Sunday, 15 March 2015

The Kitchen Table – Food from The Heart Buffet



I have heard about the reputation of W Singapore through social media and other bloggers posting. So when there was for SPG member promotion (Starwood Preferred Guest) popped up on my FB page, there was no reason to delay our food adventure there. Food from The Heart Buffet 1 for 1* promo valid from Monday to Thursday dinner at $65++ per pax. Offer ends 31 March 2015.

The Drink Bar





Distance to W Singapore might be a turn-off for people who are not driving. Located at one end of Sentosa Cove, it take about a good 5 mins plus drive in from the Sentosa gantry. While driving towards the destination, we have to watch out for the multiple speed cameras. As I'm not familiar with the area, I drove like a turtle here, 40 km / hour. Meanwhile the Lamborghini and Ferrari who stays in the cove, zooming pass like nobody business. Gosh!!

The Fondue Station at the drink bar


As we enter from the carpark lift, the first sight that welcome us are the drink bar and fondue counter. It is bright, filled to the brim with variety of drinks, hard liquors and champagnes. With a 90 degree turn to our left, we met the reception and main area of the restaurant. For size, it has a capacity for less than 100 pax. The décor is open, playful and casual. The wooden furnitures are accompany with interesting looking cutlery, which can be challenging to use at times. In the centre of The Kitchen Table, they have an open kitchen concept, where you can see the Chefs at work preparing the hot dishes.

Reception

The Open Kitchen - Hot Food Station

We started from the cold seafood section. It has Salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi, snails, mussels and prawns. All the seafood are fresh, however we do wish for more selections, like oysters, more varieties of sashimi and crustaceans.

Cold Seafood Selection - Tuna Sashimi, Salmon Sashimi, Snail,
Mussels and Prawns

Next stop, salad and cold cuts. The first thing that capture my eyes are the Foie Gras Terrine. Always on my die die must eat list. It is smooth, velvety, creamy and absent of any pungent flavours. Have a look at their salad, served in a jar. Fresh and good complete with the unique presentation. There are some colourful sushi available, but unfortunately the sushi rice was too soft and was pretty mashed up.

Part Salads & Cold Cuts: Foie Gras Terrine, Smoked Salmon
Salads in a Jar and Sushi

The presentation for the hot cooked food is very classy. All dishes are presented in Le Creuset cast iron pot. The beef pot pie and cheese tart caught my attention. The cheese tart is creamy and pack with cheese flavour, however the beef pot pie missing a good pie crust. The filo pastry on top difficult to cut and sink inside the mince beef. There was an oven baked salmon at the start of the cooked food, but I give it a miss as looks dry.

Beef Pot Pie, Cheese Tart & Oven Baked Salmon

The kitchen came out with one impromptu dish, bbq prawn and chicken. It is actually quite delicious as the prawn was well grilled, deshelled and have a nice smokey flavour. The chicken is tender and well marinated.

bbq prawn and chicken

I ordered a pasta dish, however ribbon pasta was not al-dente, in fact it is overcooked and the tomato sauce can be better with more herbs.


Mussels Rainbow Pasta - Tomato Base
For the Chinese live station, the herbal prawn soup is a must try. The soup is revitalising to complement the fresh prawns. My other pick is the Pork Ball noodle soup, where the texture of the pork balls are similar to the one that we had in Taiwan. Give the steamed fish and glutinous rice a miss. Not worth your tummy space.


Pork Ball Noodle Soup

Herbal Prawn
One area that I almost skip was the Indian station. Although the three types of papadam are so inviting, lots of pickles and chutneys, I feel like they are missing the meat proteins. They have a tandoori fish, which was thick and juicy. However, they run out of prawns. Still I find, it will be better to have tandoori chicken in the line up as well.

Clockwise from Top Left" Chutneys and Pickles, Papadams
Tandoori Fish & CBK Mix and Match

Finally, Desserts!!. The brownie with chocolate fondue, berries jelly and de-constructed cheese cake got our approval. The brownie is just made for chocolate lovers. It is crunchy yet soft. The berries jelly provide the refreshing acidity to end the meal, while the cheesecake was just yum.

Part of Desserts Station

The Famous Brownie, dip in Chocolate Fondue with M&Ms

The apple crumble with vanilla sauce and Blueberry Clafoutis. The crumble was rough and dried, missing the moisture from the apple. I think the portion between the crumble and the fillings need to be adjusted. While he blueberry clafoutis was just to sour for my liking. I also notice there was no ice cream!! HUH, Yup No Ice Cream!!

Desserts Selections. At the bottom:
Apple Crumble and Blueberry Clafoutis

Service was between average and good. At the beginning, the service was fast and attentive. However when it got busy, they have problem coping. Our friends arrived around 8.15 and it took them a while to provide the warm water upon ordering. There was a miscommunication when we settle the bill as well. Although I already given them my SPG number when making the reservation, I need to produce it again before payment.

CBK Creative Creation
Mussel with Foie Gras Terrine

Overall, the dining experience at W Singapore was below expectations. In their media promotion, they promoted the six live cooking stations, we found it was under utilised, and the food from the live cooking stations were really below expectations. It will be good if they can have more variety on the Seafood, Beef or Lamb. I realised that the restaurant are not normally full during weekday, so to maintain the freshness of the dish, The Kitchen Table can put more items on the grill so the customer can order it to be cooked ala minute, instead of just pasta. Hope it will not be the standard for W hotel worldwide, and not sure if we will return to W Hotel Singapore for more. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 7/10
Value: 5/10 (if without promo)
Service: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Budget per Person: $51 - $80; $81 and Above

The Kitchen Table
21 Ocean Way
W Singapore
Singapore 098374

T: +65 6808 7288
OH:
Mon – Fri: 06.00 – 23.00
Sat & Sun: 06.00 – Midnight

Please refer to the website for any details for events, promotions and special occasions. 


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