[CLOSED] MANLE (City Square Mall)

Teochew Porridge Buffet ($12.90)
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One of the few teochew porridge buffets and the wide selection of dishes here really tantalizes the tastebuds. Most of the items are of decent quality and I especially enjoy the roast chicken, chicken feet and steamed fish belly. Drinks and dessert are also included in the buffet so it is really a worthwhile indulgence!

Many may not know but within city square alone are 3 to 4 food establishments operated by astons and man le is one of them .

They have come a Long way - i know because in once surveyed their food and walked out deciding not to eat .

But a rare chance brought me back to this place and I must say - I was pretty impressed .

I won’t say that all the items are equally good but at least the fish cheeks was oh so fresh and the buffet line had steamed purple sweet potato which I thought was a nice touch .

The usual braised items like pork knuckles and pork bellies are also available and the best for me was actually the Chye Poh egg - I have a thing for fluffy Chye Poh egg .

The dishes are on rotation and for some reason, this was themed as a Teochew porridge buffet although I pretty much feel it looks and feels more like a Taiwan porridge buffet with sweet potato porridge and braised items. There are also stir fried vegetables / Chap Chye on rotation , Lala in sambal sauce , steamed mussels , a stir fried or steamed chicken dish , some daily special stir fried noodle dish ( mee goreng / fried noodles ) etc .

I like the nice touch of having a station for a daily soup / laksa / curry noodles specials and there’s a station of rotating meat specials - either roasted/ braised duck or chicken .

To end off - there’s no ice cream but there are some cut fruits and a good rotation of herbal tea / barley water / warm soupy kind of dessert .

I like that astons offer value for money buffets and am always ready to support a local start up .

Nice place for family gatherings where you can eat till you Bao Bao .... ....

Even if you are alone - this is also a good option for you because you can eat from such a good variety - and remember to crunch on some of their crisp ikan billies and crunch roasted peanuts at the condiments section - so addictive with the porridge you can go on and on ......

Their selection may not be as great as iSteamboat's, but they do decently well for what they offered. Kudos to the kitchen crew for constantly replenishing the various trays of food to ensure that the customers get to enjoy everything at any point in time.

The buffet comes with a cooked food section too & my kakis love the fish! Dessert selection was a little limited though. My only disappointment was the sliced beef, no matter how ‘fast’ I shabu shabu them, they were still tough & hard. Hmmm I would say this steamboat place is ok ok la, not really fantastic. Still a good try for Aston to brunch out its offering to capture a bigger customer base 😀

#burpple