Carousel, Royal Plaza on Scotts

Last Sunday, Zach treated my Mom, Aileen & I to lunch at Carousel. I have been hearing good reviews about their buffet and since Mom was in town we figured might as well try it out. Making reservations was a breeze but you had to book a day before as tables can get booked really fast.

Brunch on a sunday morning was $48++. So damn pricey! Good thing they had 15% discount for DBS Visa credit card so more or less it would come up to $47. Still damn pricey! hehe.

I must say the selection of food was veerryyy wide. Literally and Figuratively. The buffet line was spread from end-to-end of the restaurant. Choices range from japanese station, crustacean & seafood station, hot & cold appetizer, breakfast, chinese station (dimsum, roast duck, etc), malay food, dessert, and the list goes on..

I was more than excited to get the gustatory revolution started and here is what I dug into.. (DISCLAIMER: diet off for today since my mom is around hehehe :P)

For starters, I had tuna & salmon sashimi, Pita bread with Eggplant mousse & Olive tapenade dip, and Smoked duck & Roast beef with blue cheese dressing. The sashimi tasted really fresh. The only disappointment is that they serve the salmon sashimi upon request. Unlike other buffets where you can freely get as much as you want. The dips were really scrumptous but the pita bread was very tough. So on to the next plate...

For pre-main course (hahaha), I had Turkey bacon, Pepper Sausage, Oven-roasted ribeye with mushroom sauce, Onion, mushroom, cheese & turkey bacon omelette, and bread with St. Pauline & Camembert cheese. The turkey bacon tasted & felt like cardboard. No kidding. Nothing beats real, fat-laden pork bacon. Ribeye was very tender and cooked medium-rare. Not bad but not thrilling. Omelette was, well, omelette. The cheeses were very cheesy. hahaha kidding. I'm not into cheese that much but they were good. Not very salty and melts in your mouth.

For main course, I had Chicken and mushroom ragout with crepe gratin, Ana potatoes with fresh thyme and pepper, Baked saffron pilaf with assorted sausage & seafood, Thai beef with garlic & pepper, Navarin of lamb with roasted parsnip and Seafood thermidor.

Has anyone heard of Ana potatoes? Oh well, they were potatoes just the same. My favorite was the Seafood thermidor. There were generous portions of shrimp & squid. The shrimp were quite big and tasted really fresh. The kind that pops in your mouth after you bite into it. The Navarin of lamb was also very tasty. It didn't have that after-taste that lamb would give if you cook it improperly.

At this point in time, believe it or not, I was really stuffed. But not too stuffed for dessert. No way will I let go of dessert. They even had a chocolate fondue fountain, but Aileen used to have a choco fondue business so I passed on that.

To cap off the meal, I had RP Choco mousse, Green tea choco mousse with azuki beans, Pineapple & peach crumble and Chocolate fondant. I don't know what in the world RP stands for but it was so-so. The ultimate winner was the Chocolate fondant. Even better than the chocolate cake at PS cafe. This really made me very happy. Amongst other things hahaha.

For an all-halal buffet, I would say Carousel was very good. The choices were endless and it was easy to get overwhelmed by the selection. I don't think theres any way for anyone to taste all of the food in the spread. Even for a big guy like me, it was just impossible. I regret not having the roast duck and the lobster in the crustacean section.

The service was great, as well. The staff were more than happy to take your pics and they even engage in small talk. Free coffee was an added bonus. Though I suggest they spruce up the dining area near the front window because from outside it didn't look as classy as the price commands. Nevertheless, the inner dining area was well decorated and spacious. So for a very delightful brunch, here is my rating for Carousel-

Ambiance - 4

Service - 5

Food - 5

Presentation - 4.5

Value for Money - 4.5

OVERALL - 4.6

Royal Plaza on Scotts Hotel

Carousel is at Lobby Level

Tel: 6589 7799

25 Scotts Road, Singapore 228220

"Live, Love & Eat!"