Hardly do I ever get excited over buffets. For friends who know me well enough, I never suggest buffet places when planning gatherings or meetups. I dislike the idea of not being able to hold a proper conversation because someone in the group is bound to excuse himself in order to get more food. It’s quite disruptive and annoying when the person comes back and asks, “Why are you all so excited? What’s going on?” And the entire story has to be retold. I’m sure it has happened to most of you right? Apart from that, I don’t like stuffing myself with food. Yes, I do have a choice to eat selectively but hey, this is a buffet that we’re talking about right? 😉 This food blog has more than 100 food reviews and there’s only one buffet post, which is not even written by me! 😛 Ok there’s Chiharu but that’s not counted because it’s an ala-carte buffet. But of course, disliking does not necessarily mean that buffets are an absolute no-no. So here’s MELT The World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental and I’m glad that the buffet experience was a pleasant one. Read on! 🙂

My brother turned 21 at the end of last month. Initially, we wanted to help him throw a birthday party by inviting our relatives and his friends. We consulted, or rather, discussed with him but he preferred a quieter celebration. Apart from a surprise party organized by our mum, which involved his close friends from his secondary school and polytechnic, we decided to give him a buffet treat! Buffet = plenty of food = FEAST! Yes, a feast for the king! On second thought, prince!

Since Mr Chew over here is going to be part of the family soon *hint hint*, he naturally had to join in the celebration. Not that he was forced to or anything like that. Haha. Oh we both got my brother a nice hamster cage and everything else that a hamster needs. I will probably post photos of the hammies in future! 😀

Seafood Ice Bar – Lobsters, Crabs, Prawns, Blue Mussels & Oysters

We were simply amazed by the presentation of a variety of seafood on top of a large dish of ice. It was definitely a wise idea to place the seafood ice bar right smack in the middle of the restaurant. I mean, that’s what most people are here for right? Besides the lobsters and crabs, my favorite of all was the oysters!

Assortment of Sashimi and Sushi

For more of the cold selection of food, head over to the sashimi and sushi counter. The thickly sliced fresh slices of salmon, maguro (tuna) and hamachi (yellowtail) are quick to satisfy any sushi craving 😉

Salads and cold cuts

Whoever (me!) thinks salads are boring will probably give these a second look. Different types of ham such as parma ham, turkey ham, salami and the like are available.

Freshly made bread in all shapes and sizes

Cheese Selection

Chewy Charles and I stood in front of the cheese selection and marvelled at the variety of cheeses displayed before us. The smell of all the different cheeses combined was mildly pungent (I probably have a high tolerance) and was actually quite tempting.

Mains from all around the world

Like little kids, we each held a plate with both hands and peeked into each and every pot with much eagerness, gleefully scooping a little bit of everything onto our plates. We really thought that the Indian cuisine was pretty amazing. Chewy Charles particularly liked the mutton. You can also choose between rice or naan (or even both) to go along with the different curries and gravies. The tom yam goong from the Thai cuisine section was definitely potent stuff! We enjoyed the roasted duck and roasted potatoes too!

When holidaying, hotel buffet breakfasts are almost unavoidable and the only thing that I look forward to, are food that are cooked on the spot, like sunny side ups or scrambled eggs. I like the fact that the food is cooked to order, upon my request! What about you? 😛

Homemade Pasta Station

Chewy Charles and I were attracted to the homemade pasta station where pastas are cooked ala minute. It wasn’t tough for us to choose from tomato basil sauce, mushroom cream sauce and bolognese sauce.

Seashell shaped pasta & Angel Hair pasta in mushroom cream sauce

I really love the homemade pasta station 🙂

Dazzling array of desserts located near the entrance

Soon, it was time for desserts! There were so many cakes and tarts to choose from! 😀

DIY Ice Kachang

The boy was clearly excited over the DIY Ice Kachang idea. Here’s a step by step ‘guide’!

Step 1: Take an empty bowl and fill the bottom with the red beans, grass jelly cubes and atapchi.

Step 2: Have fun with the shaved ice dispenser.

Step 3: Dribble the different colored syrup all over the ice. Make your ice kachang as colorful as possible! 😀

Tadah! It’s so fun making your very own ice kachang! The ice was a tad coarse though.

Chocolate Fondue fountain and Waffles iron

Both the chocolate fondue and waffles drew many kids and adults to this station. I even witnessed a boy camping next to the fondue fountain and eating his chocolate coated marshmallows there and then! :O

Besides marshmallows, you can even have waffles and fruits like strawberries and grapes to be coated with the luscious chocolate!

Waffle with Tiramisu ice cream, rainbow sprinkles & nutella spread

The waffles iron was really hot that night. And I mean HOT. It was churning out waffles endlessly. Given a selection of ice cream to choose from, we were spoilt for choice and finally settled for tiramisu! We tried decorating our waffle ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and some nutella too 😛

A nice chocolate birthday cake from the hotel!

Birthday boy making a wish.

We were impressed by what the buffet line at MELT had to offer. Chewy Charles and I are already planning a revisit. Haha so much for disliking buffets eh? 😛

Melt – The World Cafe
5 Raffles Avenue
4F
The Oriental Singapore (Mandarin Oriental)
Tel : 6885 3082

Sunday Brunch Buffet
12pm -3pm
$138++ onwards per person (Champagne Brunch)
$98++ per person (Brunch only)
48++ per child (4-11 years)

Mon to Sat (Buffet Lunch)
12pm -2.30pm
$56++ per person
$28++ per child (4-7 years)
$38++ per child (8-11 years)

Sun to Wed (Buffet Dinner)
6.30pm -10pm
$68++ per person
$28++ per child (4-7 years)
$38++ per child (8-11 years)

Thu to Sat (Buffet Dinner)
6.30pm – 10pm
$78++ per person
$28++ per child (4-7 years)
$38++ per child (8-11 years)