Crossroads Cafe, Marriot Hotel
I've never really been a fan of buffets, because you pay for variety and not quality. A good buffet is one that serves dishes that are individually yummy, hits without any misses, and that is difficult to achieve. Crossroads Cafe is falls into the unfortunate category of a run-of-the-mill buffet restaurant, with little hits and many misses.
While the indoor, air-conditioned area is tailored for diners having the buffet, the outdoor, perfect-for-people-watching area is reserved for diners ordering from the ala carte menu. I've always thought of this place to be an infamous pick-up joint for SPGs and fat, balding foreigners who can't tell the difference between a Malay girl and Chinese chick.
CC and I, with CC's brother, had a client dinner here one night. These clients are one of the sweetest and most appreciative of our work. It's clients like these that make the long hours and hard work feel worth it. Whilst the food was quite lackluster, the company was great.
We'll start off with the "okay" dishes. The desserts generally fared better than the mains and starters. I liked the Chocolate Mousse. Dark, semi-sweet and fluffy.
Another Chocolate Mousse, with a hint of cocoa.
Yet another Chocolate Mousse, with a tart raspberry.
Vanilla sponge cake
Strawberry Sponge Cake
Chocolate Log Cake
Raspberry Sponge Cake
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Chocolate-Vanilla Custard
Chocolate Custard
Mango Custard
Fruit Cake, dense and rich
Fresh Fruits, the watermelons and pineapples are obviously favourites
Of the mains, I only liked a few items, like the Baked Potatoes, which are quite idiot-proof
The Turkey was also not bad, it was flavoursome and moist.
The accompanying sauces and stuffing
The only starter I liked was the Parma Ham, but not the salami. Gorgeous silky ribbons of salty pleasure.
Onto the items I was ambivalent about, like the Smoked Salmon
The Chili Mussels
Chilled Seafood
Accompanying dips and lemon wedges
Medley of Cold Dishes
The trio of salads, Jellyfish Salad, Mesclun Salad and Potato Salad
The Red Curry with Duck, duck was a little gamey but curry was not bad, spicy and rich.
The Red Snapper with Chili was not as fresh as I'd like. Even the chili couldn't mask the slight fishy taste.
The Zucchini was nice, but the gravylax, with dill, didn't quite go with the zucchini.
The Dory Fish with Tomato was only so-so.
The Roast Beef was very beefy, something The Professor would probably like.
The not-great stuff, like the Roasted Lamb Chops, too gamey.
The Roasted Chinese Meats were too dry.
The Drunken Herbal Prawns were a little powdery in texture, a sign it wasn't fresh.
Crossroads Cafe
Marriot Hotel
320 Orchard Road
Tel: 6831 4605
Open Thursdays to Saturdays and eve of Public Holidays from 7am to 3am
Sundays to Wednesdays and Public Holidays from 7am to 1am
While the indoor, air-conditioned area is tailored for diners having the buffet, the outdoor, perfect-for-people-watching area is reserved for diners ordering from the ala carte menu. I've always thought of this place to be an infamous pick-up joint for SPGs and fat, balding foreigners who can't tell the difference between a Malay girl and Chinese chick.
CC and I, with CC's brother, had a client dinner here one night. These clients are one of the sweetest and most appreciative of our work. It's clients like these that make the long hours and hard work feel worth it. Whilst the food was quite lackluster, the company was great.
We'll start off with the "okay" dishes. The desserts generally fared better than the mains and starters. I liked the Chocolate Mousse. Dark, semi-sweet and fluffy.
Another Chocolate Mousse, with a hint of cocoa.
Yet another Chocolate Mousse, with a tart raspberry.
Vanilla sponge cake
Strawberry Sponge Cake
Chocolate Log Cake
Raspberry Sponge Cake
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Chocolate-Vanilla Custard
Chocolate Custard
Mango Custard
Fruit Cake, dense and rich
Fresh Fruits, the watermelons and pineapples are obviously favourites
Of the mains, I only liked a few items, like the Baked Potatoes, which are quite idiot-proof
The Turkey was also not bad, it was flavoursome and moist.
The accompanying sauces and stuffing
The only starter I liked was the Parma Ham, but not the salami. Gorgeous silky ribbons of salty pleasure.
Onto the items I was ambivalent about, like the Smoked Salmon
The Chili Mussels
Chilled Seafood
Accompanying dips and lemon wedges
Medley of Cold Dishes
The trio of salads, Jellyfish Salad, Mesclun Salad and Potato Salad
The Red Curry with Duck, duck was a little gamey but curry was not bad, spicy and rich.
The Red Snapper with Chili was not as fresh as I'd like. Even the chili couldn't mask the slight fishy taste.
The Zucchini was nice, but the gravylax, with dill, didn't quite go with the zucchini.
The Dory Fish with Tomato was only so-so.
The Roast Beef was very beefy, something The Professor would probably like.
The not-great stuff, like the Roasted Lamb Chops, too gamey.
The Roasted Chinese Meats were too dry.
The Drunken Herbal Prawns were a little powdery in texture, a sign it wasn't fresh.
Crossroads Cafe
Marriot Hotel
320 Orchard Road
Tel: 6831 4605
Open Thursdays to Saturdays and eve of Public Holidays from 7am to 3am
Sundays to Wednesdays and Public Holidays from 7am to 1am
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