Carousel (Royal Plaza Hotel)

I went to Carousel for Tea ($32 per person, 15% discount with DBS) and had a culture shock. Firstly, there were hoards and hoards of people (mostly middle aged women) who were waiting outside before 3pm. I didn't expect so many people to be going for buffet. There is a que to get in, but we got our table pretty fast - if you ever come here you MUST make a booking...

The food is just cheap hawker fair - local food which I don't think is very good. The only thing worth eating was the sashimi (salmon and snapper?) but even those were of a lousy cut - the ends of the fish, the non fatty part - looks like the parts that they cube up to make chirashi don!

The spread was good - that are available include chicken kebab (nothing to shout about - pretty dry and tough), pizza (very fat pizza base and little toppings, chicken wings, fried carrot cake, mee goreng, nasi lemak and other hawker fare. There was also a popiah station (which sucks, the turnip/carrot filling tasted very bad) and a dim sum (siew mai, chee cheong fun, pao) station. There was a rojak station, as well as a kaya toast station for people who fancy DIY.

Desserts were not bad - there was a chocolate fountain, ice kachang station, ice cream, various kuehs and cakes and muffins. I particularly liked the chocolate mousse. Probably the only thing worth eating.

Overall, I think that the buffet is overrated - the food is just cheap hawker food, nothing worth eating. $32 bucks will get me more than enough hawker food, and better quality too.

This is the old Cafe Vienna at Royal Plaza on Scotts, given not only a facelift but upgrade in terms of food (and prices) as well. It's halal Continental and Asian in a chic, new environment. See my review at Camemberu.com for full set of photos (a lot!). I'm leaving in the captions below (italicised) to explain the paragraphs.

We liked the new decor, and thought the place was well thought out in terms of managing large buffet crowds. The food is split up into two sections - cold stuff and appetisers out in the front, warm food and mains at the back. Desserts were along a perpendicular wall linking both sections.

There are at least three dessert alcoves. This is the first one. The second one is completely dedicated to a 4 or 5 tier chocolate fountain with skewered fruits ready for dipping, and ice cream in three flavours. Third one has fruits and warm desserts.

Chic cutlery stand - they replenish every utensil you use, the moment you take it out!, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

I have to say the service is very much improved. Staff are alert, quick, attentive and polite. Constantly but discreetly paying attention to your table, replenishing water AND cutlery (every time you use something, you get a fresh set put in your holder!). They are always on hand too, to attend to needs or help with spills (which are prone to happen when you bring naughty babies along).

Sashimi and sushi, originally uploaded by Camemberu.All right, on to the food! Unfortunately I didn't capture on camera all the food we ate, and on top of that, we weren't able to sample half of what was available in this huge buffet. So what you see is just a small representation.

I began with the sashimi (salmon, tuna and sea bream, I think) and sushi (inari, salmon and unagi). I skipped the futomaki and forgot about handrolls. Although reasonably fresh, the sashimi didn't look too well-cut but at least did not taste bad or sinewy. The sushi was decent.

Cold seafood platter - blue swimming crab, slipper lobster, boiled tiger prawns, steamed sweet clam, scallop, poached green lip mussel and Spanish black mussel, originally uploaded by Camemberu.Carousel now boasts a large spread of seafood and indeed, a whole counter of ice proudly sports various fruits of the ocean. All succulent and sweet. Have them with lemon, tabasco, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, shallot mignonette or just plain. Wish I had gone for a second round. Oh, and the waiters, or butlers as they are called here, serve you moist towelettes after you are done. Nice touch.

Cold appetisers - DIY Thai salad, mushroom terrine, cured salmon in spiced lime vinaigrette, marinated prawns with avocado tomato salsa, smoked duck breast, originally uploaded by Camemberu.There is a nice Thai salad station where you can put together your own green mango/papaya/pomelo salads (recipe cards on display to help with ingredient choice). I didn't get to try the other cold prepared salads, just the appetisers, which were okay but not spectacular.

Sirloin from the carvery, originally uploaded by Camemberu.The rotisserie featured black pepper chicken (which I skipped) and oven roasted grain-fed beef which I thought was quite yummy, although hubby didn't like it. Team it with Yorkshire pudding and jacket potatoes, along with condiments (so many to choose from!). The professional pasta station next to the rotisserie looked enticing but it would have been too much carbo for me.

Pumpkin veloute with truffle hint, originally uploaded by Camemberu.Oh this was nice! A simple-looking soup but it had a savoury, umami richness I can't describe. Hubby, again, didn't really like it (it's okay, we always differ). There were also some other soups - the seafood tom yum was done more Malay-style than Thai, and the morsels within overcooked.

Hot mains - potato and onion tortilla, stewed black mussels in fennel and tomato broth, saffron rice with achar and fish crackers, mutton rendang, lamb koulet with mint sauce and beef scallopini with kalamata and anchovies, originally uploaded by Camemberu.There are so many main dishes, it's almost impossible to try everything. One really good one was the mutton rendang - even hubby who avoids lamb/mutton, thought it was more than edible. The mussels were in a very strong fennel and tomato broth - think I prefer them cold with tabasco and lemon.

It was a pity I had no space for most of the Asian mains, much less the breads and cheeses. Oh, and I really liked that the hot dishes were elegantly presented on ceramic/electric stove tops rather than in those clunky, metallic chafing dishes.

Desserts - (top to bottom) pecan and walnut tart, raspberry cheesecake, coconut creme brulee, mango delice, mousse of exotic fruits, originally uploaded by Camemberu.Real dessert fanatics may not be overwhelmed by the range or variety here but I thought it was adequate (mainly because I was too full to eat anything more). The coconut creme brulee is a must-try here - simply sublime! Nadine loved the cheesecake!

Sweets in shooters - (left to right) lychee and raspberry agar-agar, semolina pudding with redcurrant coulis, strawberry crumble (not sure what green mousse is) , originally uploaded by Camemberu.Somehow all the shooters I chose had this sourish fruity accent, something I'm not big on. Should have gone for the mini tiramisu! Ah, the bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce was comforting, as was the cherry clafoutis. Didn't try chocolate pudding or the chocolate fountain.

In all, we had a very happy meal. Quite good value for S$35 per person (weekend lunch). This place can almost challenge Melt at the Oriental, which is slightly pricier. I'd be quite happy to come back to Carousel.