The Square Restaurant Novotel Tasting Session
177A River Valley Road
#07-00 Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore Hotel
Opening Hours:
Daily: 6am - 10:30am (breakfast),
12pm - 2:30pm (lunch),
6pm - 10pm (dinner)
http://www.novotelclarkequay.com/dining_viewItem_41-en.html
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from HungryGoWhere, The Arctic Star, Vivienneeluv, and Thoughts On Air.
Wonderful Indonesia Food Festival 2015
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 7
Budget about SGD $64 ++ per person.
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The Square Restaurant Novotel is the hotel restaurant of the Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore Hotel, located within its premises, and where the majority of meals for its guests are prepared. From 21 October to 14 November 2015, The Square Restaurant Novotel will be holding the "Wonderful Indonesia Food Festival 2015", an exclusive Indonesian buffet dining concept featuring 30 iconic Indonesian dishes curated by celebrity Chef Vindex Tengker.
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| Chef Vindex Tengker Valentino Making Satay |
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| Beads Of Crystal Light |
Ambience at The Square Restaurant Novotel is modern and sophisticated. The spacious seating area is divided into sections, depending on how much privacy you want, and features comfortable, modern cushioned furniture. There is an option of window seating, or private dining, and you can even choose to sit near the buffet area, or the performers stage. Regardless, overall atmosphere is pretty good, suitable and comfortable enough whether you're going for a quick bite, or a lingering meal.
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| The Square Restaurant Novotel Seating |
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| The Square Restaurant Novotel Seating |
Service at The Square Restaurant Novotel is professional, befitting the hotel's 4-star status. Staff greet you with a welcoming smile at the entrance, and guests are seated quickly. The chefs around the buffet counter can provide detailed explanations on the dishes available, but not all the serving staff are able to do so. However, they are efficient, especially at clearing away empty / dirty plates, always helpful in a buffet when you take plate after plate of food! However, the large floor space also means you'll have to wait a short while till staff come by the check on your table.
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| The Square Restaurant Novotel Prices |
Food at The Square Restaurant Novotel is usually an International buffet, featuring fresh seafood, rotisserie meats, and a variety of cuisines including American, British, Chinese, Malay, Japanese, and Singaporean. Generally, food here is of a decent, passable standard in taste. Prices are reflective of a high-end hotel buffet, budget about SGD $64 per person for a meal here. They do offer ala-carte as well, though getting this isn't worthwhile, unless you're actually staying here. The Square Restaurant Novotel has their own in-house specialised pastry chef, thus, their bread and desserts are usually good!
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| Salad Bar |
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| Dessert Counter |
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| Fresh Seafood |
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| Fruit Basket |
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| Fruit Platter |
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| Caesar Salad |
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| Whole Red Snapper In Spicy Sambal |
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| Selection Of Traditional Kueh |
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| Selection Of Jelly |
For the "Wonderful Indonesia Food Festival 2015", The Square Restaurant Novotel is showcasing Indonesian culture, in partnership with the Tourism Board of Indonesia. This includes ethnic performances every weekend, showcasing traditional music and dance of Indonesia. Entertaining, albeit noisy!
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| Indonesian Puppets |
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| Gamelan |
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| Indonesian Musicians |
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| Indonesian Dancers |
Headlining the event is Chef Vindex Tengker Valentino, a reowned Indonesian celebrity chef, who will be showcasing 30 iconic Indonesian dishes, curated from various regions of Indonesia. These will be rotated daily, so there's something new everyday! For the launch on 21 October 2015, Chef Vindex Tengker Valentino held a masterclass, demonstrating 2 dishes close to his heart, and regaling us with tales of his culture!
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| Chef Vindex Tengker Valentino |
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| Sambal Belacan |
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| Display Of Spices |
The Kambing Panggang Bumbu Rujak Jogjakarta / Yogyakarta Marinated Lamb Salad was soaked beforehand in a tamarind water brine, then coated in a mild spice mixture and grilled to perfection. Taste is savoury, with a hint of the smoky aroma, and the mild flavour of the spice, then you get the natural flavour of the lamb. Excellent!
The Sate Lilit Bali / Balinese Wrapped Fish Satay was chef's 1st dish he ever learnt when he started working in the restaurants of Bali, Indonesia. He demonstrated how he prepared the fish paste mixture flavoured with mild spices, and the techniques of wrapping it around a stalk of lemongrass, before grilling it. Savoury and slightly sweet with the fragrant floral aroma from the lemongrass, this fish paste satay was incredibly tasty. Very good!
