Hai Tien Lo

As we had a voucher from our previous Keyaki visit, we decided to go to Hai Tien Lo for Chinese dinner because we have not been there for many many years (and by that I mean 10 over years?)

There's a lift that serves level 21-37 (if I'm not wrong) so do check before you take the lift! The lift is all glass so you can see the nice view outside! Pity it was raining that night :/

Was impressed by the woman who picked up my call when I called to make a reservation, extremely polite and very friendly.

Table setting. The restaurant has a circular layout and each table faces the glass windows that gives you a good view of the Singapore skyline!

This was listed on the premium tea page, some flower blossoming thing or something haha sorry! Not too sure about this. But the flower fragrance was really strong and nice, one of the more unique teas I've had! Certainly not your normal Chinese tea.

Signature dish - Pan-fried foie gras with roasted duck skin

I think they cooked it together or something because the foie gras had a distinct duck meat taste instead of the usual foie gras taste! The taste of the foie gras was completely covered by the taste of the duck so I thought this wasn't a well-executed dish because I've had such combinations before at other restaurants and the foie gras retained its own flavours. 3/5 

Drunken chicken (appetiser)

I felt that the wine didnt fully incorporate into the chicken hence the taste of the wine wasnt strong, something my parents and I do not fancy. We prefer stronger taste of the wine and a very cold chicken, much like how Din Tai Fung does it! So far, no places can beat DTF's drunken chicken in my books and I know my best friend and my Mom agree with me. The meat of this chicken was rather soft and the skin wasnt too fatty either. But pity about the wine taste, I mean afterall, this IS drunken chicken. 3/5

Baked Sea Perch Fillet with Truffle Sauce

This is from their festive menu I believe. The last page of the menu. The waitress who took our order knew my Dad so she recommended us dishes/told us which dishes werent that nice/allowed me to order from the festive menu (I presume) because this dish isnt in the ala carte menu so yup. Anyway, this was the BEST DISH of the night! All of us agreed this was ohsoyummy. Actually it was only the fish, the sauce was too thick and too sweet for our liking, truffle aroma wasnt strong either so Mom and I kinda scraped off the sauce to enjoy the sweet soft yummy flesh of the fish itself!

The fish, is really the star!! So wonderfully flakey and soft, melts in your mouth, even softer than cod I tell you! The chef really cooked it to perfection. This is certainly a Must-try but you probably can try it with some other sauce? I know they have other cooking methods in the ala carte menu, so (: 5/5 for fish!

Pan-fried geoduck in XO sauce with beans

I didnt try this but my parents said the XO sauce wasnt v hot!

Steamed broccoli with crabmeat and caviar

There were lots of crabmeat!! Caviar was a rather big spoonful and broccoli, huge florets of them. Rather value for money dish I feel! Everything's fresh so this is more of an average dish done well. 4/5

Ee Mian with Chicken Shreds and Truffle Sauce

The truffle aroma was stronger in this dish and I didnt try it either but my parents commented that it was pretty average, nothing much to shout about. 3.5/5

Lobster with signature butter lemon sauce

The lobster is lightly fried before the sauce is placed on top of it. To me, seafood should be enjoyed on its own to savour the sweet fresh taste of the seafood (with the exception of salted egg yolk crab and creamy butter crab at Seafood Paradise!) so I didnt enjoy the sauce atop the lobster because all I tasted was the sauce and not the sweet lobster flesh! So I scraped the sauce off again and ate the lobster meat (: it was fresh no doubt! But once again, just an average dish to me. 3.7/5

These are views from the lift

Hai Tien Lo has many private rooms with their own views of the Singapore skyline/waterfront view and I'd imagine it'll be quite popular during periods with fireworks! Service staff are friendly, rather prompt in their service. Pity the food's average. My parents and I agreed that we wouldnt be coming back in the near future.

Hai Tien Lo

Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore

Basilico Sunday Brunch Revisited

Basilico has been high up on my buffet list ever since I tried them last year and I decided to recommend it to the best friend!

We had a really good seat, a quiet corner of the restaurant with the sun! Love how relaxing the Regent feels! And it smells really good too haha!

Foie Gras with Truffle Risotto

First thing we attacked? The foie gras! Yes they have a foie gras station and look at the PORTION. So much bigger than Melt's/Triple 3's which are really miserable portions about hmm 1/3 the size of this?? Now this is what I call worth your money! The risotto was yummy too! Though the truffle aroma wasnt as strong as I'd like it to be! Overall, I LOVE FOIE GRAS! Oh and the foie gras "station" has a room to itself, its behind the dessert area, if you dont know where it is just ask the friendly staff and they'd show you the way! They also have manyyyy different types of cheese and honey in that room, so if you're a cheese lover, you're in for a real treat! 4.6/5

Lobster, king crab, mussels, prawn, parma ham + rock melon, burrata cheese, asparagus, cherry tomatoes

The king crab was reallyyyyy sweet!! Tomatoes too! Love burrata cheese, so (: Parma ham went well with the sweet melon, lobster wasnt v sweet though! Didnt really like the prawns, mussels were ok. They have a salad bar section, many diff types of tomatoes + cheese, many types of hams/salami, they have jamon as well!

