I chanced upon The Line's 4th Anniversary Special on HGW. It took me a day and a half to get the people at The Line to pick up my call and place my reservation...it was only a day and a half into the promo and for the date requested, all tables inside were fully booked, leaving those outside. Fearing another situation of my call not being picked up, I reserved my table there and there (Uniquely Singaporean indeed).
Prior to this visit, I had high hopes after all the raving reviews online and offline with close friends claiming that it's "THE" buffet to go in this lifetime..praising both the spread and quality.
Priced at $40.80++, it's majorly discounted from the otherwise published rate of $68++, we had freeflow of Archipelago Xiang Beer and mocktails because of a credit card privilege. The mocktail was a watered down version of fruitpunch.
730pm we arrived, all excited and bubbling for anticipation..I went uber light for lunch because of it okay! The treat was made possible by R.
Pleasantly greeted by a group of adhoc "musicians" from the kitchen, clanging away with their utensils..creating quite a symphony of its own. I enjoyed the "noise", created a carnival atmosphere...come on, it's their birthday afterall!
Throughout dinner the entourage moved around mingling with the guests, occasionally breaking out in a display of "kitchen symphony".
The very much orange-themed The Line. With a birthday lucky draw too!
I took a walk around all the live stations...massive display of food...definitely not for the faint hearted. For the buffet amateurs, it's quite a sight to behold..and to some extent, one may feel intimated by the copious amounts of food available.
The layout of the place is such that the stations are near each other but not entirely linked, so you don't clog up one area with all the queues. However, given the turnout it's a huge success for Shangrila! It was packed to the brim with hungry people.
Stations and stations of glorious food.
Desserts galore!
Any child's heaven, The Line literally makes a candy dream come through. Sweets in all forms, ice-cream..crepes...cakes.
And for an honest review of the "Mother of Buffets"..
Seafood Section, a station's that packed with people..at its peak the queues had at least 10 people waiting inline. Every seafood lover's dream..neverending supply of fresh crustaceans. If only I had space for seconds! Pity the seafood wasn't tagged so you really don't know much of what you're eating, apart from knowing a clam is a clam.
Prawns
Very fresh crimson looking seafood..!
Bamboo Clams
Impressive, it came in a long shell, peeling it off was quite interesting. The meat's crunchy and chewy, almost like a huge topshell. Delicious!
Alaskan Crabs
The meat's so sweet and succulent, I wish I took more.
Lobsters
The meat was slightly tough.
Oysters
Creamy and not fishy, great for slurping up. Comes with two sauces, either tabasco or garlic miso.
Clams
A meaty delight.
Mussels
I figure they were soaked in brine hence the salty taste but I liked it all the same!
Japanese Section
Basically the chef takes your order and slices nonstop. An array of sushi, cha soba and sashimi.
Sashimi (Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Octopus)
I took a portion each, thickly sliced they are and fresh as well..lacking in sweetness.
Handrolls
Didn't know they had that until a friend saw the chef making one for himself and walking to the kitchen half munching it.
Sushi Selection
Quite a selection but the rice was hard.
Cha Soba
It came in dainty saucers, the noodles were on the soft side. The sauce was too salty.
European Section
Roast Beef on the wagon
Ordinary, the beef was sliced thin as per my request. On the bland side despite the sauce. A number of sauces to go with it.
Salmon Feuilette
One of the best items from this section. The salmon and pastry go awesomely together. Not too oily either!
Yorkshire Pudding
Somehow this and the roast beef remind me of Lawry's. Baked to a nice brown, it's chewy and serves as a good side with the wild mushroom soup.
Salmon Pie
Plain cheesy. All I remember of it is mush.
White Truffle Risotto
One dish that's too heavily infused with mushroom.
Lagsane
Cheesy too, not much of an impression.
Lamb Saukeraut
Tender lamb but otherwise forgettable.
Wild Mushroom Soup
Yummy! I couldn't help but steal a couple of mouthfuls from R. Home made soup not too heavy with mushrooms.
Pasta
The pasta was on undercooked, slightly hard. No distinct taste.
Pizza
Soggy crust. Worth just one bite.
Salad section
Ceasar Salad
Didn't manage to mix one.
Potato Salad
Potatoes were cold and hard, undercooked I reckon.
Prawn Shooters
Nice juicy prawn once again.
Parma Ham with Rock Melon
Soggy ham with sweet melon.
Indian-Malay Section
Chicken Satay
Meat's too sweet, but otherwise good to have!
Naan
Boring and dry.
Tandoori Chicken
Lacking in flavour.
Aloo Gobhi
Wiki says it's a dry indian dish with potatoes and cauliflowers, cooked with Pakistani and Indian herbs.
Shahi Paneer
A punjab dish that's creamy made of cheese, cream and tomato curry.
Dhal Tadka
A thick bean stew.
The verdict on all the curries tried, I have no recollection. It was just curry to me. Nope, I didn't enjoy the Indian section.
Saffron Rice
Skipped this.
Chinese Section
Dimsum (Prawn Dumpling, Lotus Leaf Rice, Siew Mai, Kimchi Dumpling, Coriander Dumpling, Char Siew Chicken Pau, Stuffed Mushroom)
There was a friendly chef stationed there to dish out the dimsum. Helpful fella. If that's the standard of dimsum from Shang Palace, they'd be thrown back. All the dimsum items were not up to standard, most of the dumplings were just a steamed meaty mash. The glutinous rice was tasteless. Best of all, the char siew chicken pau was sweet!
Wuxi Pork Belly
Cooked too soft.
Crayfish Curry
Crayfish was soft, lacked the curry taste.
Spicy Fish filet
Ordinary.
Beef Kuay Teow
Kuay teow's not bad, the beef slices tasted like they were cooked too long.
Noodle Section
Wanton noodle/Chicken noodle
No time nor space to attempt any.
Dessert Section
Crepes
Similarly, no time for this. Queues were long as well. The friend who tried was all praises however.
Ice-cream with mix ins
What surprises me is they had a coldrock to blend in the mix ins (gummy bears, marshmellows and all things sweet) but they did not bother. Instead, they'd scoop the ice-cream and scatter the mix-ins accordingly. It reached a point where the servers were scooping directly from the block of icecream.
I had a go with the vanilla ice-cream and banana marshmellows. Normal ice-cream but the marshmellows were too hard.
Chocolate Fondue
Just sticks of marshmellows and biscuits to dip. Severely lacking in variety surprisingly.
Durian cake
Painfully bland. The worst durian cake I've eaten.
Cream shooter
I honestly can't tell if it's pistachio or green tea given the shade of green. Taste was once again pallid.
Creme Brulee
Nowhere near wobbly, the almost tofu-like texture..:(
Tart Raspberry Macaron
One major dessert saving grace though somewhat sweet!
4th anniversary chocolate
Chocolate with a sour custard inside.
Cupcake
Ordinary butter cake.
Kuehs
Avoid if you can.
I was on the lookout for their much acclaimed Passionfruit cheesecake at the dessert table, but was told that it wasn't available during the buffet. I checked with a particular waitress who was replenishing the cakes. She reminded me that the cashier closed at 9pm [time check: past 9pm already] but helped me check out the takeaway counter and returned with two slices on the house. Very surprised I was! I was prepared to pay for them should they have it at the takeaway counter.
Now for the complimentary Passionfruit Cheesecake that made its way into ST'S Top 50 yummiest cake. My gf and I cheerily took a bite each and there after, our expressions spelt it all out; pure disdain. The sour passionfruit cream didn't go with the dry sugee cake. Pure disappointment once again.
Service is faultless, despite the crowds. Prompt refills of warm water and clearing of plates. Service managers were all on standby to ensure the night went smoothly.
Overall, food was certainly disappointing, save for the seafood and sashimi. For Shang's standard...it falls short. Unless the message they're driving across is; with such great promotions, quality of food is compromised.
Will not be back, if quality of food is such.
The Line
Shangrila Hotel
Prior to this visit, I had high hopes after all the raving reviews online and offline with close friends claiming that it's "THE" buffet to go in this lifetime..praising both the spread and quality.
Priced at $40.80++, it's majorly discounted from the otherwise published rate of $68++, we had freeflow of Archipelago Xiang Beer and mocktails because of a credit card privilege. The mocktail was a watered down version of fruitpunch.
730pm we arrived, all excited and bubbling for anticipation..I went uber light for lunch because of it okay! The treat was made possible by R.