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| Chef Vindex Tengker Valentino Specialities |
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| Kambing Panggang Bumbu Rujak Jogjakarta / Yogyakarta Marinated Lamb Salad |
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| Sate Lilit Bali / Balinese Wrapped Fish Satay |
The Ikan Masak Woku / Smoked Stingray In Turmeric Herb Sauce features lovely slices of stingray, sourced fresh because it doesn't have that fishy taste. The sauce is a winner for me, mild spices and herbs in the thin, yellow gray pair well with the savoury smoky taste of the grilled stingray. The gravy alone is also pretty good with rice!
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| Ikan Masak Woku / Smoked Stingray In Turmeric Herb Sauce |
This dry rendition of Padang Beef Rendang features a punchy, savoury, spicy mix of spices, thick and rich with flavour. The spice paste sticks well to the chunks of beef meat, and the texture lies just under tender, requiring slight effort to cut through. Not the best I've had, but it's still pretty good.
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| Padang Beef Rendang |
I like the clean tasting flavours of the Orak Arik Buncis Solo / Sauteed Green Beans With Seafood, with the crunchy green beans being particularly satisfiying. The seafood (fish cakes and prawns) are meaty, and decent additions, but do little to add to the overall flavour, being more sidekicks in this dish.
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| Orak Arik Buncis Solo / Sauteed Green Beans With Seafood |
The Asinan Sayur Jakarta / Jakarta Pickled Vegetable Salad was possibly the best savoury dish I had all evening. What surprised me was the incredibly soft, pillow-like chilled tofu, sweet and sour with the pickled gravy, paired with the crunchy vegetables and fruits (cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts, cabbage, pineapple). So good I went back for 3 rounds!
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| Asinan Sayur Jakarta / Jakarta Pickled Vegetable Salad |
The chicken meat on the Padang Gulai Ayam / Padang Chicken Curry was tender and cooked through, such that each chunk was still moist within, decent enough. But the real star of this dish was the punchy, savoury spicy curry gravy, which has a good kick of heat. I ended up taking just the gravy to pour over rice and other food!
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| Padang Gulai Ayam / Padang Chicken Curry |
The Kueh Pandan Kaya Lapis / Screwpine Leaf And Coconut Egg Jam Layer Cake has good flavour of the pandan / screwpine leaf, though the kaya / coconut egg jam flavour isn't as pronounced. The kueh / cake is nicely layered, with a semi-firm, sticky texture. Decent rendition.
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| Kueh Pandan Kaya Lapis / Screwpine Leaf And Coconut Egg Jam Layer Cake |
The Kueh Ketan Sri Kaya / Coconut Egg Jam And Glutinous Rice Layer Cake has a base of properly sticky glutinous rice, while the sweetness of the kaya / coconut egg ham is evident. The kueh / cake itself differs from the usual as they don't seem to have pandan / screwpine leaf infused flavour. But it's still nice!
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| Kueh Ketan Sri Kaya / Coconut Egg Jam And Glutinous Rice Layer Cake |
This Earl Grey Tea Cake was very good! Possibly the best dessert we had here! The cake is moist and soft, made in-house, and holding good chocolate and earl grey tea flavour. The tart, slightly sour raspberry gel strip on top helps cut through some of the overall sweetness, making the flavours more balanced. Excellent!
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| Earl Grey Tea Cake |
The Jackfruit Meringue Pudding was a pleasant surprise, tasting much better than it looks! The sweet floral taste of the jackfruit within is pronounced, and the texture of the creamy meringue is offset slightly by the grainy bits of fruit and crisp macarons. Excellent!
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| Jackfruit Meringue Pudding |
Overall, the rotating concept of the 30 iconic Indonesian dishes at the "Wonderful Indonesia Food Festival 2015" held in The Square Restaurant Novotel means diners are in of a treat every day with authentic, tasty food. Be sure to catch this culinary festival from 21 October to 14 November 2015, only at The Square Restaurant Novotel, I recommend visiting during dinner time on the weekends to enjoy the traditional Indonesia performances!
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 Reserve a table now @ The Square Restaurant Novotel |
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