Now this was YUMMY!!! Must-try really!

Focaccia with mascarpone cheese and truffle

THE TRUFFLE AROMA IS THE BOMBBB! They drizzle truffle oil on top of the bread so yup its really aromatic! And in between the focaccia is a thin layer of mascarpone cheese studded with truffles, yummmmmm~~ Melting goodness of the cheese coupled with aroma of the truffles with a soft slightly wood-charred bread, heaven! The best friend and I loved this a lot and asked for more, as you'll see below! (: They'll bring this to your table asking if you want it or not

This time we asked for foie gras only and they gave us 2 huge slabs with truffles!! YUMMEHHHH~~ Hehe foie gras!!!!

Lamb rack, king crab, cod fish, salmon

The lamb rack is still as good as I remember!! No strong "smelly" lamb taste (the best friend cant stand it but she thinks the lamb here's really good and that speaks volumes huh), the meat is sooooo tender and done JUST NICELY, slightly undercooked to give it that slight chewy, tender texture! The cod and salmon were okay-ish only

Lobster Bisque

An okay rendition

Pizza bread, Focaccia with mascarpone & truffle, sole fish, cherry tomatoes

The pizza bread was placed together with the breads (not at the pizza section) and I thought it was quite good because its light and airy plus has just enough of the spices to make it yummy! Sole fish was okay only. 

Pizza with prawn and cherry tomatoes

This was ok only cos the dough was a little thick. There are about 4/5 diff types of pizzas, 4/5 types of pastas, they have wagyu rump, grilled chicken, grilled pork, pork belly, meatballs, mixed seafood,  grilled vegetables, lamb stew, chicken stew etc just that we didnt take them!

Pastry with hazelnut filling, apricot tart, berry crumble 

Apricot tart was good! The tart base was not the crumbly sort, a little firm but still, I liked it! I only like the berry part of the crumble though 

Pastry with hazelnut filling

This was like eating a HUGE FERROR ROCHER!!! Super yummy!!!! The filling isnt overly sweet, and the pastry ohmy, crispy, flakey buttery goodness!!! 

Cake with fruits, lemon macaron, coffee choux pastry

I really loved the cake with fruits! Its like a shortbread kind of cake, with a biscuit base, a very crumbly and buttery cake with many different types of fruits on it! Dont bother about the choux pastry because it turned soggy from the cream inside and aint worth your stomach space!

The lemon macaron was SO good! Not annoyingly sweet, crispy shell though a little soft, and just enough lemon to make you go "I like this!"

Plate 2: Apricot tart, sesame crackers, cake with fruits, lemon macaron

The sesame cracker wasnt nice

Oh we had the Lime sorbet which was soooo sour but good after a heavy meal, the sweet wine gelato which initially tastes a little weird but after awhile it grows on you! Its like a sake gelato haha. There were other desserts like chocolate truffles, chocolate/raspberry macarons, vanilla/chocolate/espresso/raspberry gelato, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, meringue cookies, panna cotta, some weird desserts I've never seen before, red wine pears, chocolate zabaglione, etc!

There is also free flow of juices/coffee/tea so yup! We saw Patricia Mok filming there as well! Haha. She looks exactly like how she is on TV. Really love the ambience of Basilico, great great place to have Sunday Brunch! Advance bookings are a must because they are usually full house during Sunday Brunch! 

The price now has increased since I last came, but I do not mind the increase in price because previously there werent truffles in the buffet neither were the foie gras portions as big (though still bigger than Melt/Triple 3) 

We both felt that though the variety wasnt HUGE, the quality of the food was consistent and good!! She says she'll bring her family here the next time round. So yup, wonderful place for Sunday Brunch if you're an Italian food lover! 

Basilico

The Regent Hotel Level 2

$69++ per person for Sunday Brunch 12-3pm

Triple 3 Sunday Brunch

My family decided to try Triple 3's Sunday Brunch!

Salad section

Seafood section

There are freshly shucked oysters! Can you see the chefs doing it in the background of the picture? All of the seafood are undoubtedly extremely fresh and sweet! (:

Sashimi

Now for Triple 3, its slightly different from other buffets I've been to because they have a wider range of sashimi available to choose from and the chef only slices it for you after you've told him your choices or you can ask him for recommendations/mixed platter sort of thing!

Mini chirashi

Assorted Sushis

Sashimi

The salmon sashimi was really fresh and sweet!!! Loved how it tastes :D The small white stuff there are shrimps which the sashimi chef recommended! They were really sweet too! The swordfish was equally good and so was the salmon roe!

Hams/Terrines

They have a really wide variety, as you can see! Plus there's even jamon!

Live station: 2 kinds of lobsters

One is mentaiki and the other is drizzled with garlic butter sauce! The boy said both are really really good, and went to get seconds! I asked for a lobster without any sauce and they gladly agreed :D It was fresh and sweet!