Pleasantly greeted by a group of adhoc "musicians" from the kitchen, clanging away with their utensils..creating quite a symphony of its own. I enjoyed the "noise", created a carnival atmosphere...come on, it's their birthday afterall!
Throughout dinner the entourage moved around mingling with the guests, occasionally breaking out in a display of "kitchen symphony".
The very much orange-themed The Line. With a birthday lucky draw too!
I took a walk around all the live stations...massive display of food...definitely not for the faint hearted. For the buffet amateurs, it's quite a sight to behold..and to some extent, one may feel intimated by the copious amounts of food available.
The layout of the place is such that the stations are near each other but not entirely linked, so you don't clog up one area with all the queues. However, given the turnout it's a huge success for Shangrila! It was packed to the brim with hungry people.
Stations and stations of glorious food.
Desserts galore!
Any child's heaven, The Line literally makes a candy dream come through. Sweets in all forms, ice-cream..crepes...cakes.
And for an honest review of the "Mother of Buffets"..
Seafood Section, a station's that packed with people..at its peak the queues had at least 10 people waiting inline. Every seafood lover's dream..neverending supply of fresh crustaceans. If only I had space for seconds! Pity the seafood wasn't tagged so you really don't know much of what you're eating, apart from knowing a clam is a clam.
Prawns
Very fresh crimson looking seafood..!
Bamboo Clams
Impressive, it came in a long shell, peeling it off was quite interesting. The meat's crunchy and chewy, almost like a huge topshell. Delicious!
Alaskan Crabs
The meat's so sweet and succulent, I wish I took more.
Lobsters
The meat was slightly tough.
Oysters
Creamy and not fishy, great for slurping up. Comes with two sauces, either tabasco or garlic miso.
Clams
A meaty delight.
Mussels
I figure they were soaked in brine hence the salty taste but I liked it all the same!
Japanese Section
Basically the chef takes your order and slices nonstop. An array of sushi, cha soba and sashimi.
Sashimi (Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Octopus)
I took a portion each, thickly sliced they are and fresh as well..lacking in sweetness.
Handrolls
Didn't know they had that until a friend saw the chef making one for himself and walking to the kitchen half munching it.
Sushi Selection
Quite a selection but the rice was hard.
Cha Soba
It came in dainty saucers, the noodles were on the soft side. The sauce was too salty.
European Section
Roast Beef on the wagon
Ordinary, the beef was sliced thin as per my request. On the bland side despite the sauce. A number of sauces to go with it.
Salmon Feuilette
One of the best items from this section. The salmon and pastry go awesomely together. Not too oily either!
Yorkshire Pudding
Somehow this and the roast beef remind me of Lawry's. Baked to a nice brown, it's chewy and serves as a good side with the wild mushroom soup.
Salmon Pie
Plain cheesy. All I remember of it is mush.
White Truffle Risotto
One dish that's too heavily infused with mushroom.
Lagsane
Cheesy too, not much of an impression.
Lamb Saukeraut
Tender lamb but otherwise forgettable.
Wild Mushroom Soup
Yummy! I couldn't help but steal a couple of mouthfuls from R. Home made soup not too heavy with mushrooms.
Pasta
The pasta was on undercooked, slightly hard. No distinct taste.
Pizza
Soggy crust. Worth just one bite.
Salad section
Ceasar Salad
Didn't manage to mix one.
Potato Salad
Potatoes were cold and hard, undercooked I reckon.
Prawn Shooters
Nice juicy prawn once again.
Parma Ham with Rock Melon
Soggy ham with sweet melon.
Indian-Malay Section
Chicken Satay
Meat's too sweet, but otherwise good to have!
Naan
Boring and dry.
Tandoori Chicken
Lacking in flavour.
Aloo Gobhi
Wiki says it's a dry indian dish with potatoes and cauliflowers, cooked with Pakistani and Indian herbs.
Shahi Paneer
A punjab dish that's creamy made of cheese, cream and tomato curry.
Dhal Tadka
A thick bean stew.
The verdict on all the curries tried, I have no recollection. It was just curry to me. Nope, I didn't enjoy the Indian section.
Saffron Rice
Skipped this.
