Confessions of a 20-year-old exjournalist who talks too much, laughs too loudly and is eccentric too much for her own good.She is currently reading Law at the University of Warwick, but still spends all her time spilling too many secrets on her blog.
Whether they are true, exaggerated or fictitious, its up to you to decide. It could ALL be a pack of lies. Or not. The real girl (and secrets) shall remain elusive. Whatever it is, don't forget to bring along your pinch of salt.
Samanthaeng.blogspot was set up on 31st December 2007 in an attempt to move away from the air-headed musings of the writer's earlier journal. It started out as pretty pink journal like this one- which the writer quickly got bored of- went on to become a dull grey journal, and is now back to looking girlishly pink.
As you can see, the writer is highly fickle, volatile and undecisive. Which makes a lot of sense, since the original purpose of this journal (to spread the writer's ingenious musings to the world at large) has been squashed and replaced by a day-by-day account of a struggling student trying to become the next Legally Blonde 3.
Whoever said self-centeredness wasn't a sexy trait?
As you can see, the writer is highly fickle, volatile and undecisive. Which makes a lot of sense, since the original purpose of this journal (to spread the writer's ingenious musings to the world at large) has been squashed and replaced by a day-by-day account of a struggling student trying to become the next Legally Blonde 3.
Whoever said self-centeredness wasn't a sexy trait?
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July 13, 2009 2:28 PM
Greenhouse@ Ritz Calrton
I'd somewhat decided to clear one of my many back-logged blog entries today, since I'll be busy meeting up with friends over the next seven days (yes seven days, let's hope my wardrobe can take the hit). The pending Paris post still seems too daunting to even prod- thanks to our extremely enthusiastic camwhorage- so I've decided to do the review of the buffet I went with my parents last weekend instead. It's quite appalling how my blog is slowly transforming into a food blog since my royal descent into sunny Singapore. This proves one thing: Singapore really is a food paradise.
Digressions aside, I've always wanted to try out Ritz Carlton's buffet for several reasons:
1) The entrance to the hotel is quite secluded and exclusive, giving it a very posh feel. (Think Shangri La)
2) The greenhouse is all lined with glass panels, which meant that as a kid running around in Marina Square, I always could see people digging into their delicious buffet platters, which was rather tempting.
3) You always, always, always read about people dining at Ritz Carlton in your chick lits. Especially those with illicit affairs. But that's besides the point, the point is, Becky Bloomwood likes the food at Ritz. And any normal chick lit fan would always want to follow their chicklit hero.
So with these three very good reasons, and a fifty-percent promotion to boot, my parents and I headed to try out their buffet selection last weekend.
#Plate One: Mussels, Crab, Prawns, Sashimi and Salmon.
As I've mentioned in a previous buffet post (Sam's guide to eating buffets, I think it featured The Line@ Shangri La) a long time ago, always start off with the good, expensive food to make the buffet worth your while. Also, before everyone attacks it and there is no more left (because they usually take ages to refill the expensive dishes). The mussels were normal, crab was tasteless, prawns were fresh but nothing fantastic, and sashimi was also normal. If I'd had to compare this with other hotels, Orchard Hotel does the best and freshest prawns, sashimi and crabs. On the bright side, the wasabi was really good!
#Plate Two: Japanese Chawanmushi, prawns, sushi and salad.
Time for some greens for plate number two (vegetables don't fill you up much, so they can be eaten at round two). The salad was surprisingly good! They used this clear, sour-tasting dressing/oil which I liked very much. The sushi wasn't really nice (rice was too hard) but the wasabi helped disguise the taste so all was fine. Chawanmushi was an interesting bonus because not many hotel buffets come with that! It was nice and warm. Thumbs up!
Time for some greens for plate number two (vegetables don't fill you up much, so they can be eaten at round two). The salad was surprisingly good! They used this clear, sour-tasting dressing/oil which I liked very much. The sushi wasn't really nice (rice was too hard) but the wasabi helped disguise the taste so all was fine. Chawanmushi was an interesting bonus because not many hotel buffets come with that! It was nice and warm. Thumbs up!
#Plate Three: Sushi, Sashimi, Briyani Rice, some cooked dishes
Now that the important, expensive dishes have been eaten, some form of carbs are allowed. The fried prawn sushi was actually very good! But everything else on this plate is normal. But to be fair, most other hotels don't serve outstanding cooked local food either. Took sashimi again because its been a long time since I've had it. But of course, the best buffet for Sashimi is still Ikoi at Mirama Hotel!
#Bowl Four: Ramen
To be honest, I don't usually take the cook-on-the-spot carb meal at buffets (usually it's laksa or fishball noodles) because it fills one up so much but this time I made an exception because I was craving ramen (I really like ramen and I haven't had any in the UK!) and the ramen looked good. I wasn't disappointed because the chef was kind enough not to give too much noodles, and there was a lot of liao (ingredients) and the ramen was springy and nice to chew. Thumbs up!
To be honest, I don't usually take the cook-on-the-spot carb meal at buffets (usually it's laksa or fishball noodles) because it fills one up so much but this time I made an exception because I was craving ramen (I really like ramen and I haven't had any in the UK!) and the ramen looked good. I wasn't disappointed because the chef was kind enough not to give too much noodles, and there was a lot of liao (ingredients) and the ramen was springy and nice to chew. Thumbs up!
Bowl Five: Soups!
Didn't take photos of this (because soup photos are so boring) but Ritz has an awesome selection of soup! There were seven choices, ranging from herbal chicken soup, to crabmeat soup (like sharks' fin), to Korean Salmon soup, to Tomato soup... The list goes on! I only tried the first two soups but they were really, really good. Kudos to Ritz for having such a large selection of soups that other hotels don't! Thumbs up!
Plate Six: Cheesecake, Mango dessert, jam pastry and bread pudding.
Cheesecake and bread pudding were gooood. Mango Dessert was too sweet and the jam pastry was inedible! But bread pudding mmmmmmm (:
Didn't take photos of this (because soup photos are so boring) but Ritz has an awesome selection of soup! There were seven choices, ranging from herbal chicken soup, to crabmeat soup (like sharks' fin), to Korean Salmon soup, to Tomato soup... The list goes on! I only tried the first two soups but they were really, really good. Kudos to Ritz for having such a large selection of soups that other hotels don't! Thumbs up!
Plate Six: Cheesecake, Mango dessert, jam pastry and bread pudding.
Cheesecake and bread pudding were gooood. Mango Dessert was too sweet and the jam pastry was inedible! But bread pudding mmmmmmm (:
Basket Seven: Strawberries!
Okay I was totally bought over when I realised they served strawberries. I dipped them in sugar. It really really good, all sweet and succulent (: Thumbs up for providing strawberries when other hotels don't!
Final Verdict: The buffet was not bad, it had several unique points which appealed to me, like the large selection of soups, the strawberries and the tasty ramen. There was also sufficient seafood for one to feel that the buffet is rather worth it. But if I wanted really good seafood, I would say Orchard Hotel does it better. For good sashimi, Ikoi does it better. For good dessert, Traders Hotel does it best (the durian paste in a cup is to die for!). And for way, way better variety, The Line at Shangri La is the best. They have like, what, sixteen stations? Nevertheless, ambience at Ritz Carlton is good, and since the food is not too bad, if there's another fifty percent promotion, I won't say no to it :D
Om nom nom (:
