Germany Buffet Dinner at Aquamarine

Presenting the Germany Buffet Dinner at Aquamarine, Marina Mandarin Singapore

Sorry about the flash, I only refrain myself to take 1 shot to avoid disturbing other diners... Pictures are just for your reference...

However, today was the last day for the October feast.

Entering the restaurant welcomes you with the Fresh Ocean's Catch on Ice where you will find Baby Lobster,Tiger Prawn, Crayfish, Oyster, Half Shell Scallop, Clam And Mussel with Condiments Of Lemon Wedges, Hot Sauce, Sherry Vinaigrette, Cocktail Sauce...

Sashimi Bar & Sushi Morawaise serving Sashimi, Assortments Of Sushi And Maki Roll With Condiments, Japanese Cold Soba Noodle and Warm CharwanMushi With Chicken And Mushroom

Appetizer with Aspic Of Pork And Pickles With Vinaigrette, Mild Salted Matjes Fillets In Apple Sour Cream, Smoked Salmon With Capers, Horseradish And Onion and Assortments Of Cold Meat Platter With Mustard Dips & Pickles Relish.

Salad bar on the left hand side while on the right hand side is the Miniature Cold Hors D'Oeuvre.

Curry Specialty Corner, with briyani rice, mutton, fish, daal and prawn dishes

Dessert bar...
Condiments (e.g. macarons shells, ice-cream cones, marshmallows) to accompany Raspberry Sorbet, Sweet corn ice-cream, Chocolate ice-cream and Yam Ice-cream

Chocolate fountain with strawberries and mashmallows, not forgetting the nice chocolate chip & rasins cookies, cornflakes cookies, dark chocolate and milk chocolate cookies.

Chocolate mousse, Mango mousse, Strawberry Mousse, Flourless chocolate cake, Japanese Yam Mochi, Crunchy Hazelnut Chocolate Cake and Sacher Torte...

Nonya kuehs, German Pound Slice Cake, Apple Crumble, Tiramisu, Strawberry Mousse, Apricot Cherry Cake, Lemongrass Ice jelly, Chocolate cake...

Assorted fruits...

Local Muah Chi with Peanuts, Chocolate Pralines and Mini Tartlets...

Zooming in the desserts...

S$48++ (Sunday-Thursday)
S$58++ (Friday, Saturday and Eve of Public Holidays)
15% off the total food bill for charges charged using OCBC/AMEX or Citibank credit cards
For every 3 dining adults, the 4th person dines free with any UOB card

Of course, since the main courses are in pots with covered lids, there were Herbal ‘‘Rose Wine Drunken’’ Live Prawns and Assortments of Bavarian Sausages under Live Show Kitchen; Assortment of cheeses; Heaty Goulash and Shark fin soup from the soup kettle; Selection of breads and rolls; Japanese Tempura Section serving fried sweet potato, brinjal and prawns; Fried rice, Beef Roulade, Crabs, Meatballs, Pork Knuckles, Mixed Vegetables and many more from the Hot main course...
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Fen's comments

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This year has been a year of buffets, geez... and since calories have been precious, Yuan and I have serious debates about the dining venue. Starting earlier this year was at Ellenborough Market Café with a spread of Peranakan and International buffet, followed by the anniversary lunch at the Line, Spice Brasserie Teochew porridge buffet and Hai Xiang a-la-carte buffet at Park Royal, the two theme buffets at Cafe Vic, namely Durian and Mushroom and the most recent birthday celebration at Carousel at Royal Plaza on Scotts.Sounds scary huh? But one thing about buffets is that keep it to only one visit as the second visit often leads to disappointment due to the high expectation of the returning visit. Also, the fun thing about buffets is the surprising elements of ambience and the food presented for that day. I was telling Yuan that I no longer have the extreme satisfaction similarly to our visit to Melts the world cafe, Oriental Hotel, Singapore in 2004. Maybe because at that time, we are still students and to fork out a over $100 bill is alot. Moreover, it is our first visit to such an expensive and posh hotel so in a way, the surprise was so overwhelming that it still stays in my mind.
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Anyway, Aquamarine has fantastic service be it enquiry or at the restaurant itself. For instance, they are pretty prompt in replying my email regarding the buffet menu and credit card dining privilleges. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with smiles and greetings. At the buffet dinner itself, they refilled the water promptly and paid attention to simple things like putting the nutcracker and servettes while seeing me battling with that one crab's pincer. Lastly, they were so spontaneous in taking group pictures for us. No complains but lots of praises.