Chinese Section
Dimsum (Prawn Dumpling, Lotus Leaf Rice, Siew Mai, Kimchi Dumpling, Coriander Dumpling, Char Siew Chicken Pau, Stuffed Mushroom)
There was a friendly chef stationed there to dish out the dimsum. Helpful fella. If that's the standard of dimsum from Shang Palace, they'd be thrown back. All the dimsum items were not up to standard, most of the dumplings were just a steamed meaty mash. The glutinous rice was tasteless. Best of all, the char siew chicken pau was sweet!
Wuxi Pork Belly
Cooked too soft.
Crayfish Curry
Crayfish was soft, lacked the curry taste.
Spicy Fish filet
Ordinary.
Beef Kuay Teow
Kuay teow's not bad, the beef slices tasted like they were cooked too long.
Noodle Section
Wanton noodle/Chicken noodle
No time nor space to attempt any.
Dessert Section
Crepes
Similarly, no time for this. Queues were long as well. The friend who tried was all praises however.
Ice-cream with mix ins
What surprises me is they had a coldrock to blend in the mix ins (gummy bears, marshmellows and all things sweet) but they did not bother. Instead, they'd scoop the ice-cream and scatter the mix-ins accordingly. It reached a point where the servers were scooping directly from the block of icecream.
I had a go with the vanilla ice-cream and banana marshmellows. Normal ice-cream but the marshmellows were too hard.
Chocolate Fondue
Just sticks of marshmellows and biscuits to dip. Severely lacking in variety surprisingly.
Durian cake
Painfully bland. The worst durian cake I've eaten.
Cream shooter
I honestly can't tell if it's pistachio or green tea given the shade of green. Taste was once again pallid.
Creme Brulee
Nowhere near wobbly, the almost tofu-like texture..:(
Tart Raspberry Macaron
One major dessert saving grace though somewhat sweet!
4th anniversary chocolate
Chocolate with a sour custard inside.
Cupcake
Ordinary butter cake.
Kuehs
Avoid if you can.
I was on the lookout for their much acclaimed Passionfruit cheesecake at the dessert table, but was told that it wasn't available during the buffet. I checked with a particular waitress who was replenishing the cakes. She reminded me that the cashier closed at 9pm [time check: past 9pm already] but helped me check out the takeaway counter and returned with two slices on the house. Very surprised I was! I was prepared to pay for them should they have it at the takeaway counter.
Now for the complimentary Passionfruit Cheesecake that made its way into ST'S Top 50 yummiest cake. My gf and I cheerily took a bite each and there after, our expressions spelt it all out; pure disdain. The sour passionfruit cream didn't go with the dry sugee cake. Pure disappointment once again.
Service is faultless, despite the crowds. Prompt refills of warm water and clearing of plates. Service managers were all on standby to ensure the night went smoothly.
Overall, food was certainly disappointing, save for the seafood and sashimi. For Shang's standard...it falls short. Unless the message they're driving across is; with such great promotions, quality of food is compromised.
Will not be back, if quality of food is such.
The Line
Shangrila Hotel
Quite surprised the buffet disappoints you. The crepe is defintitely a must-try and I am surprised the passionfruit cheesecake didn't meet your expectation...
ReplyDeleteHow did you manage to remember all the dishes and your thoughts towards it? For such a wide-spread buffet, I am indeed impressed...
I would say the Line wins by its selection, ambience and variety... but I prefer Melts' savoury more... Oscars is good too, at least when I tried it 2 years ago...
I'm surprised that it disappointed me too! I wasn't the only disappointed one, my friends were as well. Pity I didn't try the crepe :( the passionfruit cheesecake was presumably leftovers, definitely fell short of my expectations and doesn't warrant a spot in the Top 50. Nonetheless, you shd give The Line's Bakery a go..! I have very good memories of the mini lemon meringue tart (it's very zesty!), the donuts..carrot yogurt cake too!
ReplyDeleteI took pictures of the names of the dishes and mentally made a note each time I tried sth. ;P
Agree that The Line is outstanding in terms of selection and spread..maybe given the occasion, crowd and discounts given, something had to give..and in this case The Line chose to drop the quality of food. I was expecting (at the very least) good seafood and desserts but they failed with the desserts bit.
Oscar's was awesome!! Ahh, Melt at Oriental right? Will give that a go some time!