Melt The World Cafe

April 25, 2011

No stayover at the Mandarin Oriental would be complete without having breakfast at their award-winning buffet restaurant, Melt The World Cafe ($48+). To be perfectly honest, all I really wanted was my scrambled eggs and bacon. But at Melt, we got more than just eggs and bacon. We liked most items, though, admittedly, it really wasn't that difficult to like classic breakfast fare like breads, cereal, sausages, eggs and bacon. So, unless I've commented that the food wasn't up to par, you can assume that it was good. Or at the very least, ordinary. The fare was extensive, but not the most comprehensive I've seen. Still, the breakfast was one of the better ones around, in terms of quality and variety.

We started off with the Cold Cuts and Cheeses section.

My fave cold cut was of course the Parma Ham, with its silky smooth ribbon-ish texture and mild salty flavour.

The Fiance's fave was the Honey Baked Ham

Beef Salami

Chicken and Mushroom Ham

Smoked Ham

Turkey Ham

Salami

Cheese Table with Grapes

Breadsticks and Table Wafers to complement the cheeses

Soba Noodles and various accompaniments

Various salads, Pasta Salad, Beetroot Salad and Kimchi (non-spicy and spicy)

A Mix-Your-Own-Salad Station

Tomato Salad and Carrot & Raisin Salad

'The Healthy Breakfast Corner, consisting a couple of salads, grapefruit, a few cheeses

The Homemade Healthy Bakeries Section, with low sugar breakfast muffins and banana bread, gluten free herb, tomato and white breads, and trans-fat free breads.

Homemade Muesli, with organic rolled oats, dried blue berries, almonds, pumpkin seeds, golden raisins, dried apricots, pistachios, dried figs and walnuts.

Assorted Pre-Made Bircher Muesli and Strawberry and Apricot Yoghurt. I liked that they were in tiny portions and covered with a plastic lid for hygiene purposes.

Vegetarian Lassi using green capsicum, bitter gourd, green apple, celery and cucumber, Skim Milk and Blueberry Oatmeal

Mix-Your-Own-Yoghurt, with freshly diced dragonfruit, papayas, watermelon, jackfruit and pears.

Assorted Cereal, Honey Stars, Cornflakes, Oats, Koko Krunch

Smoked Seafood Station with Smoked Mackerel, Smoked Salmon, and cream cheese and pickles for accompaniment.

Chilled Seafood, Poached Prawns with Lemons

Indian Food Station

Chick Pea Curry

Curried Potatoes

Lentil Curry

Crispy Prata

Deep Fried Flatbread (puri)

Pancakes (thosai)

Upama, a South Indian snack of curried cream of rice

Condiments

Indian dessert of Gulab Jamun, a deep fried flour ball dipped in syrup. This is strictly for the sweet-toothed.

The Chinese Food Section with Plain and Chicken Porridge

Fried Noodles and Fried Rice

Fried Dim Sum, Spring Rolls and Wantons

Noodle Station, where the noodle-of-the-day was Seafood Noodle Soup, and you get to pick your preferred noodles

The Japanese Area with Miso Soup and its various condiments

Grilled Chicken Teriyaki

The Omelette Station, where you get to pick what you want to stuff into your omelette. This is where you get your eggs sunny side up and scrambled eggs as well.