Lime Restaurant 2020

Lime Restaurant 2020
3 Upper Pickering Street
Level 1, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering

https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pr-pickering/dining/lime.html

Seafood Platter On Ice

Varied International Ala-Carte Buffet

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 7
Budget about SGD $68 ++ per person.


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Since opening in 2014, the PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering Hotel has gained international acclaim for its lush sky gardens, reflecting pools, eco-friendly design, and towering tiers of greenery. Their in-house restaurant, Lime Restaurant, hasn't been lagging behind either; offering diners a vibrant, comfortable atmosphere, and serving a wide variety of cuisines on both their buffet and ala-carte menus. I recall having a decent dining experience during my prior visit to Lime Restaurant, and now post-COVID, they've scaled back the range of dishes, sticking to tried-and-true favourites.

Ambience at Lime Restaurant is vibrant and welcoming. The spacious, open concept dining area is modern, comfortable, stylish, and welcoming, and the floor to ceiling windows offer a fantastic view of the busy streets. Lush greenery abounds, and spaces are thoughtfully carved out, while eco-friendly and environmental design elements adorn the place. At night, the low warm lighting lends an intimate feel. Due safe distancing and hygiene measures, diners are supposed to remain seated throughout the meal, and we aren't allowed to wander around near the open kitchens.

Service at Lime Restaurant is pretty good, with staff greeting you upon entry, and walking you over to seat you. I also like that staff are very quick and efficient at clearing away empty / dirty plates, which is important in a buffet. They do upkeep a professional image, as befitting the Pan Pacific group of hotels, and are knowledgeable on the buffet and ala-carte menus for the day. Staff now take orders via an order chit, and dishes are prepared and served with minimal waiting time. We were particularly impressed with Yus, the floor manager, who accorded each table personalised attention and engaged in upbeat conversation.

Food at Lime Restaurant is varied, and the ala-carte buffet includes Western influences from American, British, French, and Italian cuisines, as well as Asian influences from Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Malaysian, and Singaporean cuisines. The range of options has been scaled down, focusing only on popular favourites. Ingredients are fresh, and dishes are mostly well-executed, with decent taste. Buffet prices are comparable to other hotels, priced at SGD $68 ++ per person for dinner on a weekday. The ala-carte menu is available throughout the day as well.


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Lime Restaurant

Lime Restaurant Signage

Seating

Seating

Seating

Seating

Table Setting

Open Kitchen

Dinner: The ala-carte buffet dinner spans 6:30pm - 10:00pm daily, is priced at SGD $68++ per person, and is served at the main dining hall. You place orders via an order chit, and staff will serve the plates to your table.

Lime Restaurant Ala-Carte Buffet Menu Order Chit

The Japanese Sashimi Sankan Platter features an assortment of fresh sashimi / raw fish; including shake rosu / salmon fish loin, maguro akami / tuna fish loin, and tako / octopus. While these had clean-tasting, light sweet savoury flavour, the texture was alternating tender soft and stringy, due to inexperience in slicing the fish properly.

Japanese Sashimi Sankan Platter

Japanese Sashimi Sankan Platter

The Salted Egg Lava Tempura Hand Roll is a modern fusion snack, featuring a seaweed and vinegared sushi rice hand roll, filled with cucumber, pickled daikon radish, tempura pumpkin, and tempura golden mushroom, dressed with a salted egg sauce. Novel idea, the contrast of crisp juicy crunchy creamy textures is nice, but the clashing savoury salty sweet vegetal earthy flavours is not.

Salted Egg Lava Tempura Hand Roll

Salted Egg Lava Tempura Hand Roll

The French Nicoise Salad With Smoked Salmon Fish eschews olives and anchovies for a more Singaporean crowd-pleasing medley of string beans, cherry tomatoes, quail eggs, potatoes, red onions, and smoked salmon fish. This refreshing salad has a burst of bright vegetal eggy sweet flavour, tampered with the smoky salty savoury notes of the salmon fish, with good crunchy juicy tender textures.

