Location: Singapore
Author: My Husband
When the words “buffet” and “good” are uttered together in foodie circles, eyebrows are raised, jaws are dropped, and conversation comes to a stop. Ok, a slight exaggeration maybe, but I have a sneaky suspicion that people who “know” food may think a little less of the poor soul who was taste-challenged enough to mention “buffet” and “good” together in the same sentence. 
In North America, buffets have typically been regarded as food troughs for indiscrimate diners who don’t know any better. Many chefs see it as their golden goose – a way to lower food costs, serve plenty of people, and… profit! And frankly, many people do see it as a way to fill themselves up for not a lot of money. And well, given many of the buffet places we have in the US/Canada, quality and taste aren’t exactly the highest priorities for the operators.
The curious thing is… buffets are quite highly regarded in Asia. In places such Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, hotel buffets are actually seen as classy spreads, and many well-heeled guests do like them. “Well-heeled”, “buffet”, and “like” – seems like there is some logical incongruence in this little word association exercise, isn’t there? Why is there such a difference in perception between North America and Asia diners? Let me offer up some guesses (and for our readers who feel one way or the other, please contribute!)
In Asia: the highly-regarded buffets tend to be located in big luxury hotels, so there is some prestige associated with them; buffets tend to focus more on variety and quality, as opposed to quantity; the price per guest tends to be quite steep compared to other forms of dining; and traditionally, buffets have served western cuisine, which may be viewed by some to be a little more exotic and sophisticated.
To me, the above seem reasonable enough, but is there any truth to them? Well, have a look at the following photos and let me know what you think.
My Aunt took us to one of Singapore’s most highly-regarded buffet at “The Line” in the Shangri-la Hotel.
The Line is located on the same level as the Shangri-la’s swimming pool.
The clean, minimalistic design of The Line.
First, a small sampling of what’s available at the seafood bar:
To avoid exposure to the elements, only small amounts of the seafood are put out at any one time; the food is immediately replenished when a guest helps himself to some. Oysters at buffets are usually not the freshest; but these Australian ones were pretty good; they are shucked on demand before being put on your plate. Also on offer – crab claws, lobster claws, mussels, prawns, etc…
Next, a sampling of the food available at the salad bar and cheese station (I didn’t touch any of this stuff):
Here are snapshots of the meat carving station, as well as the kitchen in which racks of lamb were being grilled for lunch service the following day.
Christina got the last beef rib of the day – she really enjoyed it, but it did spoil her appetite for just about anything else. Salmon wellington was on offer as well, but we didn’t get around to trying it.
Cook-to-order pasta station:
I ordered a pasta aglio olio, with extra aglio. They made it very enthusiastically, and it wasn’t half bad. The chefs here would make any pasta for you, within reason (and ingredient availability) of course. If you wanted, you could pick ingredients from other stations and have them include it in your pasta.
Here are some of the choices at the Malay station and Indian station:
Chicken, lamb, and beef satay that were constantly being replenished (from the grill in the background). Curry and satay sauce for dipping, as well as the usual satay accompaniments, were pretty competently made. We had quite a bit of the chicken and lamb satay that day. Also on offer – roti prata and murtabak.
And there were the Chinese stations as well as one sushi station:
A variety of dim sum.
Noodle station. Noodles are made to your specifications.
Different types of noodles on offer.
Chinese roast pork, BBQ duck, and char siu station.
Sashimi. As much as you want. All the fish looked to be of high quality. On offer that day were salmon, tuna, and yellow-tail. We didn’t try any as there was so much else to eat!
Freshly made sushi, constantly being replenished. Did not try any of these.
There were quite a few of these covered serving vessels. I took a few sample snapshots the contents; I didn’t feel right about opening every one to take photos.
Because the food wasn’t put out in huge quantities, these serving vessels looked rather empty. But some of these dishes were pretty tasty, like the pork belly for example.
This is what I ate too much of at the buffet – deep fried baby squid. The squid is deep fried until thoroughly crispy, then finished with a sweet/savory sauce. I love this stuff! It is excellent drinking food.
And then, there were the dessert and crepe stations:
Made to order crepes – just walk up and the crepe chef would make you anything you want (again, within reason of course).
Sliced fruits, traditional Nonya kuehs, and other confections.
Cakes, macaroons, éclairs, cream puffs, crème brulees, parfaits, jellies, mousses, etc…
Chocolate fountain with “neverending” semi-sweet chocolate.
Ice-cream stations with the fixings.
There was some more food that I didn’t manage to take photos of, but I hope the above gives you an idea of what to expect at a “top-notch” buffet in Asia.
There is a lot of variety, with many cuisine types being covered. The menu changes often (the carving station changes every day for instance). The food is put out in small amounts, and replenished very often. While the food quality is not equal to a la carte dishes at top restaurants, it was certainly loads better than what I’ve had at North American buffets (including ones at the Wynn and the Bellagio in Las Vegas).
All in all, we really enjoyed ourselves. We ate too much, yet did not manage to try everything that was on offer. This was our second visit to The Line, and I think there will probably be additional ones in our future.
Next post – some odds and ends to wrap up our stopover in Singapore.
