Remember to state Parkroyal Hotel at Kitchener Road, failing which, the taxi uncle might just bring you to the other Parkroyals in Singapore. Was invited to Spice Brasserie, to try out their Penang Affair buffet, as well as a sampling of crabs from their popular Crazy Crab buffet.
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| enter to experience |
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| new buffets |
Been ages since I last had any buffets. Was interesting, going around exploring the spread. Let's start from the cold seafood section.
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| cold seafood section |
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| sushi counter |
Probably it's psychological, but when one sees a sushi counter, then automatically we'd be looking for sashimi. Fresh blocks of tuna, swordfish, salmon and tako (octopus) are sliced upon order. The boyish looking and amiable chef at the sashimi counter said that during weekends, he'd be slicing up the pieces non-stop for close to two hours at one stretch!
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| swordfish and salmon belly |
How about starting with something light to warm the stomach? Teochew porridge, perhaps?
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| pick your pickles |
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| how about savouries for the porridge? |
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| pork ribs~ |
Really liked how they made the dishes that bit saltier to go well with the plain sweet potato porridge. The braised pig trotters was good. Gelatinous but not 'jelak'.
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| just the right stuffs for the porridge |
There's also an Indian food section, where there are naan, Palak Paneer, Chicken Tikka Massala to name a few.
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| a pot of flavours |
There isn't a lot of everything but there's a bit of something for most. How about western food, you might ask?
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| salad ingredients |
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| cold cuts, dressings, cheese and breads |
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| just liked the way these were laid out, don't ask me why |
But of course, the highlight, is the Penang Affair by Chef Frederick Kho and a sampling from his 'Crazy Crab' spread. Chef Frederick has over 20 years of experience, and is now overseeing the culinary operations of the hotel.
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| Penang hawker fare dished up from this space |
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| Penang Assam Laksa |
This dish uses the local mackerel (ikan kembung) where its flavour had definitely been cooked down till infused into the thick flavourful broth. It was actually much sweeter than what I had expected from a bowl of Penang assam laksa and there wasn't any of those sourish tamarind taste. This broth will surely appeal to those who prefers that little bit of sweetness in their food.
Penang Hawker food would not be complete, without Penang Char Kway Teow. The version here was nicely fried with the thin, not so wide kway teow gentle on the mouth. Soft, almost silky and accented by the lap cheongs and chives.
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| who ate my char kway teow? |
Of course, one mustn't forget the Penang Prawn Noodles. The prawn soup was light and tasty. If you prefer more spicy, then one can add/request more chili to it.
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| Penang Prawn Noodles sampler |
The general advise is to eat the soupy stuffs while they're still hot!
Did someone ask for popiah? They have it here too.
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| Penang popiah |
Not in the mood for popiah? How about some Pasembur?
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| Pasembur (Indian Rojak with sweet and spicy peanut sauce) |
Want something more? Had the chance to try two styles of crabs; Black Pepper and Salted Egg. Did you know that there are up to 12 styles/flavours of crabs during their Friday Crazy Crab buffet!
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| Sarawak Black Pepper Crab |
The Sarawak Black Pepper Crab was peppery spicy (really spicy) and Chef said it has glutinous rice wine in the sauce. But personally, much preferred the Salted Egg Butter crab. The sauce was loaded with a chockful of salted egg goodness! Super heavy duty type. Mud crabs were used and the good ones were quite meaty, firm and subtly sweet. Watch out for those tiny tiny little red fiery chili padis, though. Finger licking good.
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| Salted Egg Butter Crab |
If you're ever here on Friday for the crabs, do try their other recommended styles including Chili, Kam Heong, Golden Cheese and Nonya Chili amongst others.
Having food with such strong flavours demands for a drink to wash it down. Orange juice was my choice. The juice here has minimalistic amount of ice and tasted naturally sweet.
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| orange and watermelon juice |
Main courses, more or less done. So it was time for desserts!
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| steamed glutinous rice and durian pulp |
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| durian pengat |
According to their friendly staff, the durian pengat is popular amongst their diners and after having tasted it, can understand why. The durian paste/pulp was nicely fragrant, sweet yet not overpowering so.
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| DIY ice kachang? |
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| oh, chendol |
Try to go easy on those green coloured stuffs. But ply more of the ice-cream, durian pengat and gula-melaka yums.
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| dainty little sweet things |
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| nonya kueh selection |
A hot drink to go with the cakes and kuehs?
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| coffee machine |
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| tea selection |
Just a little bit of this and that was enough to fill the stomach up pretty quickly.
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| petite cakes and kueh to end the meal |
Thank you HGW (Chiew Mei and Hong An) for the invite and Parkroyal Kitchener (Simon and Cleo) for hosting us, and not forgetting, Chef Frederick for crafting the buffet spread, and whom has generously shared with us on some of the ingredients used.
Spice Brasserie Information
Breakfast: 6.30am to 10.30am (daily)
Lunch: 12noon to 2.30pm (daily)
Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm (daily)
Address:
PARKROYAL
on Kitchener Road
181
Kitchener Road, Lobby Level
Telephone: (65) 6428 3160
Buffet Price List* (correct as of date of blog posting):
Theme
|
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Per Adult
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Per Child
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Penang
Affair
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Mondays
to Thursday
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Lunch
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$34
|
$15
|
|
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Dinner
|
$38
|
$15
|
Crazy
Crab Night
|
Fridays
|
Dinner
|
$58
|
$25
|
Sensational
Seafood
|
Saturdays
|
Dinner
|
$58
|
$25
|
International
Buffet
|
Fridays
to Sundays
|
Lunch
|
$34
|
$15
|
|
Sundays
|
Dinner
|
$38
|
$15
|
*Prices are subject to
service charge and prevailing government taxes. Child prices are applicable for
children aged six to 12 years old.
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