French Nicoise Salad With Smoked Salmon Fish

French Nicoise Salad With Smoked Salmon Fish

Despite its looks, the Cream Of Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil was a little thin on texture, though the cream of mushroom soup has good earthy vegetal savoury sweet salty flavour, thanks in part to the use of truffle oil. Helps open the appetite, but also fills up the stomach fast.

Cream Of Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil

Cream Of Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil

The Seafood Platter On Ice was delightful with its range of fresh seafood. The white clams, blue mussels, and oysters were plump and juicy and slippery, with bright briny sweet salty flavour. The tiger prawns were large and succulent, yielding with a juicy bite to release the natural sweet savoury flavour. The pearl dog conch sea snails were crunchy slippery with decent sweet savoury salty flavour, though we noted a few held small grains of sand. Served with a wedge of lemon for dressing.

Seafood Platter On Ice

Seafood Platter On Ice

I went for a 2nd round on the Malaysian Herbal Bak Kut Teh Platter, though purists may disagree with my preference for this. The dark herbal sweet soup / broth has a medium strength, and the pork ribs are tender, sliding easily off the bone, though the bold meaty savoury flavour has a touch of gamey taste. The brown straw mushrooms and golden mushrooms are vegetal earthy sweet herbal in flavour, with a bouncy tender chew. Accompanied by soft soy braised peanuts with nutty salty savoury flavour, crunchy preserved mustard greens with vegetal salty sour flavour, and spongy dried tofu puffs with delicate grainy sweet savoury flavour. Yum.

Malaysian Herbal Bak Kut Teh Platter

Malaysian Herbal Bak Kut Teh Platter

The Indian Roti Jala With Chicken Curry features the thin stringy net-like crepe of wheat flour, eggs, and turmeric, with a grainy sweet flavour. It's pan-fried, paired with a rich curry chicken gravy with bold spice savoury flavour, and tender bone-in chicken chunks with a good bite to texture. The chicken has decently absorbed the flavour of the curry.

Indian Roti Jala With Chicken Curry

Indian Roti Jala With Chicken Curry

Indian Roti Jala With Chicken Curry

The Singaporean Chili Crab With Fried Dough Fritter Stick has a chunk of crab, with bright sweet savoury briny flavour, coated in a thick rich chili gravy, which imparts bold spice sweet savoury flavour. Completed with a crisp fried dough fritter stick, which crunches satisfyingly with grainy savoury flavour.

Singaporean Chili Crab With Fried Dough Fritter Stick

Singaporean Chili Crab With Fried Dough Fritter Stick

Felt rather conflicted about the underwhelming quality of the Singaporean Local Delights Platter. The chicken satay was skimpy on chicken meat, with a rather dry texture. The kueh pie tie was limp, though the earthy vegetal salty savoury flavour was decent. The marinated eel popiah had a unique but forgettable profile.

Singaporean Local Delights Platter

Singaporean Local Delights Platter

The Salt And Pepper Oysters were pretty good. It's coated in a thin crisp batter which crunches lightly to reveal the juicy sweet savoury salty oyster within. Garnishes of crispy bacon completes this with salty savoury meaty flavour.

Salt And Pepper Oyster

Salt And Pepper Oyster

Loved the Shanghainese Scallion Noodles, with the thin silky chewy wheat noodles, garnished with tender minced pork, a soft soy braised egg, wispy tofu beancurd skin, crisp dried seaweed, and fresh spring onions. This has deep meaty salty savoury grainy sweet eggy flavour, so good. Went for a 2nd round!

Shanghainese Scallion Noodles

Shanghainese Scallion Noodles

Shanghainese Scallion Noodles

The Singaporean Lobster Laksa has a medium sized, halved lobster piece that was fresh and sweet with bouncy succulent lobster meat. The rich laksa gravy is properly spicy savoury with a hint of herbal flavour. Completed with slippery rice noodles, tender fish cake, and spongy dried tofu puffs. Yum.

