15 August 2008 :: Friday :: Dinner
It has been around 9 months since I last dined here with my significant other (SO). All we remembered from the last time round was the sight of a pile of boiled red lobsters behind the counter, inviting queues of diners to savour. Oh yes, they also served a relatively wide selection of fresh seafood. In order to mark our anniversary, ‘we’ decided (actually I was the one who’s more enthusiastic) to pamper ourselves at Greenhouse again -> Greenhouse
Brief Description:
While buffet dinners offer an international spread, the main attraction are the delectable fresh seafood available. Lobsters, scallops, oysters, prawns, crabs and much more.
Review
Being a Friday night, I made a reservation just to be sure. The lady who answered the call was helpful and polite, the service expected of a 5 star hotel.
Upon arrival, we were left standing at the counter for a few minutes before we were attended to. I suppose this is something that can be improved, since the restaurant wasn’t even half-full. After requesting for 2 glasses of iced-water, we quickly made our way to the food counter, eager to see what is available.
For round one, I went for the cold dishes. I took raw oysters, flower crab, sashimi, steamed prawns and lobsters.
1) Sashimi. The sashimi on offer are salmon, tuna and yellow tail. A chef was on hand to prepare the sashimi and arrange them nicely on little plates (probably to avoid having diners taking to large a serving). The quality served was above average, comparable to the finer local japanese restaurants. The slices were just nice, and doesn’t fall apart when you put them in your mouth.
2) Raw Oysters. I like my oysters raw and uncomplicated. With a dash a lemon and tabesco, the oysters were a great start to the dinner. They had none of the heavy zinc taste and were firm and juicy.
3) Flower Crab. Boiled and then iced, the fresh sweetness of the crab meat was locked in and you can almost taste the sea with each mouthful. The crabs were meaty and tastes equally good plain or with a touch of soy sauce. My SO actually went crazy over it.
4) Steamed prawns. My SO wasn’t enthuasiastic about the prawns. The meat of the tiger prawns was succulent but I guess somehow, they weren’t as sweet as expected.
5) Lobster. The boiled lobsters are served in halves, along with a claw. The lobsters are cooked just right, and easy to shell. The freshness of the lobster is apparent when you bite into it. The meat is succulent and sweet. Just the lobster alone is worth the price of the buffet!
Round two was for hot food. I went for braised pork, braised chicken drumstick, duck, skewered sword fish, steamed fish and mutton.
1) Braised pork. I felt it was quite average. Though tasty, it didn’t really excite me.
2) Duck. The duck tasted good. The meat was cooked just about right and the flavours were well locked in.
3) Skewered swordfish. The swordfish came in sticks with green capsicum. The fish alone is quite salty when taken alone but when paired with green capsicum, it was wonderful.
4) Steamed fish. It seems to be that steamed fish is becoming quite the common dish for buffets in recent times. My last visits to Fairmont and Ellenborough both had steamed fish available. Thus, I wasn’t surprised to see that this was also offered at Greenhouse, though size-wise, it acutally pales in comparison to the former 2 restaurants. Taste-wise, it was average. Definately not as tasty as the one offered at Fairmont.
5) Mutton. The mutton was average, nothing to shout about, really.
6) Braised chicken drumstick. I felt the drumstick was overcooked. The meat wasn’t as tender as what I would’ve liked.
7) Drunken prawns. The special of the day was drunken prawns. Each table had a tripod set up. The unfortunate part was that I had to ask the waiter what the tripod was for. The drunken prawns tasted a lot more herbal than drunken. Don’t get me wrong, the prawns taste excellent, just that I’m not sure if it should be called herbal prawns rather than drunken prawns. I suppose it would have been more well-recieved if he staff told me what the day’s special was before I had to even ask. Lesson learned. Ask for the day’s special or you may end up losing out on something nice.
Round 3. Desserts
Chocolates, mango with pomelo, Aloe vera.
Round 4. Fruits. By now, my stomach is starting to test the limits of my belt. Rather than having my belt bailing out on me, I decided it was time to give the rest of the spread a miss and head on to the desserts. I took jackfruit, peach, persimmon and grapes. The fruits are sweet and juicy, especially the peach. definitely worth the sampling.
Round 5. Ice cream. Who can resist ice-cream? A decent range of the choices is available : Chocolate chip, Strawberry sorbet, Pistachio, Lemon sorbet and Maple and walnut. I decided to try the sweet maple and walnut and pair it with the refreshing lemon sorbet.
The maple and walnut is sweet but average. Definitely not as good as the one you can get from Baskin Robbins. The lemon sorbet however, is definitely above average. It is refreshing and neither too sweet nor sour.
Final Round. English Breakfast Tea. After such a heavy meal, we asked for some hot tea to help in the digestion. It is indeed enjoyable to be able to enjoy sipping some nice hot tea while listening to live classical music while replaying the food which has just been savoured.
The bill came to about $85/pax (It’s $72/pax plus the customary taxes). Luckily, there was a promotion for UOB credit cards. After the 15%discount with the UOB signature card (15% for Platinum & above, 10% for Gold & Silver cards), the final bill was $72/pax. All in all, a satisfying meal. Though rather costly, the quality of the seafood made it all worthwhile.
Ratings
Food : 4.5/5
Ambiance : 4.5/5
Service : 3.5/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Yes
Details
7 Raffles Avenue,
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia
Singapore 039799
Phone: 6337 8888
Daily: 6:30 am. – 10:30 pm.
