Mitzo

It's weekends again and the start of July! I was kinda looking forward for about two weeks now because of the place I shortlisted for weekend brunch. We are celebrating Vain Pot's promotion and also the start of better things to come for my job! I felt it'll be fitting if we found good food to match the occasion.

I wanted a good dim sum and chanced upon the Mitzo Weekend Brunch menu. Online reviews said that the food was tops and the lead chef, Nicky Ng used to be the Executive Chef de Cuisine in 2011 at Michelin starred restaurant, Hakkasan New York City. So with this in mind, we had certain expectations of the food quality.

The weekend brunch ($68++) is a buffet serving classic Cantonese food. Given that the menu is relatively extensive, we picked only the recommended dishes because our stomachs didn't have room for more. While I am tempted to spam a lot of pictures for the benefit of readers, I think it'll be more useful to highlight my favorite dishes. 

This is the Hokkaido Milk Cheese Tart which came at the beginning of our meal without us requesting for it. It's really as good or even better than Baked cheese tarts at Orchard Ion. The cheese is extremely creamy and pastry was excellent. Must try! 

There're 3 dishes which are limited to 1 per diner. They are bamboo clam, live lobster and abalone cooked 3 ways up to the choice of the customer. I felt the spicy chilli lobster served with bun really reminds me of chilli crab and the rendition was good! While lobster like crayfish has limited meat, it was still very appetizing. 

Since Vain Pot and I make up two persons we managed to try 2/3 of the bamboo clam selection. We went with the traditional steamed bamboo clam with minced garlic in soya and steamed bamboo clam with enoki mushroom in spicy peanut sauce. Both bamboo clam dishes were well executed, tasty and leave you craving for more. 

I believed I complained before that good Cantonese soup is hard to find in Singapore. The double boiled soup of the day was boiled rich in taste despite its simple ingredients of pork and winter melon. Reminds me of Hong Kong.,.

Another unique dish I was happy to try was the escargot cheese puff. Shaped in the form of a snail, it's Instagram worthy and taste was cheese and crispy. I like it that the crust is not oily despite being deep fried and the cheesy escargot made it a delight to eat. 

A key dessert highlight will be these deep-fried chocolate liqueur dumpling. It's unique and I've never eaten anything like that before. The balls were well fried and not oily. The chocolate had a distinct alcohol taste yet blended well with the fried balls. Really one of its kind!

Desserts were generally good but if I were to pick a winner, it'll be this generous Aloe Vera Osmanthus Jelly. The sorbet that was included inside made it a joy to eat. The jelly was light and refreshing, a delightful way to end a rich and hearty meal. 

While I felt really pleased with the food quality and the fact it's not mass produced despite being a buffet, Vain Pot and I had some gripes as well. Firstly, a Chinese dim sum buffet but no complimentary tea?! Yet there's a selection of cocktails?! Just didn't go well with me. Secondly, we weren't exactly satisfied with the service either because the staff seem to have difficulty communicating with us. In their defense, they aren't local. (From hongkong I guess) nevertheless I am less forgiving because I have been to hongkong and gotten served in hotels by English speaking staff there which I had no problem comprehending. Singapore staffs shouldn't be worse if we compare hotel expectation standards. Thirdly, they charged us twice for the tea. I didn't feel like going through the hassle of asking for a new receipt and just paid but felt a bit disappointed by the service experience.

I do however feel that the food is worth going back for. My next visit, I'll try all the non star dishes and maybe some cocktails. I also want to say I like the overall design and furniture of Mitzo.

Mitzo

Level 4, Grand Park Orchard

270 Orchard Road

(Please remember to get a complimentary ticket when you dine there because parking is pretty steep)

Penang Street Buffet: Crab Buffet 2016

It's a long weekend and I have been lazy on the blogging front. The day itself was productive. I caught the movie Captain America: Civil War and also had my first ever crab buffet. It's amusing how some parts of Singapore is so ulu that few have actually been there. Apparently Vain Pot thought Causeway Point was Jem... One north one west...

So it's the East vs West crab buffet feast we went over the Labour Day holiday. From the brochure you get the price and the menu. Another key attraction is that it's halal certified. 

Besides all the crabs in the menu, here are some of the other stuff available there. My personal take on this is that it's value for money. You get the cold seafood bar which is amply stocked but I didn't really dare to eat it at such a mass produced place because of all the bacteria news about raw fishes. I'm kiasi. There's crab bee hoon soup which tasted like the real thing and crab meat spaghetti, durian chendol dessert, crab meat soup, dessert bar, fruits, and even a Peking duck counter. On top of that, all the crabs stated in the menu. I'm not a crab person and after one round of trying, I washed my hands and didn't touch the crabs. Vain Pot kinda enjoyed herself so I guess the crabs met her expectations. 

I would say that Penang Street Buffet is really good for its value if you are really into crabs. The variety here is fantastic. On the other hand, most of the food tasted like a 3 star hotel buffet spread, not something I'll pay $64 per pax for. In short, I feel it presents good value if you are the sort who feast on crabs, otherwise the $64 is better spent at some of the other restaurants featured in my blog. 

Penang Street Buffet: Crab Buffet

Causeway Point #05-12, One Woodlands Square