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2015-08-01
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This is the first buffet I have been to with a memorable range of cooked food, and the awesome desserts were absolutely delectable as well. The Square brings you oysters on ice, and their oysters are pretty big, creamy and plump, just the way I like it. You may find some bits of shell, so when you are slurping down the oysters, do be careful. The prawns are sweet and if you like prawn heads like me, you will find it flavourful, which means that they were not soaked in ice. The mussels were not t
Seafood on ice
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Moving on to the sashimi, they serve Tuna sashimi, which is pretty unusal, as Tuna Sashimi is often pricer than Salmon. For those looking for Salmon, they have smoked salmon instead.
Seafood Salad
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The Square at Novetel is known for their crab, which happened to be fried with black pepper on the day I was there. The crab I had wasn't to my liking as the flesh was a little powdering, but everyone else's was firm and sweet.
Stars of the buffet has to be their carving station, chicken sharwama, the risotto and for me, their range of cheeses and olives. Though we were invited to try their new dishes for August, they gave us free rein to head to the buffet as well.
Whole Parmiggiano
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Roast lamb with a chili rub
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Chicken Sharwama
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Now, on to the main dishes we were there to taste!
Ayam Buah Kaluak
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Babi Ponteh
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Devil's Curry
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Kueh Pai Tee
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Assam Fish
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Nonya Style Assam Fish
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Bakwan Kepiting
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I've arranged the dishes in the order of my preference, and the Ayam Buah Keluak is my absolute favourite. I can't get enough of the chicken which slides off the bone easily and the nutty Buah Keluak! Even though I was so full, I had several helpings of this.
The Babi Ponteh was also really good, with the pork cooked to tender perfection in the black bean sauce.
I was also really impressed by the Devil's Curry, which is super spicy but extremly addictive. Do you know The Square grows their own spices and they are harvested for the dinner table daily? You can't get any fresher than that!
Till now, I am still thinking of their Kueh Pai Tee as their shells were really crisp and not at all soggy. It was a one bite affair which left us hoping for more, so when the Chef brought out more, several of us had a second round.
The Misses
Nonya Styled Assam Fish wasn't so good as the super fresh grouper was cooked before the sauce was added. I felt the sauce could have been more sour, and perhaps cooked with the fish so that it would absorb the flavour. The fried version tasted better, but the sauce was still not sour enough for me.
Bakwan Kepting was a terrible disaster as it tasted like someone emptied the whole canister of salt into the soup while the chef wasn't looking. Not a soup I enjoyed, though the pork and chicken balls were soft and juicy.
The MRs
The three chefs, Kishen, Jimmy and Sin Siak were really friendly and shared how they made the different dishes. All the yummy desserts are created by Sin Siak who is La Vie magazine's Chef of the month in July. The roast lamb was rubbed in a special dry chili rub concocted by Sous Chef Jimmy and served with a spicy Korean sauce in addition to the usual mustard and mint jelly. Head Chef Kishen mentioned that he was trained by a famous Peranakan Chef, which is one of the reasons why August's theme, to coincide with SG50, is Peranakan.
Besides the dishes on showcase, you will be able to check out peranakan kuehs and the dessert spread. Unfortunately I can only upload 12 photos here, so do check out the full review on my blog http://www.chanchop.com/food-porn (Will edit the full link in a few days)
Other Info. :
$58++ for the dinner buffet, you can opt for the bottomless beer by adding 26++!
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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