Cafe Vic @ Carlton Hotel

Time for another birthday yet again! Thanks to bh for sucha birthday treat to wrap up the weekend...somehow didn't lessen Monday blues.

Carlton hotel was where wl, I and bh were headed to...for our very first buffet together in our 8 years of friendship. I've been to Cafe Vic once last year...left quite a lasting impression with their lunch spread.

730pm..the restaurant was quite filled up, we were seated in a corner next to the clearing area, where all the used dishes are. Our glasses were filled up rather quickly. Off we were to fill up on the goodies!

Appetizers



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise): Cheese selection, raw beef, springroll, oyster! salami

Seafood corner (Oysters, prawns, shellfish)



Mamma mia, our favourite corner! I had at least 4 shucked oysters, fresh, creamy and slurpilicious with a wedge of lemon and a dash of tabasco sauce. No sand particles nor did they reek badly of the sea.

The prawns were fresh too and not overcooked. I learnt something new this meal, prawns that aren't fresh stick to the shell.

The shell fish was normal, crunchy like topshell.

Raw Beef Cappacio with Pommery Mustard

An italian appetizer...red and raw...very thinly sliced and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. My virgin taste found it tasteless.

Spicy chicken salad

Juicy chicken cubes.

Spicy mussel salad

Another appetite whetting appetizer.

Bread platter

Rock hard are the bread.

Cheese platter with assortment of fruits and butter biscuits

We had a field day cutting the cheeses (Brie, Cheddar, Cambermert) and pairing them with dates, apricots, strawberries and grapes.

Salami

Thin and boring in taste.

Smoked Salmon

I wish they had cream cheese and bagel to go with it, on the salty side.

Caesar Salad corner


I liked this! The selection of butter lettuce, beetroot (hardly is this present in buffets!), lettuce...and all the other greens is quite extensive. Complete with croutons, parmesan cheese, bacon bits...we're good to go! Delicious.

Cream of Corn soup



No trace of corn...clumpy....

Shark's Fin Soup



The asian soup fared better taste-wise with barely visible highly shredded crab meat.

Mains



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise): Sashimi, sushi, shellfish..prawn

Sashimi selection (Salmon, Tuna belly, Yellow Tail)

Badly cut sashimi but thankfully fresh.

Sushi selection



The widest sushi selection I've seen at buffets ever! Not only the usual tamago sushi, hotate sushi...or even the seasoned diced shell fish...they've even got ebi tempura sushi...eel...softshell crab sushi. Kudos! Best part of it, they really do taste decent, even better than some of the sushi joints around. I had to save space for the rest of the food, though I'd be happy gorging on sushi alone.

Soba Noodles, Chilled



Found this just alright. Easy to slurp.



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise); mutton curry, prawn paste chicken, seafood, lamb stew, pork with ginger, spicy fish, fried curry puff

Prawn paste chicken

A hint of hawker in this, all chicken wings.

Potato De Gratin

Was supposed to be creamed potatoes but ended up being just wedges.

Lamb Stew

The meat was kinda overcooked and on the bland side.

Mutton Curry

Wl and I liked this! The potatoes are soft...lamb was tender...very meaty cuts they've got! Pity they didn't serve naan or bread to perfect the finger licking dish.

Pork with ginger

Forgettable.

Spicy fish cutlets

I found this just alright though, the spicy thai sauce was quite good.

Fried currypuff, dumplings, prawn balls, prawn fritter

The curry puff's pastry is yummy, curry filling was good too!

Normal fried dumplings.


On the plate: BBQ-ed lamb, sausages and mutton curry..oh potato wedges too!


On the plate: BBQ-ed crayfish and honeybaked ham

BBQ Station; lamb, sausages, crayfish

This station created quite a buzz with the diners. Make your order and see it BBQ-ed in front of you.

The lamb was just okay...no mint sauce to go with it. :(

Sausages were more like chipolata, small juicy ones.