Singaporean Lobster Laksa

Singaporean Lobster Laksa

The British Caramelised Roasted Mini Angus Beef Sirloin Steak was served just under medium doneness, and was tender with good savoury salty flavour, thanks to the rich brown meat gravy. The accompanying mashed potato was creamy thick with mild starchy sweet flavour, and the grilled vegetables (white onion, asparagus, carrot) were tender and juicy with smoky vegetal sweet earthy flavour. Would have preferred a slightly thicker cut of the beef sirloin steak, rather than several thin cuts though.

British Caramelised Roasted Mini Angus Beef Sirloin Steak

British Caramelised Roasted Mini Angus Beef Sirloin Steak

The Australian Lamb Chop features a good amount of fat to lamb meat, and fortunately, wasn't too gamey in taste. Still, I thought the lamb chops would have been better with mint gravy rather than brown meat gravy, partly for the better contrast in taste. This didn't quite appeal to me.

Australian Lamb Chop

Australian Lamb Chop

They were definitely trying to go for a European feel with the Roasted Idaho Potato With Gruyere Cheese, but it turned out more Asian in taste. I think this was partly because of the strong earthy vegetal savoury salty flavours from the diced shiitake mushroom gravy. The chunky potatoes were tender, but the mild starchy sweet flavour was overwhelmed. The thin gruyere cheese over the top does little to complement.

Roasted Idaho Potato With Gruyere Cheese

Roasted Idaho Potato With Gruyere Cheese

Loved the Italian Chocolate Souffle, which was fluffy soft and spongy in texture, so delicate. Break through to reveal the warm moist chocolate souffle within, which has deep earthy chocolatey sweet flavour. Rich and comforting, like a hug.

Italian Chocolate Souffle

Italian Chocolate Souffle

The American Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Crepe was pretty good. The thin crepe has a light grainy sweet flavour, complemented by the thick hazelnut chocolate with deep nutty chocolatey sweet flavour. The thick fresh banana slices were soft with fruity sweet starchy flavour. Pairs beautifully together.

American Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Crepe

American Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Crepe

The Chinese Dragon Beard Candy or Long Xu Tang was alright. The exterior rice flour candy was properly sticky and chewy, pulling off in long stringy strands, but I thought the firm interior of caramelised crushed peanuts was not sufficiently nutty sweet enough. It's a decent attempt though.

Chinese Dragon Beard Candy

Chinese Dragon Beard Candy

The Thai Coconut Kaffir Lime Ice Cream is refreshing with bright earthy floral sweet flavour from the infusion of coconut and kaffir lime leaves. The ice cream is smooth with a little icey texture, but is overall pleasing.

Thai Coconut Kaffir Lime Ice Cream

Thai Coconut Kaffir Lime Ice Cream

Skip the Assorted Berries Crepe, as the strawberries were sour, and instead of blueberries or raspberries, they included mango...

Assorted Berries Crepe

Assorted Berries Crepe

Thanks to the excellent service from restaurant manager Yus, we got a Customised Roti Jala With Hazelnut Chocolate Drizzle, who managed to convince several chefs to make this for us. He refers to this as 'fish net bread with nutella', and it's so tasty. Unusual combination, but it works well, with the stringy roti jala and the thick hazelnut chocolate combining in grainy nutty chocolatey sweet flavour.

Customised Roti Jala With Hazelnut Chocolate Drizzle

Customised Roti Jala With Hazelnut Chocolate Drizzle

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COLLECTION Club Lounge

Entrance

Shelves

Seating

Seating

Seating

Seating

Champagne Brunch

Champagne Brunch

Champagne Brunch

Breakfast: The ala-carte buffet breakfast spans 7am - 10:30am daily, is priced at SGD $80++ per person with free-flow champagne, and is served at the main dining hall, as well as the lounge. At the lounge, staff take orders tableside, then serve the plates to your table.

COLLECTION Club Lounge Ala-Carte Buffet Menu

COLLECTION Club Lounge Ala-Carte Buffet Menu

The Earl Grey Tea On Marble is so picture-perfect. The earl grey tea is rich with earthy floral notes, and is so calming.