Oyster Croquettes

2 Kinds of Lobsters

Lobster w/o sauce, seafood with sun-dried tomato salad

The salad was really interesting!!! The small mini seafood really tickled me haha and they tasted really yummyyyyy and fresh! Plus the herbs and sun-dried tomato added, mmm~

Live station: Grilled

There's wagyu beef, lamb rack, pork, salmon, sausages! Choose and they'll grill!

Grilled lamb rack

I tell you, this is the BEST grilled lamb rack I've eaten so far!!!!! The meat was so soft and a little melt-in-you-mouth-ish but still maintaining a firm bite. The lamb taste wasn't too strong as well! This was soooo good that we went back for seconds and my dad ate 4 pieces on his own!! MUST-TRY! 5/5

Also, the service was really good as the boy and I ordered then went back to our table thinking we'd get it later, but the chefs delivered it to our table instead! (:

Live station: Foie Gras with Radish

This was done just right, and the foie gras is mmmm~ Think you should eat it alone though, not with the radish!

Live Station: Seafood Lobster Omelette!

The boy said it had truckloads of crabmeat and lobster meat inside!

Salmon and mushroom in brioche crust

Lobster Briyani: The lobster infused the taste of the Indian spices, so it was flavourful, the rice was nice as well

Lamb curry: Felt that the lamb was a bit tough!

Chickpea curry: MMM I love chickpeas! And this curry was good (Y)

Salmon + mushrooms in brioche crust: The brioche was really crispy!! And there was like cream/cheese inside which made it yummyyyyy.

Assorted meat

Mum said the peking duck wasnt really good though!

Live station: Tempura

You can choose what tempura you want and the chef will make it for you! We tried the sweet potato one and it was good~

Siew Mai & Hargow: They were really good!! Small little morsels but the ingredients used were really fresh!

Steamed sea perch

This was sooooooo melt in your mouth!!!! VERYVERY good dish!! MUST-TRY!

(Clockwise from the back, L-R) Tiramisu: I wouldnt recommend it, doesnt taste like it at all sadly

Mini fruit tart: Their tarts are really good!!! Please try this!

Chocolate tart: This was good too!!! The chocolate wasnt too sweet and the tart base was just nice (:

Berry cheesecake: Wouldnt recommend this, tasted weird!

Chocolate Mousse Cake: This was good!

Lemon Meringue Tart: YUMMMM TRY THIS

Opera Cake: This was so-so?

Apple crumble: (the slice on the far left) THIS IS REAL GOOOOOOOD, TRY IT!

Financier: (the one in front) so-so

Fruits: Generally sweet and good!

Mango cheesecake: It was above average!

Peach tart: Love the tart crust!!

Walnut white brownie: This was crumbly and good!

Pumpkin tart: (far right) this was uh not really good

Wine poached pears: not nice

Cherry clafoutis: Not bad!

Cherry: Sweet!

Prune: Not sweet :(

Red bean, black sesame, lime sherbert ice cream

MMMMMMM the black sesame and lime sherbert were AWESOME!! MUST-TRY!! The lime is a really really good palate cleanser after the heavy meal and if you like black sesame, you'd go head over heels for their ice cream!! The taste of the black sesame is so strong and fragrant!!! YUMMYYYYYY

Vanilla and strawberry

The boy didnt like strawberry!

Saffron and black sesame ice cream

Oh my!!! Saffron really tasted like saffron!! I love the spice so I loved the ice cream!!

I HAD 6 SCOOPS of black sesame in total, you can tell how yummy it was :DDD

Overall, I feel that the food at Triple 3 is of rather high quality, with more hits than misses although they can expand further on their mains section (which is what I've shown you above only) because I feel that their appetizers and dessert section are v good but generally lacking in choices for the mains!

Plus the service there is really friendly and good, they clear your plates quickly and all the chefs are very nice! (:

OCBC currently has a promotion with them where you can get 1-for-1 free! Plus many other credit card discounts, so I suggest you head down for Sunday Brunch for a quality experience! (:

So far I've been to Hilton's Seafood Friday night dinner buffet, Carousel's Sunday Brunch, Melt's Sunday Brunch, Basilico's Sunday Brunch, and Triple 3's, and my rankings for them are as follows (the boy shares the same sentiments):

1. Basilico (note that its Italian food only - SUPER good quality food consistently! Read about it here)
2. Triple 3
3. Hilton
4. Melt (Read about it here)
5. Carousel

Will be going for more Sunday Brunches soon and then I'll update the list! We feel that Triple 3 has the best all round International buffet so far!

Triple 3

Meritus Mandarin

Sunday Brunch 12-3pm

Adult:

Both $188 and $138 comes with free flow of sparkling wine, juices, soft drinks and coffee/tea

$188 one comes with Champagne too

$188+($221.30 nett)

Enjoy 1 for 1 promotion using OCBC Credit Card

$138++ ($162.45nett)

15% discount on total food bill with Amex/Citibank/Stan Chart/UOB

20% discount on total food bill with DBS

$99++ ($116.50 nett) - coffee/tea and no discount

Child:

$42++ ($49.45 nett) 2-12 years old OR

Kid ala carte menu - 2 to 6 years old