10 at Claymore @ Pan Pacific Orchard

Special thanks to Givany from Pan Pacific Orchard for hosting the dinner!

10 at claymore 

I had the pleasure of attending 10 at Claymore's buffet dinner featuring their plates of treasures that are changed every two months. I have to admit Pan Pacific Orchard does not ring a bell, until Google maps reflected its location right smack behind Palais Renaissance. Its sister hotel is Pan Pacific at Marina Square, so that should ring a bell!


Before tucking into the spread, I did a rudimentary food tour.


chefs at work

The cafe was packed for a Friday evening and in particular one live station that had the most buzz...wanna guess which one?

oysters

Oysters! Only available during dinner is a selection of "freshly" shuckled oysters. These are shucked upon request.

seafood

Also only available at dinner, seafood on ice! Boston lobsters made the eyes twinkle.

sashimi

Selection of sashimi on ice

Salmon, tuna and octopus together with a selection of maki for those craving Japanese.


goodies

Selection of soup and country and cottage breads with a number of spreads

cheeses

Cheeseboard!

fondue

Their dessert range is quite wide, starting from the entrance and extending quite a distance. The first thing that caught the eye was the chocolate fountain!

jars of

Jars of macarons!

macaron tower

Macaron tower as a display, they do not retail macarons over the counter though.

desserts2


Seeing a display like this is enough for me to drop all things savoury and head for sweet...quite nearly!



crepes


Crepe stack...looking delicious already!



desserts1

Rows of neatly placed cakes...the sweet tooth got too carried away snapping pictures of the desserts. :P

plates of treasure menu

From 3 January to 29 February, they will be featuring festive specials. Word has it that come March, it will be Top 5 of their all time favourites since this "Plates of Pleasures" has been introduced a year ago! I was told foie gras was one of the Plate of Pleasures last christmas.  

grill

The partial open concept kitchen where plates of treasures are prepared.

Unlimited ala carte orders of the following can be made throughout the buffet and these are served to your table.


sharks fin

Pacific Shark’s Fin Casserole
Woody Bamboo Pith  Boston Lobster Claw    

While the hotel's take on shark's fin is to slowly remove it from the menu and replacing it with superior stock and premium ingredients like abalone, this was quite a different kind of shark's fin altogether with fish maw and boston lobster claw to up the stakes and taste!

hokkaido scallops

Hokkaido Scallop
Monkey Head Mushroom  I  Angelica and Goji Broth 

The scallop was halved and topped with stir fried shrimp paste. While I always though hokkaido scallops were best consumed raw or pan seared, having it in broth did cause lose some of its succulence.  

sea perch

Chilean Ocean Sea Perch
Pea Sprouts  I  Superior Light Soya Broth

Fresh and absolutely delightful sea perch dish. 

angus steak

US Angus Beef
Celery-Leek  I  Sarawak Black Pepper Sauce 

Tasty portion of beef, though the cut had tons to do with it not being as tender as desired. 

lamb chop

Tasmanian Lamb
Highland Asparagus  Citrus-Sesame Reduction


The most favourite of the plates of treasure, lamb executed brilliantly pulling the flavours together so well.

cheese lobster

Cheese Lobster

Givany specially ordered cheese lobster for us to sample - I wish it were made permanent on the menu! This was a previous month's special and only limited to one per diner. As much as I wanted my lobster soaking in molten cheese, cream cheese and mushrooms were suffice to send me to heaven together with the succulent bouncy lobster flesh. Seafood heaven, almost!

plates

A ready supply of hot plates to fill them with goodies...

white

Executive Chef Andy Oh dropped by to mingle with us and playfully teased us for not having wine to go with the spread - Rockpool Marlborough!

white wine

A light fruity white wine that I like! This has pear drops, mandarin and white nectarine undertones.

seafood

I always head for seafood to start off any buffet - lest the tastebuds get muddled up along the way.

Jet-Flown "Fresh" Boston Lobsters

Boston lobsters are not boston lobsters without a reason, sweet succulent and so very fresh! The meat was firm and I headed for seconds shortly after.

