend was a hectic affair. Went down for breakfast at about 830am and noticed that the place gets super busy at about 9 to 930am. 

I loved to have eggs in the morning, so made my way to the scrambled/omelette station. 

cooking up the omelette

The omelette was ready in less than 5 minutes. Went on to add some sausages, baked baby potato, blanched spinach and even a kaya toast, to complete the meal. This plate has everything from proteins, carbs, and vegetables.

balanced breakfast plate

 

Coffee machine was just right in-front of my table, so it was convenient to get one on my own. 

Since there wasn't any signage on the table that one could indicate if the guest was still occupying the table or had just roamed off to the buffet counters to get more food, I was curious. Like how would the staff know and don't accidentally reassign the table out to someone else while the guest was away at the food counters... Hmm...

The experience at the noodles station was... interesting. Chef was making my bowl when another guest came by and asked for two bowls of fishballs, without noodles. She gave him 4 fishballs while mine had only one... hmmm, was it because I had noodles and hence, only gets 1 fishball? No idea... didn't ask.

But this kway teow soup was good! Fishball or no fishball, the entire bowl was yummy. I added condiments like the spring onions, shallots, garlic oil and some chili padi. Best pairing of flavours.

fishball kway teow soup

And then, it was time for desserts.

waffles, pancake, bread butter pudding with vanilla sauce

The bread and butter pudding was good! Normally I wouldn't take it as it would be too filling, but decided to try some and it was good! Fluffier than I thought and all round, good flavours with the vanilla sauce. Not too sweet.

The waffles was well cooked with crisp outer. Had mine with salted butter and jams. Loved the  blueberry and strawberry jams!

Was intrigued by the masala teapot at the Indian food counter, and stood there for like 30 seconds. Chef saw me and asked if I would like a masala thosai that she just took off from the grill. Ok, how can I reject the offer...

masala thosai with chutney, and masala tea

The masala tea was unsweetened, and I only took abit out of curiosity. Never tried before and I think I had reconfirmed that spices in tea is well, not my cup of tea...

closer view

The thosai was good. Cute even. But I was so full after that. 

Went off to get my last cup of fruit juice and came back to my table already being 'reset' for the next guest. Hahaa, well, that was kind of expected, I guess? Hmm...

Pan Pacific Singapore 

Address: 7 Raffles Blvd, Singapore 039595

Website: https://www.panpacific.com/en/