An ESTATE Birthday

I've found myself having to be very strategic when going for hotel buffets these days.

It isn't because the food's (only) selectively good.

But because I'm not able to consume as many plates of sashimi and sushi and cheese as I once used to do.

There was a time when I'd begin the meal with soup (the creamy type), butter, and bread. 

These days however I tend to begin with either the seafood section or the sashimi section, either one. 

This evening I began with the seafood first. 

They're very generous with their portioning here. 

There's a whole mountain of freshly shucked oysters on ice, a whole mountain of mussels on ice, huge tiger prawns, scallops and, if I'm not wrong, clams. 

My companion has a special love for oysters, so that's what we took first. 

I'm a little more conservative- and I like variety so instead of filling up my plate fuil with oysters and wedges of lemon, I took a few oysters, a few of the scallops still in their shells, and chilled prawns. 

These pictures don't do the freshness of the seafood well. 

Maybe I'll get better pictures next time. 

But tonight I was hungry and I wanted to start eating, so I did.

With the prawns. 

Honestly I can't remember when it was I started taking prawns at buffets.

It's probably some time ago. 

I don't take a lot of them, however (they really can fill you up) but I like them with Thousand Island, or mayonnaise, and I can tell whether they're really cooked and chilled, or served leftover-style from the pot bottom of the prawn noodle soup. 

The tiger prawns here at ESTATE in Hilton Orchard are fresh, of course, and tonight I had them, and the scallops, with lemon and a huge dip of mayo.

Salmon belly sashimi from the sashimi counter was next on the menu, but before that I grabbed a couple of fruits to dunk into the iced water first. 

Gone are the days when I'd just drink my water plain, so watermelon and pineapple make excellent companions for fruit-infused water. 

The salmon belly was good. 

Never mind that you had to queue, and that the staff at the counter had her own sense of timing when it came to the belly.

You just needed to patiently wait.

In any case she'd recognize you, and you'd get your salmon belly pretty quick anyway. 

A favorite offering here in the ESTATE buffet menu is the Black Truffle Roasted Duck. 

This has to be one of the most delish roasted ducks I've ever eaten. 

The meat is tender, the skin, glazed with ginger honey soya on top, is crispy and thick and some pieces have a distinctive layer of fat underneath. 

Not just that, each little plate comes served with cute little pieces of fried tofu. 

It's very difficult to stop at just one plate.

But its' also very difficult to just eat the skin alone and leave the meat there. 

So we take a couple of plates and try to eat as much meat as we can- after the skin. 

At the wok stations, I took a bit of fried rice, a bit of fried noodles and from the station opposite, a ladleful of whipped potato as well as a small portion of baked salmon in some sort of sauce (basil?).

Maybe I should have gone for more of the Chinese-style cooked food at the wok station, or the Indian selections, but tonight I didn't quite want to have anything mala, and I wasn't too keen on mussels stewed in sauce as well. 

Then again, I do wonder if I should have taken the palak paneer. 

I heard it was really good.

There're a lot of meats and roasted stuff here at ESTATE. 

Particularly on the Western side. 

My memory doesn't recollect everything but I think there was roast beef with rosemary herbs, roast chicken, and some sort of crispy pork belly all skillfully cut up on the wooden platters there. 

By this time I was feeling a little filled with the oysters and the prawns and the baked salmon (cream really does fill me up these days) so I had to sadly skip most of those and stuck with what I had on my plate.

The whipped potato brought my mind back to nostalgic times, and the fried noodles had me going for portion number two. 

I however didn't stop there. 

After that, for fun's sake, I took some crystal paus and siew mais from the dim sum side, one more portion of whipped potato, a fried spring roll, and a hot, crispy samosa. 

I was intending to go for dessert straight after but then my friend came back bearing a bowl of wagyu beef noodle soup, so off I went to get a bowl just for me.

Good recommendation it was. 

The broth, clean and light, was heartwarming, and the beef slices, huge, tender, soft, yet thick.

So good it was I had to rest a bit after the soup, and then straight it was to dessert.

My friend brought back three jars of their distinctive dessert- Marsala Wine Tiramisu, Rum and Hazelnut Pate a Choux and Champagne Raspberry Gelare.

Me, I brought back the Torched Citron Tart, and the Arabica Latte Mille Feuille. 

The Torched Citron Tart was so good. 

Some might find it a tad sour, but no, not me. 

It opened up the palate, cleaned up the flavors of all the savory foods I'd had earlier, and left my tongue feeling sharp, and clean. 

I didn't stop at the jars though. 

There was little slice of Hilton Signature Cheesecake, and a dark chocolate something (with hazelnut, maybe, or was it earl grey?)

I wish I'd taken better pictures of my first dinner here at ESTATE (it was, after all, for a birthday) and I wish I'd had more time to sample the cheeses, the salads and the breads, but there'll be another time, and another time, and yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll have those now and then, during those times.