As my husband and I were staying at Regent Hotel with my dad and uncle, I explored dining options in the vicinity and came across a National Day promotion that The Orchard Cafe (the all-day dining restaurant located in Orchard Hotel) was running. It was a local-themed Singalicious buffet with 57% off for the second diner, plus I got to stack it with the AMEX offer of $90 cashback with a minimum spend of $300!
- Our order:
- Singalicious lunch buffet for 4
- Spent: SGD$262.57
When we got to the restaurant, it was surprisingly not as crowded as I thought it would be, which was great for us as we didn’t need to queue for anything. However, I couldn’t get over the low ceiling height as it made the space feel more cramped than it actually is. Anyway, at least we were seated near the corner with the cosy sofa seats facing the lobby area that felt more spacious.
Service was slightly better than average, with some staff coming across as more polished than others. Evelyn, in particular, was really helpful (: My dad asked if they provided lime water in a bowl to wash his hands after peeling crabs but she said they didn’t have those. Instead of just leaving it at that, she offered us copious amounts of wet wipes and tissues, which we were grateful for.
Moving on to the food! It was quite a nice spread with good variety, including a mix of local delights and other classic international favourites. I found most of the food delicious! The sashimi and seafood tasted fresh (especially those sweet crab claws), the laksa had an authentic spicy kick to it, the drunken prawn soup tasted super nutritious and the satay was tender with just the right amount of char. My uncle was full of praise for any dish that had their sambal sauce on it.
Alas, there were a number of items that I’d recommend avoiding altogether. The Hainanese chicken rice was rather tough and the stiff, dry texture of the rice suggested that it had been frozen and reheated. Also, it’s totally fine if you don’t have space for dessert as you wouldn’t be missing out on much.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. Majority of the dishes were pretty good, with a few that weren’t up to par. I did relish the fact that there weren’t too many customers so our dining experience was quite a serene and unhurried one, but I suspect if it got crowded, the compact ceiling height might make it feel like even more of a squeeze. Service was decent – many thanks to Evelyn for assisting us! With the stacking of promotions, I thought this was really quite value for money given that there was free-flow seafood too.
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 