The spread as expected has more international spread and I would say the dishes are not merely stir-fried or roasted. All the main courses are unique on its own with different combinations of meat and vegetables. The meats were well-seasoned and the only pity was that the room in my stomach was so limited. The only thing that was lacking was a bit of local fare but anyway, there is no more room for any more dishes.

Some of the dishes that leave a deep impression were the oysters, fresh and huge; sashimi has better cut and no doubt fresh; briyani with assorted Indian dishes were not too spicy nor oily; the soup that comes with the drunken prawns has a nice herbal taste which was not at all oily nor salty; the Hong Kong Roast Meat was nicely presented with reasonably nice texture that was not overly tough. Generally, all the beef and lamb were tender, well-seasoned and nicely accompanied with potato gratins, broccoli and mushrooms. My favourite dish of the entire buffet is actually the butter cream crabs, the meat is not at all soggy and despite the mess, it actually makes me crave for more. I can't imagine I actually forgot how much I love crabs since it has been ages since I last eat them and that most of the time only black pepper and chili crabs are available at international buffet which is never to my liking.

Desserts didn't disappoint and generally all of them passed. Favourites of the night were the hazelnut chocolate, the muah chi, the cookies, the lemongrass ice jelly and chocolate mousse. Having ate so much desserts over the past few months and that I can say the desserts were good, definitely not empty praises. In fact, I can dare say that the desserts spread is better than the Line, Carousel, Melts and Oscars. However, I got to highlight that the Line has fantastic ice-cream with freshly made crepes, Melts with their yummy freshly-made waffles and Macademia chocolate chip cookie and that Oscars also with their freshly-made waffles and that the ice-cream is scooped by their staff.

All in all, this buffet is good on its own and that it has not disappointed me. Paying only about $42.40 per pax, it is definitely a worthwhile dining experience. Hopefully, sweetie enjoyed this as much as me, ultimately, it is meant to be a pre-birthday treat for him.
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Yuan's comments

This is one of the better international buffets in town. I would especially like to comment Aquamarine on their excellent service. Your plates are changed rapidly and they provided nutcracker when they see that you have trouble with the crabs.Let me first start with food. Generally wide spread of cuisine ranging from Japanese (Sashimi and Sushi) to Germany (Sausages). The food that left deep impression was probably the pork knuckle. Of course they do not serve the full knuckle but rather sliced versions of the meat. What I liked about it is the crispy skin and yet not fatty. This applies for their roasted pork as well. Other than pork, I guess their selection of seafood is also impressive, lobster, clay fish, muscles, oysters... I particularly liked the oysters. Yum. Moving on to desserts. Aquamarine probably has the best desserts among the hotel buffets which I visited. I would normally think that desserts served in glass are either too sweet or too sour, I guess I was wrong. The tiramisu though not the best was not bad either. The chocolate mousse is comparable to the noisette of Obolo. Best of all, they have macaron shells and cookies for you to go along with your ice-cream. Scoop some chocolate fudge from the foundue and pour over your ice cream. Add the cookies and macaron... Equates to an excellent dessert after a sumptuous dinner.
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Aquamarine
Marina Mandarin Singapore
6 Raffles Boulevard
Marina Square
Singapore 039 594
Tel: 6845 1111

Operating hours
6:30am to 10:30 am (breakfast)
Noon to 2:30pm (Weekday lunch)
Noon to 3:30pm (Weekend & PH high tea)
6:30pm to 10:30pm (Dinner, a la carte till 10:30pm; buffet till 10pm)
10pm to 1:3 am (Weekend & PH supper)