The Family Man To Try

Quality Café serves up no-frills comfort food in an unpretentious and convivial ambience. The Taiwanese Porridge dinner and supper (yes you heard it) buffet has a small, but hearty, variety of perennial favourites and Taiwan porridge served with a range of condiments.

Porridge may be a simple dish made with just rice and water, but we all know that the simpler the dish, the more difficult it is to cook it well, and I must say that they did it almost flawlessly. The grains were cooked till slippery and soft, but not to the point of disintegration and being all mushy or watery.

The ~10 other main dishes, although tasty on their own, weren't exactly the side dishes you commonly see in a traditional Taiwan porridge meal; they were more like dishes to suit the diverse palate. Nonetheless, some of the dishes worth mentioning are the chicken satay, braised duck, chicken curry, popiah, and nonya kuehs (:

Do take note that their porridge buffet is only available on weekends from now onwards!

The Line is arguably one of the most well-known places in Singapore for a solid buffet that offers an extensive spread without compromising quality. Seafood lovers — be prepared to indulge. Tackle all the fresh seafood first — oysters, mussels, prawns, lobsters, scallops, crabs, and fresh sashimi. Featuring 16 kitchens that dish out great food all round, it's hard to compete with the variety and quality here. You should always be strategic when it comes to buffets, so start with the items you love most, even if that means dessert before seafood! Buffet lunch ($58++) and dinner ($76++) are served daily; champagne brunch ($158++) is served on Sundays.

Located in the heart of Chinatown and just a two-minute walk from Chinatown MRT Station, this four-storey restaurant is perfect for accommodating the whole extended family for a meal. Prices are affordable, portions are big and flavours are consistently good. Follow Burpple Tastemaker Felicia Sim's lead and order the Roasted Peking Duck ($58) to share. After savouring the beautifully lacquered skin, the remaining meat can be cooked with either rice or noodles as the main (she does not recommend frying the duck meat with salt and pepper as it loses its sweetness). If you can stomach more, the gravy-slicked Lala Beehoon (from $28) is worth a try, or get their signature Popiah ($7.50) to share. It is a massive pillow stuffed full with ingredients that make it well worth every penny. End the meal with the crowd favourite Yam Paste with Gingko Nut (from $26).
Avg Price: $30 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Felicia Sim

Plan your next foodie outing to the Edge's Theatrical Sunday Champagne Brunch ($118, additional $60 or $80 respectively for unlimited Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label or Rosé champagne). Bring your appetite and a partner who can eat, for the four-hour affair promises to have you rolling out of your seats. The extravagant international selection is spread out across stunning displays and live stations, including three cocktail bars. They've pulled out all the stops with dishes like hay smoked whole baby lamb, hazelnut-crusted foie gras, jumbo burger, grilled Ohmi wagyu beef, Peking duck, wheels of cheese and fresh seafood on ice (don't miss out on the fresh sashimi too). The dessert selection is also something to behold — sweet-toothed fiends will feel like kids in a giant candy store. For something more affordable, you could head down for lunch ($48) or dinner ($78), but trust us, the brunch is something to save for.
Avg Price: $120 per person
Photo by Burppler Clara Bean

If you think the international spreads at buffets are overdone, Rise may restore your faith in all-you-can-eat meals again with their themed dinners. Rise themes its buffet dinner ($72 per person) from Tuesdays to Saturdays — visit on Tuesdays for seafood, Wednesdays for an American Feast, Thursdays for a smoky barbecue, Friday for Mediterranean and Saturday for good old Singaporean fare. Burppler Keropok Man visited on a Thursday and enjoyed watching his meats and veggies cooked over charcoal just outside the restaurant, and he also praised the mahi-mahi, skirt steak T-bone lamb.
Avg Price: $75 per person
Photo by Burppler Catherine Ling

One of the most well-known buffet places in Singapore, The Line at Shangri-La Hotel is the place to impress your date, and their family! The extremely extensive spread of high quality dishes (there are 30 types of cheeses alone!) is enough to justify the price tag ($62 for lunch, $79 for dinner). You might just get full from trying a little of everything, so be strategic and narrow it down to the ones you love, perhaps some freshly shucked oysters, lightly torched aburi salmon sushi and well-marinated satay? Save space for desserts like the divine molten chocolate cake made with eight varieties of chocolate and unlimited servings of frozen yoghurt! Pro tip: Crustacean lovers should head to The Line on Tuesdays and Thursdays to enjoy the Marine Harvest spread (from $98), where an extended selection of fresh seafood is served alongside free flow red and white wines and beers.
Avg Price: $90 per person
Photo by Burppler Darrick Leow

