Yesterday was hubs' birthday! I brought him to Melt - The World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental. I had high hopes, having read on a few bloggers' blogs that Melt is one of the best buffets in Singapore. I think they raised my hopes wayyyy too high.
To me, first of all, a buffet has to have HUGE variety, especially when you're charging that kind of price tag. It costs $108++ for an adult (free flow non-alcoholic drinks) and $158++ for the alcoholic one. So if I'm gonna pay $108++ for a meal, the selection of food available better make me happy, or otherwise, better be of good quality.
Melt, unfortunately, fell short of both quality and quantity. The only food items worth mentioning were the Alaskan crab legs and the foie gras (which I don't eat but the hubs swooned over them). The sashimi was fresh but they only served tuna(maguro), salmon(sake) and something else (hamachi?), which in my opinion, was quite a humble selection.
Oysters were fresh but not shucked properly, and not replenished quickly. Lobster was a tad too dry. BBQ section was the WORST. I was so deeply disappointed at the paltry selection of meats. Honestly, it was disappointing beyond belief. The BBQ section only had beef, chicken breast, kebabs of squid and salmon, prawns, mini burger and satay. Friends who were with us commented that the satay was not bad. Hubs and I had the beef and well all I can say is, go for it, if you like the taste of charred meat (which I know, surprisingly, some people do). It was a tad too charred for my liking, I could practically taste the grill. The beef's doneness was also not consistent.
They had two soups, one herbal chicken and one tom yum goong. Nothing fantastic, I suggest saving the stomach space for other stuff. The Indian food selection was also not fantastic. Papadum had a greasy taste to it. You could taste the oil - not exactly pleasant. The cooked food section with meats like bacon and sausages. Er...$108++ for bacon? Really? Even the sauteed mushrooms didn't taste good. I've gone to cheap breakfast places and had so much better. The shepherd's pie was also terrible. The lamb tasted so horribly strong I felt like I was at a sheep farm. Hubs tried the live pasta station and commented that the aglio olio wasn't nice.
The desserts section was slightly more decent, with a fairly large selection of desserts. Nothing fantastic though like before, but there weren't as many screw-ups as all the previous sections. The crepe with homemade vanilla ice cream was nice. The thin hot crepe paired with the cold ice cream was quite a treat.
All in all, for $108++ per person, Hubs and myself as well as our two other good friends were quite disappointed. The couple with us frequents Fullerton more often and he felt that Fullerton's buffet is better (and cheaper too no less). This is probably the first time and last time I stepped into Melt.
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