Earl Grey Tea On Marble

Earl Grey Tea On Marble

Fairly decent Latte, with medium toasty coffee espresso flavour, and a medium strength of body.

Latte

The Champagne Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut is a long-established champagne brewed by the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin house in Reims, Marne department, Grand Est region of France. The company was founded in 1772 by textile merchant and banker Philippe Clicquot-Muiron, and named after his daughter-in-law 'Grand Dame' Madame Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, who was among the earliest businesswoman to manage an international company, and the 1st female champagne producer. It's credited for popularising champagne among the nobility of old Europe.

The Champagne Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut is made with a blend of 50% Pinot Noir red grapes, 30% Chardonnay white grapes, and 20% Pinot Meunier black grapes. It has a pale green colour with delicate bubbles, aromas of blackberry, green apple, toffee, and lemon zest. The body is well-knit, balanced, and lively, with tastes of butter biscuit, honey, white cherry, and toasted brioche bread. Has a pleasant fruity sweet flavour with a streak of minerality, and a long creamy finish.

Champagne Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut

Champagne Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut

The XO Fried Carrot Cake has large cubes of daikon radish cake tossed with eggs, scallions, spring onions, and preserved radish / chye poh / chai poh. With a soft bouncy texture, this has bright eggy sweet savoury salty flavour. Best paired with some chili.

XO Fried Carrot Cake

XO Fried Carrot Cake

A plate of assorted Dim Sum, featuring Har Gow & Siew Mai. The har gow / shrimp dumplings have a medium thin skin which is chewy, and bouncy juicy chunks of deshelled prawns / shrimp within, having bright sweet savoury flavour. The siew mai / pork dumplings have a tender juicy bite to the minced pork, with robust savoury sweet salty flavour. Served with some chili sauce on the side.

Dim Sum Har Gow & Siew Mai

Dim Sum Har Gow & Siew Mai

Dim Sum Har Gow & Siew Mai

I don't usually eat Oatmeal, especially at hotel buffets, so this didn't really appeal to me.

Oatmeal

Fairly straightforward Baked Beans, from a can. With a soft chew to texture, the baked beans have a bright vegetal sweet savoury flavour from the tomato gravy.

Baked Beans

The Potato Hashbrowns are best eaten quickly, when still warm. The hashbrowns are crisp and light, with the potato having good starchy salty sweet flavour.

Potato Hashbrowns

Potato Hashbrowns

Couldn't quite detect the use of herbs in the Herb Grilled Tomato, but the tomato remains juicy and bright. Has delicate smoky notes which complement the natural vegetal sweet flavour.

Herb Grilled Tomato

Herb Grilled Tomato

The Streaky Bacon is crispy, breaking easily with a light crunch. The pork bacon has good salty savoury fatty flavour, but can be rather dry or oily.

Streaky Bacon

Streaky Bacon

The Scrambled Eggs With Cream have a fluffy soft texture, and are so easy to eat. With bright eggy sweet savoury flavour, the scrambled eggs are good for pairing with most other ingredients.

Scrambled Eggs With Cream

Scrambled Eggs With Cream

Scrambled Eggs With Cream

Scrambled Eggs With Cream

The Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach is almost a complete meal on its own. With a soft fluffy texture to the egg omelette, it's filled with tender sauteed button mushrooms, soft wilted spinach, and tender slices of pork ham. With deep eggy vegetal salty savoury sweet flavour, this is certainly satisfying.

Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach

Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach

Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach

Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach

Egg Omelette With Mushrooms, Ham, Spinach

The Sunny Side Up Eggs are strightforward and well executed, with a soft bite to texture, and flowy golden egg yolks. Has bright eggy sweet savoury flavour.

Sunny Side Up Eggs

Sunny Side Up Eggs

The Chipolata Sausages were a little disappointing, with their unusual spongy texture, though they hold decent savoury salty flavour.

Chipolata Sausages

Chipolata Sausages

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