Aside from offering high quality seafood like chilled lobsters, oysters and the juicy Alaskan king crab that our community loves, Melt Cafes's buffet (lunch $62, dinner from $78) stands out from the rest with their stellar Indian section. If you have friends or family members who love Indian food, don't hesitate to treat them to an impressive spread here! Load up on freshly made cheese or garlic naan, palak paneer, butter chicken, and other tandooris and mindblowing chutneys. Venture outdoors for their barbecue section (only available for the $88 dinner option) and help yourself to as many slices of suckling pig as you can stomach. If you still have space, order their signature Maine lobster laksa that comes with half a Maine lobster, or the luxurious Japanese wagyu beef shabu shabu (!). Finish with a freshly made waffle or crepe and go crazy on the unlimited toppings!
Avg Price: $100 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Veronica Phua

This high-ceilinged area on the first floor of PARKROYAL on Pickering is bustling come meal times and we're not surprised! The buffet spread (lunch from $48, dinner from $65) includes a dizzying array of sugary treats that greets you at the entrance — who can resist a chocolate fountain? But before you go crazy on the sweets, first stack your plate with freshly shucked oysters, crab legs and lobsters before moving on to the Peranakan section. You can fix up your own rojak and kueh pie tee, cut through the tender babi pongteh and get your ayam buah keluak craving satisfied. Lime pre-scoops the precious buah keluak paste out of its shell and serves it on the side, allowing you to spend more time eating than scooping! End your meal on a (very) sweet note with their famous white chocolate green tea fountain (may change during festive occasions), local delights like durian pengat and yummy cake!
Avg Price: $80 per person
Photo by Burpple Candice Fox

Calling all seafood lovers! Plan your next buffet indulgence to Colony for an ocean-fresh buffet spread that would have you staggering home. From king crab legs to half shell scallops and poached prawns, the extravagant seafood selection just begs that you dig in without abandon. The rest of the spread too is equally worthy of its hefty price tag ($188 per person, inclusive of unlimited Moët & Chandon champagne, selected cocktails, housepours, draft beers and soft drinks). Expect refined dishes that are full on flavour — think laksa with a lobster ball, foie gras, herb-crusted roasted pork belly, Peking duck, burrata and lobster rolls. There are several live stations to check out and plenty to eat, and the sun-filled environs gift a cheery, relaxed vibe to the whole affair. Bring your sweetheart or your best friend, whoever can make their money worth best.
Avg Price: $190 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Jason Wong

Two Chefs is well known for their 三捞河粉 and 牛油排骨. For 10 adults, we had the big portions of the former 2 dishes, 咸蛋鸡肉, 芙蓉蛋, 3-egg spinach, chili lala, sweet potato leaves with sambal, cereal squid and golden mushroom beancurd. I felt cheated by the cereal squid - it was deep fried with flour then stir fried with cereal. Basically you could taste 2 very different layers. 😤 The golden mushroom beancurd was normal (even though it was said to be their signature homemade tofu), and the sweet potato leaves didn't taste fantastic (my mum's tastes better). Damage was $14 per pax.

Over the years, the teppanyaki at Keyaki has managed to remain a draw for me. I have had this chef cook my meal since I was half my present age. This goes back to when the restaurant sported a more traditional decor of dark wood and dim lighting. Watching him tonight as he flambéd the hell out of my steak and work his knives with ninja-like moves (he keeps them sheathed on his low-slung leather belt like the coolest cowboy ever) is proof that swag does not age.
Although prices have climbed steadily over the years, I consider the teppanyaki set meals here to be pretty good value. And more often than not, I opt for the one named "Tsuta" ($150++) because you get a whole lobster, a piece of U.S. steak. and the most fragrant garlic fried rice. Of course there're the usual items to complete the set: small salad, appetiser, miso soup (they do a nice one with mushrooms) and a dessert (I got a scoop of lime sorbet tonight).
Apart from teppanyaki, Keyaki also has sushi, sashimi, tempura, grilled items etc.

Family dinner be like.
Cheap and quick. But honestly I think they lost their cooking skills. The dishes came out seriously lacking. VERY DISAPPOINTED.
I mean how can you serve overcooked veggies, I'm seriously not sure. The egg is not zichar standard, it's more like Denise-can't-cook-an egg-standard. That baby squid is at best, of okay standard. And the Chili crab is appalling sweet.
The only take back, is probably that Crab Bee Hoon, with its mean peppery gravy, that soaked up well by the beehoon. Oh and the crab we're all filled to the brim with crab roe, that seriously make the dish even better.
Thank god for that last saving dish, but to come back again? I don't think so.