OSCAR’S (Conrad Centennial)

My extravagantly pleasing Dinner at the Oscar's authentic home cooked Italian buffet by Executive Chef Michele Mingozzi was an extensive spread of delectable seafood and freshly flown poultry, carefully prepared and immeasurably enjoyed.

I was surprised by the considerable size of the buffet spread, which kinda made me feel terribly skinny in my overgrown body and yet i still didn't manage to try every dish in the spread. When I finally crawled to the Beautiful finishing point, bountifully filled with colourful sweets, the infamous EAT ALL YOU WANT dessert spread, I could only weakly manage to grab a few ganaches squares and the highly adored tiramisu, vowing to return for this food galore with a spare tank in my belly.

1) Great choices of home-made breads
I have always loved warm bread with balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil however the bakery section consist of many other lovely bakes like olive infused focaccia, bread sticks, Sesame Crisp and plenty of other herb infused choices which delighted me visually and satiated my hunger for carbs.

I spied a bowl of fried olives next to the breads and fell in love with the juicy and savoury taste of these breaded fruits bursting in my mouth.

2) Love the cheese spread
A good choice of various exotic cheeses available from the easy to eat Taleggio to the strong Gorgonzola, however the lime light is on the wooden bucket full of mozzarella littered with olives, tomato and loaded with a good choice of sauces to drizzle on. Apparently the lack of taste of this fantastically textured Mozzarellas are great taste enhancers of their partners... It liberates the taste of their partner and compliments with great texture thus making it great to pair with exotic tasting sauces and fruits.

I simple love the variety of sauces, dried fruits, nuts and biscuits that were carefully placed with each cheese platter and I appreciated the recommendations as sometimes we ain't so sure what is supposed to go with what.

3) Caesar Salad in a cheese bowl
Yes the salad here is mixed in a huge cut-out chunk of cheese bowl which is beyond coolness...

4) SEAFOOD IS AMAZING
The spread of seafood was beyond my imagination.
First there were cooked and concocted seafood salad (eg. prawns in chilli oil) served in shots or scotch glasses and then there was the sashimi counter that served freshly sliced raw fish and sushi (the salmon belly sushi had its belly melting in my mouth), and then there were buckets full of COLD SEAFOOD of many kinds (Spider Crab, Sri Lankan Crab, Mussels, Scallops, Prawns, crayfish), Cooked chilled and ready to eat. The crab was sweet, mussels fresh and scallops chunky and juicy, what more could you ask for seriously....

BUCKETS AND BUCKETS full of fresh OYSTERS from 5 different locations, each bearing a different distinctive taste of the sea they live in. Extremely fresh, nicely cleaned and I kinda felt like tearing up while I indulge in them. Yes, it was sweet and tasted like the sea and I felt honoured getting to eat them here without having to visit the USA or Canada or Ireland or France.

5) More than 30 Varieties of Pasta and Cooked food
Space utilization is at its all time high here with every available space on the buffet table filled in with a dish. Yes... applaud the efficiency of the one organizing the display of the buffet spread...

Pork Porchetta - Was not an easy dish to make especially with a a huge limb yet it was executed with such skill and expertise; skin was crispy and thin and lightly separated from the tender and well flavoured flesh. The meat lightly coated with some fats melted in my mouth was puuur-fect...

Another traditional home cooked Italian dish that was unique was the gnocchi (potato balls) in a creme sauce that was chewy and reminded me of small tang yuan however in a savoury creme sauce.

You have to also try the braised Veal Tongue in a brown sauce which I took quite some boldness to try and it tasted just like extremely tender veal. Was quite pleasant actually.

6) Don't forget the noodle bar at the outdoor dining area

Loved the idea of an outdoor lounge area and what more, 2 friendly noodle sifu cooking up yummy Laksa, wanton noodles and TomYum seafood soup to warm the belly. Lots of ingredients like succulent juicy prawns and mushrooms with some kick in that tomyum soup...

7) The Never-Ending Dessert Spread
Was indeed the largest dessert spread i've ever seen, beautifully decorated and made me hungry for sweets just thinking about it.

You might want to start with some fruits, marshmallows and pretty little things to soak up the elegant chocolate fountain and then order a waffle from the dessert chef that could be paired with (5 unique flavoured) balls of home made ice-creams. Topped with hundred and one toppings of all kinds... (never seen so many different toppings in my life).

You could also end up with some banana froyo drizzled with a huge selection of flavoured syrups otherwise some dried fruits... (i'm only halfway down the dessert aisle). Otherwise ask for some ice-cream in a cup and i personally find 'Balsamic Ice Cream a tad sour which is quite pleasing and 'Stracciatelia'- uniquely sweet with bits of something that was lovely.

And then you have arrived to the cake, tarts, tiramisu, meringue cookie, chocolate square area, in which I just didn't know where to start...

The Tiramisu is an absolute winner, served in a beautiful martini glass, the creme was smooth and cake well liquored which made everything wonderful.

I'm astonished with the Earl Grey Ganache firstly because I've never been to a dinner buffet with so many flavours for chocolate squares to choose from and the taste of the ganache was exquisite. Fit for the Earl himself, the Earl Grey was aromatic with bits of tea immersed by quality smooth bitter chocolate carefully concocted to melt in my mouth , leaving an aromatic fragrant after-taste.

The spread was extremely worth its price of (S$69 / weekday dinner) as the ingredients were fresh and spread well executed. Sitting areas were spacious, chic, comfortable and service is friendly and prompt. We relish even the lovely decorations on the buffet spread as we were in awe that a buffet spread could be so stylishly decorated. What impressed me had to be the variety of this decadent spread and the effort in sourcing these fresh and sometimes hard to obtain ingredients. The passionate chefs that made these delectable traditional dishes gave me a good glimpse of the traditional Italian culture and is somewhat memorable.