Sunday Champagne Brunch @ Pan Pacific, Global Kitchen

"A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands."
-- Lord Byron, English Romantic Poet and Satirist.

Whilst others say "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams"

I say aye to champagne, dream on...caviar (until of course the piggybank coughs up excess shillings and pennies).
All in a lazy sunday afternoon, brunches never seem more leisurely nor luxurious.

*I hope I'm not nauseating you before I go head on to the food proper!*

So it was my first Champagne Brunch, level three at Pan Pacific...home of gastronomy.



Promises being plastered all over



At the entrance..



Crustaceans on ice!



The gorgeous macaron tower that wasn't edible!? It's like dangling cheese infront of a mouse and refusing it.



Shooters of desserts arranged in a manner that resembled a metal christmas tree, the desserts were like candle lights adorning, cakes were arranged in that manner as well, exposing them more, which explained the drier and harder textures.



21 varieties of premium Taylors of Harrogate tea leaves, the chocolate fountain and pastries!







Pot of warm water!



Veuvre Clicquot Champagne was the star of the brunch. Premium champagne this is.



Glass after glass, definitely the best I've drunk. 12% of alcohol it has. It's so smooth, the fizzling bubbles don't bite the tongue like some champagnes do. Down the throat they lightly danced in smooth transition. Nope, I did not turn a bright embarrassing red. Gulp after gulp, indeed, I really just needed caviar.



Champagne with orange juice tasted as divine.



Homemade Cold Cuts

Pastrami Beef
Honey Baked Ham
Salami
Lyoner
Chicken

Although I've been eating hams for the longest time, the tongue could not pick out a favourite, probably the saltiest. What makes a good ham really? I like to taste the meat in my ham, rather than a chewy rubbery slice that does not taste any different between pork and chicken. The colours play a great deal too, I'm quite a sucker for seeing the gradation of pinks with meaty linears.

Crabs/Prawns/Oysters/Shellfish

Props given for juicy and fresh seafood. Main pity the crabs were soaked too much in brine, the meat was too salty.




Smoked Salmon
Szechuan Smoked Salmon
Assorted Smoked Fish Platter

The cured meats tasted mostly the same, with szechuan being a notch spicier.



Cheese

European & Australian Cheeses with Crackers/Dried Fruit/Vegetable Crudites

The range of cheeses comprised of Herb Brie/Gouda/Gorgonzola/Coulommier/Cheddar/Roquefort. A little cheese education here, my knowledge is still limited to the cheddars, bries and blue cheeses unfortunately!

Coulommier (Pronounced Koo-lom-yay): French, belongs to the Brie Family. Extra rich and creamy body.

Brie: French, Soft and savoury with a hint of ammonia, to be eaten with white mould rind.

Gouda: Dutch. Rich yellow in colour with wax coating.

Cheddar: Somerset, UK. Hard pale yellow to off white.

Roquefort: South France. Sheep milk blue cheese, white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist, with distinctive veins of green mould.

Gorgonzola: Italy. Veined blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk. Can be buttery/firm, crumbly and quite salty.

I'm looking at blue cheese very differently now. No wonder I loved the platter, the blue cheeses were the bomb! Stinky, creamy and salty but well paired with the cracker sticks.



Cold Selection

Smoked Salmon & Cheese Roulade
Seafood Roulade

Not as good as Cafe Swiss. The salmon and cheese somehow did not work together.

Pepper Cod Terrine

Not a fan of this tofu-tasting seafood meatloaf.

Salmon Florentine

The pastry surrounding the pate was too hard.

Goose Liver Pate

Bland.



Sides

Egg Benedict

My first attempt at egg benedict. The hollandaise sauce was just a dollop but good in all creamyness. The egg when poked did cause a flood of golden yellow runny egg yolk which I'm not a huge fan of. The bubble of egg white was a love-hate affair, tasted somewhat plasticy and rubbery...an acquired taste I concluded. The ham and muffin beneath screamed "Mcdonalds does better".

Crispy Bacon

Overfried to such dryness, the fatty streaks were stringy.

Pork/Chicken Sausages

Yes I am a fan of Panpac sausages yet I couldn't discern the two.

Hashbrown
Baked Beans

Ordinary interconentinal breakfast must haves.

Hot Pot & Pastries

Vegetable/Chicken Pie

Disappointing pie bases and fillings, the pie itself fell apart quite sadly. Tastewise it's more ordinary than not.

Beef Stew

On the salty side.

Seafood

Oyster Tempura

These were deep fried upon request, the crunchy tempura shell was easily pried open from the heavily shrivelled oyster but was a fingerlicking find.

Baked Oyster with Cheese

The Oysters were not stellar in quality hence reducing into a creamy mass with the cheese.

Oyster with Spicy Coriander & Garlic

Gave it a miss.




Mains

Grilled Salmon

Slightly fishy.

Grilled Vegetables

Decent spread of zucchinis, green/red pepers/brinjals.

Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Ragout

I could not discern the tenderloin from venison fillet.