Vietnamese Sweet River Prawns

Once again really fresh prawns, sweet too!

Tasmanian Mussel

Gave them a miss.

Sashimi was thickly cut and uber fresh as well. Impressive seafood selection and freshness achieved for a buffet.

oyster

Pacific Coast "Live" US Rock Oyster and French Farmed "Live" Fine de Bretagne

I had one of each, the US oysters were larger in size, creamier and so delicious! No taste of the sea detected, mega yummy oysters!


breadrolls


Bread rolls were rather ordinary though. Maybe it would have been better with the minestrone that smelt great but I did not have stomach space for it.

cheeses

Their cheese platter would please every cheese lover - Port cheddar, smoked cheddar, port salut, wensleydale cranberry, kikorangi blue, camembert with dried fruits and crackers.

Wensleydale cranberry was crumbly cheese with cranberries, a really fruity one. Camembert is always a crowd pleaser while I enjoyed kikorangi blue best! Creamy, buttery, absolutely gritty and smelly made this a clear winner of the platter.

mains

Asian Spiced Potatoes

A healthier alternative to fries, these herbed wedges were a tad dry.

Vegetable Lasagna

On the soggy side.

Mussels Au Gratin

Overcooked hence the drier texture.

Lamb Shank Casserole

Firm lamb shank that was pretty well flavoured.

Salmon and Prawn Skewer

Only available over dinner, the salmon cut was fatty enough for an unctuous finish. Delish!

carbs

Superior Steamed "Farmed" Seabass

Broccoli and Bai Ling Mushroom

Both went well with ginger rice.

Mee Goreng "Mamak"

A delectable take on hawkerfare.


Fragrance Steamed Ginger Rice

This paled in comparison to mee goreng.

roast pork

Carving station with a selection of chinese roasted meats - char siew, roasted pork and sausage.

char siew x lap cheong

Char siew was lean and well charred!

macarons

Macarons that caught my eye from the very start were mismatched in terms of flavours to colours.

Orange - Chocolate
Green - Lychee
Pink - Raspberry
Blue - Blueberry

All had a meringue-ish sugar shell with buttercream filling, lacking in their listed flavour though.

shooter

Azuki Jelly, Soursop Jelly, Pandan Jelly

The shooters were generally really pretty to pile on the plate. Most memorable goes to the above, a lychee jelly with blueberries.

dessert plate

Banana Dumplings

Money bags stuffed with bananas and drizzled with vanilla sauce.

Crepe Rolls with Cheese

Rich cream cheese and raisins rolled in a light crepe - delightful combination!

Chocolate cake

Ordinary.

Moist Pound Cake

Very moist indeed, I wish I had more of this yummy one.


Blueberry Crumble

I suppose berries and crumble hardly work well for me.

Creme Brulee

I need to rave about their creme brulee! Served in rameskins or mini saucers, the molten filling is absolutely divine...watching it spill over was therapeutic. A great balance of wobbly and molten custard, double yums!

icecream

Kapiti New Zealand icecream : Gingernut and Vintage Strawberry and Cream

Triple chocolate was completely gone by the time we headed for dessert. Both were really decadent creamy icecreams that came with plenty of toppings!

cookies

Cookies of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and shortbread. Great accompaniment with coffee or tea!

crepe

"Live" station of crepes with condiments

The list of condiments was a laundry list;

Durian paste, cream corn, kaya, peanut butter, strawberry, blueberry, peach compote, mango compote, caramelized banana, chocolate syrup and golden maple! Loved the crepes which were more like loveletters for the awesome coconutty fragrance and crunch. I had mine with durian paste (a pungent one!), velvety peanut butter and rich kaya. Worth a try!

The buffet spread was good enough for a bite of everything - a comfortable range infact. Their "plates of treasures" does make it really worth while for an attempt or two, at least there will be variations in the next two months! A plus point for buffet buffs. Of the three buffets attempted since the beginning of this year, 10 at Claymore's tops so far for good food and great value.

$52++ (Dinner), $55++ (Sunday Brunch)

10 at Claymore
Pan Pacific Orchard

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