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2015-01-30
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Full review on http://herpenandfork.blogspot.sg/2015/01/sakura-international-buffet-literally.htmlSakura International Buffet has been around for as long as I remember, and I cannot remember when was the last time I went (or if I ever have gone). Well, whether it was good or bad, they have revamped their buffet spread.The place is very spacious and there are sections to seat large groups.LocalIt is literally 'international' here. Starting from the 'local' zone, you have the Singaporean favorites
Sakura International Buffet has been around for as long as I remember, and I cannot remember when was the last time I went (or if I ever have gone). Well, whether it was good or bad, they have revamped their buffet spread.
The place is very spacious and there are sections to seat large groups.Local
It is literally 'international' here. Starting from the 'local' zone, you have the Singaporean favorites. The added special highlight here, is the Boston Lobster and Argentina Prawn Hokkien Mee. It is dished up piping hot by the chefs at the live station, but you have to wait for about 10 minutes in the queue, especially if there's a crowd, for them to cook up a new batch. The premium seafood is a plus. The noodles were very flavourful, presumably from the rich, prawn soup stock used in the stir frying. This is must-try, no matter how carb-avoiding you are trying to be as part of your buffet strategy.
Boston Lobster and Argentine Prawn Hokkien Mee, Hiroshima Oyster OmeletteNot the same can be said for the Hiroshima oyster omelette though, which is also part of the live station. It was on the mushy side.
The local cooked food section featured Hainanese chicken rice. The chicken was pretty tender, while the chilli sauce and ginger helped to lift it. There is also a DIY laksa station. The laksa broth was a little too concentrated and hence salty. Skip the otah, which was powdery and weird in taste but go for the satay. They also had a modest spread of Thai food, which included pineapple fried rice, green curry chicken, kambing soup (lamb soup) and shark's fin soup. The shark's fin soup was quite starchy and we were hard pressed to find any ingredients of substance in it.
DIY LaksaShabu-Shabu
At each table, there is a pot of shabu-shabu with collagen chicken soup stock. Take your pick of ingredients, which includes chicken, beef and fish slices together with mushrooms and vegetables.
The soup was a little bland initially, but the light fragrance grew on us. Ingredients were fresh too.
Chinese and Dim SumAt the Hong Kong-themed area, there was a small selection of dim sum. What stood out was their version of molten salted egg lava bun aka Liu Sha Bao. Other than the fact that I haven't come across many buffets that offer it, the lava inside flowed out generously and the bun was sufficiently soft. The savoury custard flavour was also sufficient, though it would be even better with a oomph of buttery fragrance present. Tip: Have it hot, otherwise you will find in underwhelming. The rest of the dim sum were average so you can save the space for other things if you are not a dim sum fan.
Molten Salted Egg Lava BunAnother star of the buffet: the freshly baked Bird's Nest Egg Tart. The crust is the flaky kind and I enjoyed the wobbly egg custard. This was great, if you don't mind the fact that you can see the bird's nest but barely taste it.
Just right beside the egg tarts were grilled prawns. The cross section of these prawns have been sliced open for easy eating. The smoky flavour was there and yes, it's worth a try too.
DessertsLastly, the desserts section. The variety was stunning. 3 shelves chilled and waiting, with each shelf containing 5-6 cakes/tarts/dessert cups/mochi/puffs. This is excluding the live station of Haagen Daaz Chocolate Lava Cake and the fruit section, with assorted jellies. At the end, we simply didn't have space for the enticing mochis.
Dessert galore
Assorted jellies and fruits
Rainbow Kueh LapisWell, to help you maximise your stomach space, these are the desserts (we tried nearly everything) which are worth the space --> Rainbow Kueh Lapis, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate dessert cup, chocolate cake, mango mousse and of course, the Haagen Daaz Ice Cream with Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. The molten lava cake was served in a warm plate and every mouthful of hot-and-cold was so comforting. Unfortunately, the lava didn't really flow as gloriously as we wanted it to.
Haagen Daaz Ice Cream and Chocolate Molten Lava CakeThe verdict? At $30.90+(Mon-Thurs)/$33.90+ (Fri-Sun) for dinner, this buffet exceeded my expectations, even though there were some misses. The variety is wide, while food quality for some of the items were really good, and most were at least average otherwise. The quality definitely is better than some hotels' buffets at a similar price range, what more with shabu-shabu thrown in too. Even more value-for-money would be lunch ($17.90+ - Weekdays, $18.90+ - Weekends). However, note that they do not serve the Boston Lobster and Argentine Prawn Mee at lunch, replacing it with Hokkien Prawn Mee.
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