1 Market by Chef Wan

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Dining at 1 Market was a surprising dinner find for my friends and I. It is located at the new plaza sing building. Despite the comments I heard about the place, we decided to give it a go since it wasn't too expensive. Upon entering I was charmed by the kampung style of the place. Being a sweet tooth, I was immediately attracted to the dessert section before anything else - love the beautifully decorated dessert section. Very yummy desserts and wide selection too. They have seafood selection too so we chow down to the fresh oysters - Sulculent! The other dishes were flavourful and I highly recomend their grilled squid. It is very well marinated and not rubbery at all. The food was replenish pretty quickly, lovely staff that whisk to clear your empty plates so overall we had a nice time. Drop by if you're at Plaza Sing. continue reading

Just have my lunch here at this popular buffet restaurant here at Plaza Singapura. The waitress and waiters here are quite prompt in clearing the plates and utensils from the tables and the restaurant is quite big and spacious, cooling as well. For less than $40 per adult, is still charged quite reasonable. Enjoyed having their cold prawns and scallops. THey are very fresh and chewy, with no stingy smell in it. The stired fried pepper prawns are also delicious, which is flavourful with lots of peppery fragrant in it, prawns are crunchy and sweet as well. continue reading

1 Market is a halal buffet restaurant opened by the famous Chef Wan, which attracted a lot of media and hype when it first opened! I met up with two of my friends to try the lunch buffet here ^^ The first stop I went for is the Japanese section! I love sashimi which I happily spam those on my plate! The soba noodles are not bad! Some of the food from the Thai, Viet and Indo sections. The charcoal black pepper prawns are a must-try! After sometime, I realize they have a pretty wide range of sauces available! These are surprisingly tasty! There is a long queue for the satays and after getting a plate, we found it to be nothing fantastic and definitely not worth queuing for. I was already pretty full but I saw this laksa station and decided to try this last item! Lucky I ordered as it was surprisingly good and I finished the whole bowl! Moving on to the desserts, there is an especially long queue for the waffles! I think we waited around 10 minutes for our turn. I had the chocolate ice-cream on my waffles and drizzled it with strawberry sauce I like that the waffles are crispy and it was worth queuing! There is a range of kuehs, tarts and pastries at the dessert section and these are just some of it! There is also a ice kachang machine! Overall, I find that the buffet spread didn't have much variety but considering the price, it is reasonable ;) continue reading

The buffet serves food from Indonesian, Thailand, Vietnam, Japanese and local cuisines. There are about 10 stations, prominent ones are the barbeque meats, laksa, popiah, and rojak stations.There's a lot of variety available at 1 Market. Sadly, there's quantity but no quality. To cite a few examples, the sashimi (salmon, tuna, octopus) didn't taste fresh. Also, chicken in dishes such as the Thai green curry were super tough.1 Market is definitely not a buffet that I intend to revisit. For the price of $34.80++, there are lots of buffets out there that serves fresh, quality food.For full review and pics, visit http://www.bunnysays.com/2013/01/1-market-by-chef-wan-plaza-sing.html continue reading

1 Market is Malaysia Number 1 Celebrity Chef, Chef Wan first foray in Singapore restaurant scene. Located in Plaza Singapura, this place opened with much fan fare and publicity in Singapore and across the Causeway. This buffet restaurant is filled to the brim everyday, so if you never make a reservation, your chance of getting a table is very slim. Reviews on this establishment on food review websites has not been positive, however it did not stop me from suggesting this place for a catch up session with our friends. Let me start describing our experience from reservation. It actually took me two days to get through to get a reservation. First, I make a few calls during the break time in hope that the staff will be lessen their work stress in taking reservation during their busy period. Unfortunately, it went unanswered. Later I found out from their FB page, they only take reservation during their operation hours. So I tried the next day and by luck, managed to get through and place my reservation for our big group. The person on the other line was courteous and give me the details on pricing, especially for kids under a certain age.Come to the D Day, we arrived on time and was shown to our table. Luckily they already allocated the table, so as long as someone come on time, they will allow you to be seated and the rest can come a bit late. Normally you need to pay before you enter, however as we are in a big group, they actually do the final count at the end and we can pay the bill before the end of our meal. Kudos to them for allowing this flexibility.So once you enter the restaurant, can see their food selection starting with cold seafood, Japanese section, Rotisserie section, Asian Home cooking and deserts. So how is the food.We start with the cold dish section. The prawn and blue swimmer crab are quite reasonable in size, but not fantastically fresh. The cockles, clams and mussels are over cooked, and the meat actually shrinks. To accompany the seafood, you can choose their Thai Chili Sauce mix, but according to the Little Devil, it is not spicy enough. Got no KICK!!For the Japanese section, the selection is quite limited. For sashimi you will have the Salmon, Tuna, Octopus. It is not the best cut, but it is all right. The same can be said on the sushi and maki selection. Come to the rotisserie section. Two options of meat, roast chicken and beef rump. The service staff tried her best, however it is difficult to de-boned and sliced chicken on the spot where you got a long queue of hungry customers. Both the meats are very dry and it was not well-seasoned. Disappointing. Come to the Asian section, Laksa Lemak, Kueh Pie Tee, and Rojak. The lemak gravy is quite thick and you can feel the lemak (coconut fat). Rojak. The rojak here is DIY (Do It Yourself), so you can mix and match the ingredients. The dressing is quite well balance, where you can taste the ingredients of belacan, tamarind and black bean paste. Can't comment on the Kueh Pie Tee, it seems we miss out on this. On the home cooked Asian section such as Chicken Belado, Lamb Stew, Thai Prawn and Tumeric Crab. All the dishes are quite flavourful, however nothing really pop up to be highlighted. The grills section. Probably the best part of section of the restaurant other than the desserts section. The Satay, you can choose chicken and beef complete with the condiments, ketupat and satay sauce. This is fresh from the charcoal grill, you can taste the charcoal burnt part with the thick satay sauce. The meat was well marinated but slightly chewy. The ketupat is all right but not fragrant. Their grilled sotong / calamari is a must-try. It is nicely grilled and tender and you have to be quick as both dishes flying off the serving place at an extreme pace. Last but not least, the desserts section. They have a numerous selection of deserts, however the most popular is the waffle with ice cream. It is so good, if you leave this till the end, you can expect long queue until you want to give up. The sago, pandan pudding, peach pudding, jelly are average. So don't miss the waffle. The drinks are free flow. 1 Market has a modern decoration, bright and well space in between tables. Service is average, but our table got cleared before any noticeable stack of plates. Overall we find 1 Market provide another choice for Halal buffet. The food is average but I was really amazed by the popularity of Chef Wan as the number 1 celebrity Chef in Malaysia. This place continue to be packed, packed and packed. I personally feel that if you never been to this place, you should try at least once. Just keep your expectation in check and have a good time with your friends. So Selamat Makan!For the full review and photos (including the satay!!!!), follow the below link.http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/07/1-market-by-chef-wan-average-food-with.htmlPlease note that during this Ramadan period, 1 Market has a different pricing compare to the normal rate. continue reading