Pork Fillet with Wildberry Sauce

At last! A tasty one, the pork fillet was juicy and overflowing with flavours.

Roast Chicken

Chicken was tender.

Baked Potato Wedges

Normal tasting.

English Favourites

Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas, Curry and Tomato Sauce

The well battered fish fillets were not oily and had the desired crispyness, thick cut chips were a joy to have as well. Mushy peas tasted quite like baby's food, serves as a great side. Curry sauce was too watery.



Baked Seafood Butter Rice

The rice was lacking in grease as would a good butter rice. Seafood was fresh, thankfully.

Venison Filet

Tasted like beef.

Grilled Seabass with Lightly Spiced Cream Sauce

Forgettable.



Vol Au Vents

Choice of filling: Prawns with Brandy Sauce/Chicken Ragout with Mushrooms

The chef took pains to concot the filling by warming the pan and frying the ingredients (sauce + meat) together. Imagine the time taken for two different flavours when he went in to wash his pan after frying the prawns and brandy. The pastry cup is a tad dry, both fillings were boring. The chicken ragout with mushrooms reminded me of the diced version of their beef stew.




Carving Station

Honey Baked Ham/Turkey with Assorted Condiments including Mustard, Horseradish & Red Wine Sauce

It's one early christmas at Global Kitchen. The pound of honey baked ham and plump turkey sat apretty on the table top waiting to be skillfully sliced by the chef. The ham tasted better than the homemade coldcuts, meatier and juicier in bite. Turkey was slightly tough, probably kept too long from Christmas. Either way, the sauces/condiments seemed more suitable for roast beef than turkey.



Pasta

Spaghetti/Penne with choice of Pesto/Tomato Herb or Cream Sauce Assorted Condiments: Bell Peppers/Zucchinis/Mushrooms/Tomatoes

Live station alas! The chef looked somewhat eager for an order to be made the whole afternoon. Of the two, the spaghetti in tomato sauce fared better, more oomph than the otherwise milky cream sauce. It would have been better with a bit of meat.




Petit Cakes

Pandan Kaya; Hard kaya.
Mango Mousse cake; Sour!
Raspberry Mousse cake; Hmm..just alright.
Cheesecake; Pretty ok.
Fruit Tart; Fell flat, the spiced apples were tasteless, tart was limp.
Prune cake; Just ok.

Shooters

Mixed fruit yogurt; Ordinary.
Mango Mousse; A mess of goo.




Crepes

Banana & Berry Compote Crepes

Another live station! The crepes were light and chewy, perfected by sugary caramelised bananas and vanilla bean icecream. Warm and cold undertones balanced in a lovely manner. The best of the buffet.

Icecream
Chocolate Chip/Vanilla Bean with biscuits (Oatmeal with Raisin/Double Chocolate/Chocolate chip with Nut)

The chocolate chip icecream seems to be quite a common sight at the buffets I've been to of late, they come with chocolate flakes within and that ups the choco-factor in the ice-cream. Vanilla bean's uber fragrant and milky.

Cookies were a crumbly delight..All I need is a glass of ice-cold milk.



Chocolate Shooter

Normal.

Walnut Brownie

The one who ate claimed it was too hard.



Profiterole Tower

In all fairness, great to look at..reminded me of a creampuff christmas tree with all the icing powder. The creampuff lacked the springy consistency whilst the vanilla bean custard filling was just alright. Strawberries were too sour.

The cakes on the plate were passable, none left an impression though. The cakes were mostly custard-sponge-smooshy mix.



Pastries

Croissants/Assorted Danishes/Apple Turnover

Pastries were dry and flaky, with the exception of the fruit pastry that was more edible than the rest.





Chocolate Fountain

Chocolate Fountain with Marshmellows/Strawberries/Cookies

Chocolate Selection

Cubes of chocolate in gem designs, each were pralines with different flavours like black sesame, chocolate cream etc.

Tiramisu

A horrible one.

Chocolate cake

Dense. 'Nuff said.

Fruit pastry

As above.



Fruit selection of watermelon and honeydew.

Beverages

Grapefruit/Orange
Beers
Veuvre Clicquot Champagne

Global Kitchen is not as "global" as its name sounds. The range is more limited than the menu displayed outside. Cuisines are restricted to Italian, Australian, Mexican and European, nary any Asian cuisine available.

Range wise, it is limited for a brunch. Taste, it is not on par with all the claims and promises made. I'd say the champagne served made it worth the while, otherwise...with all the promotions, Pan Pacific's brunch lacks defining dishes that makes it stand out. Awesome Champagne and good dessert crepes don't make value sense to me at the prices they command.

Service is on the slow side, our drinks were constantly refilled but plates took a couple of stacking till high before the waiters took the initiative to clear. There was a pair of musicians strumming guitars who roamed around the restaurant serenading us with spanish/english hits upon request. A very game duo even boogied to their music on the dance floor!

$108++ (with alcohol)/$88++ (without alcohol)

Global Kitchen
Pan Pacific
Level 3