Katong Kitchen

Katong Kitchen
25 Marine Parade Road
#04 Village Katong Hotel

https://www.facebook.com/KatongKitchen


Decent Mid-Range Halal Buffet

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $48 per person.

Located within Village Katong Hotel, Katong Kitchen is the in-house dining restaurant that caters mainly to hotel guests. Offering an international buffet selection for breakfast, lunch, and dinner timings, Katong Kitchen is a decent, mid-range halal buffet option. Their speciality is Peranakan cuisine, as befits the theme of the hotel.

Ambience at Katong Kitchen is patterned after the hotel's Peranakan theme. Largely open and communal in concept, the small dining area is tightly packed, with solid, modern furniture. The buffet spread surrounds the entire main area, making it easy to walk around and see all the appetizing options. I like that you don't get the smell of cooking / cleaning. However, I find the annex alcove seating to be rather odd, located in the corridor before the conference rooms and along the pathway to the swimming pool.

Service at Katong Kitchen is very good. Staff are welcoming and friendly, efficient in seating you, as well as in cleaing away dirty or empty plates. I like that the staff here are professional and knowledgable as well, able to interact well with guests. We ordered a cake for takeaway, but the staff politely informed us that the cake we chose is best eaten on the spot... Impressive service! Katong Kitchen staff also went out of their way to accomodate several requests we had, and overall, we were so impressed that several of my colleagues have returned because of the service.

Food at Katong Kitchen is buffet style at the main meal timings, with an International selection. There is a small Japanese, seafood, and Western selection of food, but the main highlight at Katong Kitchen is their Peranakan options, as well as the wide variety of Asian desserts. Prices are comparable to other buffets, budget about SGD $48 ++ per person. Furthermore, as Katong Kitchen is Halal certified, they're a good option for a buffet when dining with Muslim friends. Regulars, and customers of other Far East establishments, can get significant discounts, which makes this even more worthwhile!





The decor is distinctly Peranakan, in line with the overall theme, concept, and history of Village Katong Hotel.

Katong Kitchen Exterior

Katong Kitchen Interior

Katong Kitchen Seating

Love the presentation of the Sambal Belacan in a stone mortar and pestle bowl. It's homemade, and the taste is pretty good, savoury and sharp with a solid spicy kick.

Sambal Belacan

The Mee Goreng stood out for me, for its savoury, spicy taste, fragrant aroma, and generous portion of ingredients.

Mee Goreng

The Mutton Rendang is unique, and possibly among the best dishes I tried here! Instead of the typical Malay style Mutton Rendang, the chef has prepared this in Perankan style, with the use of curry leaves. This results in a slightly sweeter, more aromatic dish, you taste the savoury aspect first, followed by the spices. Excellent!

Mutton Rendang

You can Create Your Own Rojak here, guided by the instructions available at the counter. I find the sauce to be pretty good, properly thick and richly flavoured.

Create Your Own Rojak

There is a small but fresh selection of seafood, but the real star is the various Asian dipping sauces they provide to go along with the seafood. I particularly like their spicy seafood chili dip!

Scallops On Ice

The Rotisserie section has several cuts of meat available. Of this, the stand out meats were the Roast Beef, thick but tender and moist, a nice medim rare with a slight hint of pepper taste. The Chicken Chop was very good as well, marinated in Asian spices, and fragrant with the aroma of curry, though a little thin in size.

Roast Beef & Rack Of Lamb

Grilled Chicken Chop & Lamb Chop

The display of Assorted Peranakan Kueh is so pretty! And quite decent as well, I especially liked the Kueh Lapis Legit / Spekkoek, the Onde-Onde, the Kueh Ko Swee, and the Kueh Salat.

Kueh Lapis Legit / Spekkoek

Assorted Peranakan Kueh

The Bread & Butter Pudding was a pleasant surprise. Much lighter in texture than expected, the bread is soft and fluffy, and the addition of strawberry jam between the layers of bread lent a sweet, fruity taste.

Bread & Butter Pudding

The Durian Pengat was very good, with a greater ratio of the fruit to cream, making it smooth yet chunky. Pity they only serve it in small shot glasses, we had to get several to satisfy the craving!

Durian Pengat

Celebrated a collegue's birthday here, and we ordered the Chocolate Fudge Cake. Above average, the cake was moist with rich chocolate taste, and the fudge was properly thick and sweet. The strawberries were fresh, but several of my colleagues thought the macarons were overly sweet.

Chocolate Fudge Cake