I had high expectations for the crayfish that were bbq-ed to a nice delicious charred shade. The orange roe screamed rocketing cholesterol levels...but I was disappointed when I bit into its soft meat. Not crunchy like the prawns...the tender crustacean meat I was expecting was far from it. Each crayfish varied from the other.

Honey Baked Ham

I was cut quite a thick slab of ham. Not too bad...

Pasta Station; Aglio Olio, Tomato-based sauce with penne/linguine/spaghetti



Another popular station amongst diners. You've gotta wait up to 10 mins for your order to be cooked.

We shared linguine done aglio olio and penne with tomato sauce, both come adorned in mushrooms and sausages. Between the two, they're better for the tomato based pasta.

Desserts



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise), banana cake, cheesecake with white choc, kueh dadar, pulut inti)

Traditonal Nonya Kueh (Tapioca kueh, Kueh dadar, Pulut Inti, Lapis Sagu, Ondeh ondeh)

I was eyeing them the moment I saw them but a great pity by the time I started on my desserts, they were mostly snapped up! Boo. The only kuehs I tried were tapioca kueh, kueh dadar and pulut inti. I wouldn't say they're the true blue nonya kuehs but good enough. The tapioca kueh's got the pure grated tapioca in it, a pretty trio of colours too!

Banana cake with chocolate swirl

My favourite amongst all the desserts, I stuffed myself silly with three portions of this! The banana cake's not oily, moist enough...and fragrant!

Cheesecake with white chocolate

Didn't fancy this.



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise) Raspberry cake, banana cake, butter cake, tapioca kueh, barley agar)

Butter cake

Boring and dry.

Raspberry cake

Spongecake sandwiching layers of raspberry mousse. Have never been a fan of mousse cake..just didn't think this was any good.

Red Bean cake

Tasted more like raspberry mousse than red bean. Still not my cuppa cake!

Agar agar with barley

This agar agar certainly doesn't look like one...not much of a taste..queer combination infact.



On the plate (L-R, Anticlockwise) Blueberry struddel, some mousse cake, red bean cake, sticks of fruit and marshmellow, jelly shooters, banana cake again!

Blueberry Struddel

The mousse and pastry were all too soft.

Ice-cream selection (Strawberry, Hazelnut)



Interesting ice-cream they've got! Sorbet and ice-cream within the same scoop. I quite like this. If only they had more flavours..

Fruit platter

Pretty good spread of fruits..dragon fruit, papaya, watermelon...pineapple.

Fondue with strawberry/marshmellow sticks



The besties had a great time tempting me with their fondue sticks. I can't comment too much on it...a nice candy display it is. Why doesn't any place have a white chocolate fondue? Honestly I think fondues are slightly passe as it is now.

Cheng Tng (Hot and cold)



Wayyy too sweet.

Green Tea Cake/Tiramisu/Coffee Cheese Cake

I didn't have the stomach space for any of that, they were largely untouched apart from the Tiramisu.

Jelly shooters with fruit

Nothing to rave about.

All in...it's a smorgasbord of hot and cold delights, supposedly a Christmas Gastronomical prelude that included christmas delights like Honey Baked ham, Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce and logcake. None of which was present except the honey baked ham. Talk about miscommunication! Maybe they rotate the menu every few days? However so, the only christmas dish available that night was Honey Baked Ham.

Some items were refillable others weren't. A pity that I didn't have a chance at those delectable Nonya kuehs, we were waiting and waiting. By the time we left at 9-ish, most of the dishes were already wiped up.

Overall...it's pretty good. The appetizers and desserts reasonable, the mains were decent...way surpasses Intercontinental's high tea! Spread-wise, it's considered wide...pity there was hardly any seasonal dishes apart from the ham.

Service started off attentive and ended up with me having to clear the plates. The waiter getting the bill got us really confused with the promo, choosing to call it "2 for 1" rather than "3 for 2" which really makes a difference!

$45++

3 for the price of 2.

Cafe Vic
Carlton Hotel