Besides, we went on a Friday night. Despite early reservations, we were later informed of 2 separate timing options; 5.30-7.30pm and 8-10pm. They're very much packed out, it seems. Since we're coming after work anyway, we naturally chose the latter. But seriously, if you have a choice, choose the earlier timing.
We came at 8pm and saw that there were people waiting outside. Turns out, the peeps from the previous batch has yet to finish dining and we need to wait for their spaces to be cleared out first. At least 1/2hr of potential dining time wasted, just by waiting outside.
When I finally walked in, I saw that the buffet area looked like world war 3 had just taken place. Pretty messed up, I'd say. Some sections were quite emptied out. Then with the mix of existing diners, new diners and I'm-hungry-can't-we-hurry-up-and-eat diners...
Psst.. this post gonna be picture-heavy. Bear with it, ya?
No. 1 rule of buffet dining. Always, ALWAYS consume the cold foods (sushi, sashimi, fresh seafood, salads etc) first. This is to prevent any stomach upset. I can't explain why just that it's something tried and tested.
Yet that night, I happily joined my cousins when they gun straight for the Mongolian BBQ section. :P
The red meat were those thinly sliced ones, like those found at hotpot places. Both beef and mutton are available. There's also chicken.
The rest are vegetable options like cabbage, bean sprouts, spring onions, mushrooms, cut chillies etc.
They poured a scoop each of every type of sauce available. I wish I can remember all the sauces but I only recall some ginger-thingy.
The thing about making such selections; I over-indulged and my choices add up to become a tall mound in my bowl.
I read reviews on their website where the chefs supposedly dance around the hot plate as they cook. But really, by the time I came by, I must have been the #456985th customer. The poor chap (yes, only 1) only manage to stir my food around and briskly move them 360deg around the hot plate.
For me, I don't really care much for those fancy-schmancy stuff. I'm just happy if my meats are nicely cooked.
Despite the variety of stuff in here and the various sauces, this bowl of meat still taste slightly... bland. Nice but could do with a little more seasoning. Maybe because the proportion of sauce to my more-than-normal selections was off.
Wish there were more charred bits, though. In fact, I think this can easily be done at home. It's called, 'stir-fry'. Oh wait. This is also very similar to the Japanese teppanyaki.
Now, on to the other food items…
My favourite section in buffet lines, usually. The sashimi was on the trays on top. There were 4 selections: poached 'tako' (octopus), 'sake' (salmon), 'maguro' (tuna) and what I thought to be 'kanpachi' (yellowtail). However, when I read the label, it said 'tilapia' (a kind of freshwater fish). Erk??!
The slices of raw fish, they are nowhere near those served at Japanese restaurants. Or even those takeaway sushi shops. If you don't have a strong stomach, give this a pass.
On the left-most corner of this section is the 'cha soba' (cold buckwheat noodles). Had a taste of it. Not bad, actually.
In the white bowls are salad selections. By the time I was there, there were only a few pieces of greens left. I don't know if they top-up later on. In the last bowl was interestingly, some pickled jellyfish salad. Interesting, that one.
Those orange ones were crabmeat, sorta. At least these look and taste better than those ubiquitous red 'surimi' rolls. Then there's more of the poached tako, scallops and unagi...
The mussels were plump. Not sure about their freshness, though. The size of the scallops seemed measly. The tigers prawns were really fresh. Firm, plump and sweet. Nice!
This was superb. Freshly prepared and topped-up. The tiger prawns were fresh and there was an abundance of the cereal bits. Also tasted just right.
This could have been nice, had they not been cold. Almost like eating Teochew cold crabs. Plus the crabs were on the slightly small side, not considering the thick shells. And some parts weren't properly pre-cracked so it was a waste that I can't get to some of those claw-meat.
No 'mantou' buns in sight, though.
ALL those above could be potentially good eats, if only they were still WARM. Seriously.
That oyster gratin would have be so delightful! No wonder they were being ignored on the buffet spread...
I didn't try the dim sums. My cousins gave them the thumbs down.
This was tasteless... even with the black vinegar.
In fact, my cousin asked me, "Are they trying to serve healthy dishes or something? Why are most of the food bland??"
The ones left that is. They didn't top-up any more. I wonder what kind of varieties there were, at 5.30pm.
I could have kicked myself for not taking any of those cakes after I took this picture (even if I was only 1/2 through my meal). For when I was ready for some desserts, there were NO cakes left. Nil. Nada. Null.
Luckily, my cousin went there earlier and got the final piece of that lemon-cheesecake so I got a taste. Not bad, la.
THANKFULLY, they replace these ice-cream tubs. By the time I queued for these, the tubs were back to being full. They use the Wall's brand here. Flavours available are: Vanilla, Yam, Mango, Strawberry & Chocolate.
For once, I was glad I didn't really check out their website for the available food selections. Cos' I'm bound to be really disappointed. Seems like only 70-80% of the food listed was actually there (at that time).
Perhaps, the first batch of diners already finished up some items and they totally ran out of it (like the fresh oysters and battered squids etc). Some items they only topped-up once and that's it (the mushroom soup topped w/ pastry etc). Some items had already turned cold and they didn't freshly prepare more (the fried chicken, satay etc) or even heated up (chili crab etc).
Wished I had enjoyed this buffet in its full glory cos' I feel like I've missed out on a lot of things that could have made this a much enjoyable experience.
However, if this is what the actual food standard here is like, head to Sakura for a much better option. Even the reviews at HGW seemed poor.
Their website HERE.
9 Penang Road
#04-01, Park Mall
Singapore 238459
Tel : 63344888 , Fax : 63342324
Email : reservation@kublaikhanbbq.com
Tel : 63344888 , Fax : 63342324
Email : reservation@kublaikhanbbq.com
1 comment:
Nice review, many pics, I like. :)
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