Buffet Town (Raffles City Shopping Centre)

In celebration of an OLD SCHOOL MATE's Birthday, we ended up dining at the Buffet Town at Raffles City Shopping Mall. We were pretty shocked by the huge queue barricade set up just outside the entrance where the neon sign resides and on a friday night, i guess it could be pretty crowded. You are to pay before entry and be showed a table.

Counters and counters of food cooked in various way entices our every fantasy and delight. Its a japanese themed buffet this month and after we are being showed our seats, each of us went to the counter that is most appealing to us.

Sashimi counter is one of my favourite, located near the entrance you get freshly cut salmon, meguro, octopus, etc sashimi as well as tempura reversed maki. In the same counter the other side is the salad bar whereby you could crush up some greens for that extra dose of fiber.

The seafood counter is right opposite the sashimi counter on the other side of the entrance and I must say, the raw oysters are huge and meaty. Its fresh and tasted like the ocean, just that I couldn't find no lemon slices as I hunted high and low for it. All you get is ready made sauces at the side. Its kinda of a turn off for nice fresh and huge oysters like these. Of course at the seafood counter you also do get boiled prawns, crayfish, etc.

The cooked food counter is where you get carved wagyu beef, which tasted only so so. Dry and not to melt in your mouth and at this same counter, you do get pasta of different flavors and condiments as well as baked potato gratin, lasagna and other carb rich stuffs.

I was surprised they do have chilli crab and deep fried baby buns, though the sauce is quite yummy and baby buns crunchy, the crab is a mistake. Small and not meaty, when crushed is a clear liquid flowing out. Looked obviously boiled and then thrown into the crab sauce pot.

There is a chicken rice counter that served hainanese chicken rice, laksa and double boiled soup with white fungus. I'm not quite keen in eating more carbs as I do not have a large food intake storage tank, i ended with the white fungus chicken soup which was really yummy. Light and sweet with the crunchiness of the white fungus. Beside it was the tempura counter where you get heavily battered prawns, mushroom, sweet potato, long beans and the extremely yummy Koropok (fritters). The tempura is limp and tempura sauce too diluted... This is not really yummy.

The tappanyaki counter has 2 cooks frying the veg and meat you picked. The variety available is not much (chicken, squid and veg) yet the frying take up quite a long wait. Next to it a satay counter where you get chicken, beef and mutton with some interesting condiments. Its quite a big hit as I didn't get to eat much of that at all.

The drinks counter has got more than 10 types choices, from green tea to gassy drinks and home made soya bean which was pretty smooth and yummy. You too get some soya bean curd which was shockingly smooth and yummy ( I love this the best). I guess made in house and is soft, smooth and bouncy.

Dessert counter is a big heat, besides crepe and waffles with ice-cream (thats if you still have tummy space for that), fruits are plentiful with choice of cakes, pastries and jelly. We loved the creamed puff tree the most. You get to pluck the puffs out of the tree and choose the ones dressed in colourful star or chocolate rice. Ice cream is served with a few flavors (the regular) and you also get some warm desserts like longan soup or local green bean soup.

Service was okay, dishes were removed pretty promptly and cutleries as well as serviettes easily available and plentiful. Air-conditioning comfortable and noise level accepted, however the payment counter and entrance staffs are not pleasant rather i think they looked pretty irritated. Being in the front line, we expect more smiles and warm gestures yet we got none. The tables and chairs were nominally boring and for the price of about $50 per head for a dinner on a friday night, I don't find it worth it though the variety is good and ingredients fresh, the way they prepare and cook it is not yummy, visually appealing and worth the value.

Location: 5/5 Price: 3.5/5 Food Quality: 4/5 (freshness), 3/5(Presentation), 2.5/5 (Preparation) Service: 4/5(Service Staff), 2/5(Counter Staff) Ambience: 3.5/5 Cleanliness: 3/5

Will I return: Probably not Will I intro my friends: Probably not

Pricing

Lunch 11.30am – 3pm

Monday-Friday Adult : $26.80 Child : $18.80 Saturday, Sunday, Eve PH and PH Adult : $31.80 Child : $18.80

Dinner 6pm – 10pm

Monday-Thursday Adult : $36.80 Child : $21.80 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Eve PH and PH Adult : $41.80 Child :$21.80