While @foodcapital.gcw roast meats, claypot and salad/cold appetiser stations were decent in terms of quality & selection, the much more diminutive tempura station was a true stunner. It sits alongside the satisfactory sashimi station, but it deserves more attention than the perennially popular sashimi. Sure, buffets & fried foods evoke imaginations of grease soaked, limp and tepid fried calorie nukes, but Food Capital’s tempura station is clear of the rest.⠀
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While they don’t deep fry everything to order, they do it in small batches. At dinner service, this ain’t a problem, as the steady flow of diners ensure that the tempura is depleted rapidly, necessitating a constant replenishment of the fried goodies. Yes, it’s pretty close to freshly fried, and the quality is not inferior to dedicated tempura joints.⠀
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Many restaurants tend to deep fry their less than fresh prawns, a waste reducing move that I agree with, but the prawns that get transformed into tempura at @grandcopthorne Food Capital are remarkably fresh. Each crispy bite through the airy batter gives way into a springy, decently seasoned & subtly sweet shrimp, and it gets even better when you dip it into the hot tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce). As for the accompanying vegetables, they were no less impressive. The sweet potato & eggplant were fabulously fresh & satisfyingly sweet, while the enoki & shiitake mushrooms were crunchy outside & charmingly chewy inside.⠀
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The other item that was served on Lunar New Year’s Eve was a tempura teriyaki chicken maki roll. Well, it’s sushi rice wrapped around a tender teriyaki chicken fillet, wrapped in seaweed, deep fried and garnished with bonito flakes & a dash of tempura sauce. There was no way this was ever gonna be anything other than addictively delicious, and it was a bit of a struggle to not get seconds of this one. However, the pressing need to save stomach capacity for the rest of the brilliant buffet won out.⠀
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Food Capital has truly awed me with their first rate buffet, and I’d gladly make a return visit in the near future. Absolutely capital, blud.