With Valentine’s Day cum Chinese New Year round the corner, I can imagine lots of Singaporeans scrambling around for the most suitable restaurants for a celebration. Look no further than The Square at Novotel Hotel Clarke Quay. In conjunction with the 2 upcoming seasons, The Square has a special, new concept buffet spread titled “Are You Hot Enough?“. New dishes cooked with none other than spices, spices and more spices are the main highlights. For just $98++ per couple on Valentine’s Day, this is the one place to consider. A few bloggers and I had their luxurious spread for buffet dinner that evening.
One of my favorite counters there was the salad counter. This surprised me a lot as I wasn’t a salad or cold cuts type of foodie. What made them interesting was the good use of spices which made them unlike the usual, plain old ones. The beef salad and chicken salad were memorable. Next to them was a huge parma ham which had me drooling.
Cold cuts/Mini tapas counter
Seafood lovers will be happy to find that their quality of seafood is rather high. Right at the front of the buffet line is the tantalizing fresh seafood counter of prawns, clams, oysters, mussels and salmon. Further on there are black pepper mussels and prawns with mayonnaise sauce which are worth the try as well.
The cod fish with laksa and baby kailan served to our table was a good rendition of cod. The laksa was not spicy but brought upon a rather light feel on the cod fish which I thought was the right taste for me.
At the end of the buffet line for the main dishes were three dishes with three levels of spiciness tagged on their lids. They are the spicy pork (one level), fish with cream sauce (two levels) and chicken with brown sauce (three levels). I wasn’t too sure if I could handle that much of spiciness initially but after trying them, they were really not that spicy. There wasn’t a distinct difference in their level of spiciness too. Still, the dishes were enjoyable.
Another one of my favorite counters would be their risotto corner. There is a “grinder” sort of cookware in which they mix the risotto with parmesan cheese. We tried both renditions of risotto they offered that day: the normal risotto with cheese (left) and risotto with laksa mix.(right) Both were good risottos which can sink well into your tastebuds but I preferred the risotto with cheese for its more authentic taste.
The meats were also worth a mention. Their roast pork, roast beef and ham were juicy enough for the thumbs up. Other than that, expect to find dim sum, laksa, fried rice, noodles, sushi, breads, cheese and more.
Moving on to the desserts, some of them are infused with spices as well: Fruit spicy syrup (fruits sunk in chocolate syrup with spices) and chili chocolate mousse (chocolate mousse with ground red chili) are the main ones. A while after tasting them came the sharp spicy taste so be careful not to gobble them too quickly. Interesting creations though.
And of course, everyone loves chocolate fondue!
There was a spread of desserts which are pretty normal so I won’t elaborate much. From L-R top to bottom: Fruit spicy syrup, carrot cake (infused with spices as well), strawberry butter cake, assortment of glass shooters, orange tarts, green tea cheese cake.
I guess the bloggers and I should have this pretty same verdict about The Square at Novotel. With dinner buffets at other hotels costing at least $50 and over, it’s really hard to find somewhere more affordable with a decent spread these days. I’ve found the answer and The Square at Novotel is the answer. It scores high for variety and quality. For it’s price, the buffet would be absolutely value for money and worth it.
Thank you John and Jean-Philippe for the kind invitation and warm hospitality.
177A River Valley Road
Novotel Clarke Quay (Level 7)
0600 – 1030 Buffet breakfast
1200 – 1430 Buffet lunch
1800 – 2200 Buffet dinner
Are you HOT enough buffet (only for dinner):
$58++ per pax for adults on Fridays & Saturdays
$48++ per pax for adults from Sundays – Thursdays
$38++ per pax for child on Fridays & Saturdays
$30++ per pax for child from Sundays – Thursdays
$98++ per couple on Valentine’s Day
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 