(An Attempt To) Buffet @ Seasonal Tastes | The Westin Singapore

You know how we get to meet lots of people during the course of our work or hobbies/ECAs, and then some may connect that tad further for subsequent activities. That's how it is with most of my activities groups at the moment. It all started from food (most, even my work buddies groups previously where we bonded over Friday night dinners after a stressful week of work) and then more food. Hahaha!

Always thankful for the invitation to join different friends' group and this time, we're going to try Seasonal Tastes at The Westin Singapore. Was first to arrive, and ahead of the dinner buffet start time.

The buffet is at Level 32 where the hotel lobby is located, and had time to watch the sceneries while waiting for Ziqing to arrive.

relaxing at the lounge

let's stare into space

tall ceilings and reminiscence of a library 

Then, it was time to feast. Let's go for a tour of the available sections for the buffet.

cheese counter

rojak corner

As you walk to your designated table, one would be walking past the cheese/bread/pastries section and at its opposite, you'll see the Make-It-Yourself rojak section. First thought that invaded my mind then was "Nice, but would require some work to make a plate." I think my introvert inner was showing, as I worried for a bit if it'll be a rather self-conscious moment standing there attempting to make a plate of mixed fruits rojak while diners are waiting in line thinking what's the hold up. Hahaha!

cold seafood section

fresh oysters

What do you usually start with at the buffet? For me, it's always the cold seafood and specifically, probably just the prawns and oysters.

prawns and oysters

white wine

Thanks to Ziqing, we got to enjoy a glass of white wine with the seafood. And since we had wine on the table, let's go get some cheese to munch.

of cold cuts, cheeses and crackers

It was nice to have conversations while we work our way through the food. Staff was clearing off the empty plates pretty efficiently too.

Pasta Station

One of the highlight of the buffet, would be the lobster pasta. So we got ourselves a plate. Or rather, Ziqing got herself a plate and I just wanted to try half a lobster. She wanted cream sauce so we went with that. 

Lobster Pasta with cream sauce

Hmm, thought the sauce was rather mild and lobster meat was easily extracted from its shell. Pasta was al-dente and lovely.

Let's go get some meat. I like how the staff at the roasted meat counter would ask us what's the preferred portions that we would like to have. I'd be like "2 pieces each for the duck, roast pork and char siew."

Roasted Beef Striploin

chicken, roasted duck, pork (roast pork and char siew)

meat haul

roasted beef striploin

Beef striploin was good. It has a good chew and natural flavours. The roasted duck, roast pork and char siew were nice too. No complaints. The only complaint, was my stomach space was getting maxed out too soon.

If you are craving for some flavours of across the causeway, there's black Hokkien mee and herbal bak kut teh available as part of the buffet.

KL Hokkien Mee

Herbal Bak Kut Teh

What's my verdict after trying out these two dishes? Overall, nice flavours. Though, the bak kut teh could do with stronger herbal flavours and the Hokkien mee could do with a more savoury and less sweet flavour profile.

luscious thick strand

Lastly, I tried the Singapore laksa to see how it compares across all the Singapore laksa amongst the many hotel buffets. It came loaded with plenty of ingredients, flavourful broth (though can be more spicy) and overall pretty good. Nice to eat, especially after a few glasses of wine.

Singapore Laksa

And of course, we need to get dessert. Never leave without ending with some sweets. Got myself an ambitious bowl of gelato + sorbet. Got all the available flavours that night and thus, ended with 4 scoops. Nice!

all flavours; gelato - gula melaka, vanilla and lychee (bottom) and mango sorbet

But of course, don't forget the cakes. A bit of something. I had a taste of cheesecake, raspberry and chocolate. I enjoyed the small bites of cakes with a cup of coffee. Coffee was nice.

petite cakes

An enjoyable evening with Darren, Jeff, Jennifer and Ziqing. Thank you for the random jio!

Seasonal Tastes

Address: Level 32, 12 Marina View, Asia Square Tower 2, Singapore, 018961

Website: https://www.seasonaltastessingapore.com/

Contact: 69226968

Together for Christmas @ Oscar's (Conrad Centennial Singapore)

The group has decided on buffet for this year's Christmas gathering, so we descended on to Oscar's at Conrad Hotel.

Now that buffet is back in full swing, let's see how's the experience compared to before. Was there for Festive Brunch and most of us got the $108++ per adult and $54++ per child, with free flow Soft Drinks, Chilled Juices, Coffee and Tea. A few in the group went for the $148++ per person with free flow Rosé Sparkling Wine, House Wines, Gin & Tonic, Draft Beer and Soft Drinks.

Buffet timing is 12:30–3:30pm (Last order at 3:15pm). However, there was no staff at the front even at 12.20pm. Is this the norm? Not sure.

entrance to Oscar's

let's talk a tour

Classic Western Mains

roast turkey

Local Seafood Station

Local Flavours

Compound Salad

Sashimi Counter

Assortment of sushi

The Ice Bar

Drinkers of Change (partnership with Little Ripples)

Dessert

Dessert

eat, drink and make merry

dessert

The oysters looked good and what's more, there's Japan oysters and there's USA oysters. Let's do a taste test!

starter plate

Japan oyster

The visuals for the oyster from Japan looked better. Smooth, plump and mild flavours. Very little muscle (that scallop like thingy) hence, it glided off smoothly from its shell.

USA oyster

The visuals for the USA oyster seemed a tad fierce, no? But it packed bold flavours. Loved this in terms of flavours but texture wise, preferred the ones from Japan. It has strong and big muscle, so it was a bit of a hassle to dig out the flesh in comparison.

The Foie Gras Live Station have two Chefs at least, one to setup the base plating and another to place components onto the plate. They made it pretty.

Pan-Seared Foie Gras and Raukal Smoked Duck

The gingerbread crisp added a touch of Christmas magic to the plate. Preferred a thicker slice of foie gras, but otherwise, it was lovely.

plate of classic western mains

Hmm, what type of buffet eater are you? I noticed my style is to gather everything onto one plate because am lazy to go round and round so many times. Of course, I wouldn't mix hot and cold food together. I have friends who did individual plates separately for most of the items...

Gammon Ham

Turkey with Roasted Pumpkin – Cranberries Sauce and Gravy

One could not go wrong with Gammon ham. Texture was lovely, flavours was as expected. The turkey (Chef gave me center breast meat) was not and flavours mainly from the sauce.

skinny asparagus for the vegetables

chicken satay from the Grill Station

Chicken satay was nice as well as the Sambal Tumis Sotong Bakar. But the sambal not spicy, so that was a surprise. 

The biggest letdown was the Grilled BBQ Lobster. The meat was mushy. For the beef yakiniku, it depends. One piece was very well done hence it was tough, but another was nice as it was grilled just nice.

Grilled BBQ Lobster

Ended up eating dessert earlier, as the foods didn't seem to excite.

Yule Logs Galore (front to back); Matcha, Chocolate, Cassis

small bites

best of 3; Chocolate/Hazelnut Yule Log

Seemed like there were multiple tables who were celebrating their loved ones/friend's birthday, and we did one for Tiara too. Sorry, but it was too funny! Hahahaa!

All in all, it was a joyous get-together with foodie friends. We have stuck around each other for like, 7 years now. Cheers and here's to good health, good food and good company!

Was I a good buffet eater? Definitely, no. Hahaa, it's called ageism.

Oscar's

Address: 2 Temasek Blvd, Singapore 038982

Website: https://eatdrinkhilton.com/oscars/