Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant

Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant
50 East Coast Road
#03 Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel

http://www.feastateast.com.sg/

Traditional Peranakan Food That Lacks Authentic Flavour

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 6
Service: 9
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $33 per person.

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Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant is a heritage buffet that celebrates the best of traditional Peranakan cuisine by serving up a mouthwatering spread that changes daily amid old-school, traditional settings. Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant used to have a much wider selection of international food available, but they have since narrowed their focus to Peranakan cuisine with a smattering of fresh seafood. Personally, I think it's a good move, because there are much better buffets with an international offering, but few that specialise in Peranakan cuisine.

Ambience of Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant is styled after the interior of a Baba-Nonya house, with kebaya print placemats on the tables and Nonya clothing on the walls. A well-stocked display spice racks sits in the corner next to the open show kitchen. Staff wear traditional kebayas, with the more senior staff looking like matriarchs.

Service is excellent. Staff keep a constant watchful eye for empty plates and clear them quickly, which is always critical for a buffet. They also top up water without being asked. Buffet trays are kept filled with food, when the trays are about four-fifths empty, chefs remove them to the kitchen to replenish. Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant also has an ongoing credit card promotion, check with staff for details.

The cooked food at Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant revolves mainly around traditional Peranakan dishes. There is a good variety of cooked food available for the buffet. However, the fast-paced demands of the buffet concept means the food uses a lot of mass-produced, commercialised ingredients and cooking methods, resulting in a lack of authentic taste. Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant also has a wide spread of traditional desserts, as well as bottles of traditional sweets and biscuits.

I would recommend Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant for those looking for a cheap buffet in Singapore, or for those who wish to sample a wide variety of traditional Peranakan food and desserts. However, those who wish to have a taste of authentic Peranakan cuisine may wish to give Feast @ East Buffet Restaurant a miss.

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The restaurant projects a traditional Peranakan vibe, with table settings and staff uniforms reflecting the theme.

Feast At East Buffet Restaurant Spice Rack

Feast At East Buffet Restaurant Table Setting

The Papaya Titik Pong Tahu Soup is a light soup / broth that features prawns, shrimp, fish and papaya as the main ingredients. However, this version is sadly missing on the seafood aspect, making the overall taste much lighter and less tasty. The Tomato Soup fortunately, tasted great, and isn't prepared solely from a can.

Papaya Titik Pong Tahu Soup

Tomato Soup

The cold starter salads typically consist of Achar, which is a mixture of pickled vegetables. There are 2 versions of Achar here, one version uses pickled carrots and cucumbers, while the other uses pineapples and cucumbers. Both are freshly pickled, and very good. The Bosomboh Squid Salad has fresh squid, with beansprouts and spinach. Also pretty good. However, the Tauhu Goreng was quite poorly done, with firm cold beancurd and limp vegetables. The Sambal Cucumber Salad while fresh, didn't have much flavour despite the shrimp paste... Could have been better if they used better quality shrimp paste.

Achar

Pineapple With Cucumber

Bosomboh Squid Salad

Tauhu Goreng

Sambal Cucumber Salad

I personally felt that the 3 best dishes here were the fragrant Nasi Ulam, the well braised Chap Chye, and the flavourful Sweet Potato Leaf And Sweet Potato with its addictive gravy.

Nasi Ulam

Chap Chye

Sweet Potato Leaf And Sweet Potato

The Tempura Tenggiri is a rather large slab of fish for a buffet spread, but its fresh and quite tasty. The Babi Ponteh has a rather strong, off-putting smell of pork. The Udang Lengkong is properly spicy, but the prawns weren't fresh. The Babi Buah Keluak was quite well done though, with fragrant, fall off the bone meat on the pork ribs.

Tempura Tenggiri

Babi Ponteh

Udang Lengkong

Babi Buah Keluak

I thought that the Laksa Nonya Style was pretty good.

Laksa Nonya Style

The Sago Pudding, Pulut Kaya, Steam Tapioca, and Kueh Koswee were the better desserts available.

Sago Pudding

Pulut Kaya

Steam Tapioca

Kueh Koswee

If possible, avoid the Ondeh Ondeh, Agar Agar, and Ang Ku Kueh as these totally lack the authentic Nonya taste, and are more commercialised in nature.