It’s been a while since I blogged but it’s only been an hour since I ate. I’ve been eating and searching for good food in Singapore in my non-stop quest to hunt down the best burger joint, best pizzeria, best cake, best American brunch, best Japanese restaurant… Obviously when one tries to find the best of everything, especially when it comes to food where there is a limit to the number of calories a person can ingest (or can afford to buy), then the search is often futile. Or it might take a while. But wait. I think I might have chanced upon something I had absolutely no intention of looking for.
At the recommendation of a foodie friend, I proposed Basilico as the venue for a birthday lunch for my brother a few weeks ago. Because the birthday boy wasn’t available on Sunday, we settled for the Saturday lunch buffet.
This visit, I think, marks my first buffet meal in Singapore in years. I had never been a fan of eat-all-you-cans because there was not once in my younger years when I found a buffet spread to be delicious. The last time I recall going to a buffet was about 10 years ago when I was a juvenile secondary school boy. That visit was to The Line and I remember being clad in my white school uniform during dinner with my parents. Although I probably couldn’t quite appreciate good food then, I’m certain I could tell awesome from good, and good from average, and so on. 10 years on, I remember the dining experience as rather elegant because there was no crowd on a weekday and the hotel was nice. My memory leaves no trace of the food.
The trip to Basilico, however, has made me a buffet convert. Well, somewhat. I mean, I was honestly impressed with the overall quality of the spread. The cold seafood was sweetly fresh, the hams were nicely cured (although the variety was tiny), the pastas were delicious and the leg of lamb was very well-roasted. And guess what? Even the Chinese selection offered more than a handful of choices and the fried sea bass was surprisingly well done.
But, as it is with every wonderful meal because according to Thomas Keller there is no such standard as perfect when it comes to food, there was one letdown – the pizza station! I was really disappointed that there were only the Margherita and Vegetarian flavours. My brothers’ poor reviews of the former told me to leave space for other yummy looking objects. No, I was not about to try a vegetarian pizza for the first time in my life.
By the time I was done with the mains, I had to pack in stomach to finish off with dessert and cheese. Both were excellent considering this was a reasonably-priced buffet. I downed a single espresso along with cookies (of course) to stave off food coma. Looking at my watch, I found that two whole hours had passed me by unknowingly. I’ve sat down for four-hour long meals, but never a two hour buffet without feeling restless or disgusted. This was definitely something.
My only regret was not trying the Sunday brunch which, according to the telephone receptionist, comes with freshly pan-fried foie gras and roasted wagyu for just a few dollars more. I cannot believe it – I think I just had the best buffet in town!
