As mentioned in my other blog entry on Carousel, my family and I decided to ditch the ideas of steamboat at home or lo hei dinner at some Chinese restaurant and celebrate our CNY eve here instead. I wasn’t seriously enthusiastic in dining at the same place twice in a month but a reunion meal is about family togetherness so it isn’t really the food that matters, but more of the symbolism and significance of it and since the old folks requested, so I guessed why not.
What makes a good buffet place? Variety, quality, ambience, traffic.
The large array of Asian and local food will sure delight your palates. Most (if not all) of the food are tasty and certainly worth a try. Uncluttered, spacious floor space to move around with your full plates is definitely a plus. The buffet queues are also well spread out to ease human traffic and for easy navigation between other diners. This definitely makes the dining experience less stressful and more pleasant for everyone.
Service staff are also attentive and quick to clear your plates or refill your coffee/tea/water. It’s a no frills restaurant where you can dine casually in comfort. Great for family outings or to celebrate happy occasions. In fact, there were two separate tables around us celebrating birthdays with candle-lit cakes and birthday songs from the restaurant.
Today, I had plenty of cold prawns which were so fresh, sweet and succulent. I enjoyed dipping them in mayo just like the chilled prawn salad you’d get in the first cold dish of a wedding dinner. The crabs were very sweet too but a pity they were small in size. The clams were very fresh this time and tasted sweet too. The salmon sashimi was a bit disappointing though as I thought the meat tasted a bit tough.
Some notable hot items to try were of course the kueh pie tees (I made and ate 6 of them!), kebab chicken (that’s always crispy and hot) and otak. They were my three personal favourites! The roti jala went very well with the various curries. There were sayuh lodeh or vegetable curry, minced mutton curry and chicken rendang curry. The muah chee was soft and chewy and the coconut pudding with a tinge of durian sauce was very refreshing and nice. The popiah skin was too thick and I didn’t really fancy it. The other fried items like ngoh hiang, spring roll, fried wonton, etc were normal too.
Of course, how could I ever forget my favourite ice kachang. This time, I scooped a spoonful of bo bo cha cha ingredients (yam, sweet potato and chewy coloured tapioca flour) at the bottom with red and green rubies, attap chee, nata de coco, red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly, coloured jellies before topping with shaved ice, gula melaka and evaporated milk. That was the highlight of my meal – a bowl of chilled goodies!
At the price of $33++ per pax on CNY eve, the food really didn’t disappoint.
Do note Carousel is one of the few halal certified hotel restaurants in town so it is a very popular buffet venue for our Muslim friends. Always make your reservation beforehand.
Here’s wishing all my blog readers a happy and prosperous Bunny Year with good health, luck and wealth in the year ahead! Gong Hei Fatt Choy!
Carousel, Royal Plaza on Scotts
25 Scotts Road
Tel: 6589 7799
Email: Carousel@royalplaza.com.sg (for menu, pricing & reservations)
Opens: 12.00pm to 2.00pm for lunch, 3.30pm to 5.30pm for hi tea, 6.30pm to 10.30pm for dinner daily
I miss this place! It was so good last time we went. I love the ice kachang 🙂