Sometime during the middle of December last year a friend asked me if I were okay to do an early Christmas celebration and go have dinner at OSCARS in Conrad Centennial Hotel.
At first I wondered if it were a tad too early, if the Christmas foods from their F&B had been brought out, or if it might be better to wait till a few days before Christmas Day.
But I like OSCARS, I like the ambience and the food, so we went.
And as soon as I did, I found out we weren't late one bit at all.
Christmas in the hospitality sector begins early- no less that of a five star hotel under the Hilton Family group- and I was greeted by the sight of this giant-sized teddy bear plopped right in front of their signature teddy-bear Christmas tree.
If I had been delighted by the sight of this very unusual tree, I became especially charmed by the presence of the little one at my table in the restaurant itself.
No bears on this one, but there were tiny gold ribbons, and the tree became a bit of a focal point during the time we were there.
You know, on the way here, I had been quietly wondering if the usual Christmas favorites would be out on the counters.
To my delight, they were!
I mean, you can call me picky, but really, this season wouldn't quite feel the same if the regular favorites weren't there, so a great thing it was today that besides the roast beef and the lamb, there was honey baked ham, grilled pineapple, one big fish of a salmon, and a whole turkey.
Not that I went for the meats straight away though.
Instead, I went for salmon sashimi.
One whole plate of it.
Salmon sashimi is one of my favorite ways to start any buffet.
Brightly colored, cold, fresh and appetizing, it makes for an excellent meal opener when eaten dipped in soy sauce and wasabi.
Together my friend and I worked through this one plate, then back it was to the buffet counter, for oysters this time.
I think we worked through at least three plates of these freshly shucked mollusks.
But we aren't complaining.
These oysters were precisely what my friend had come to this buffet for.
Of course, it wasn't just about the fresh seafood and the sashimi.
Amongst some of the other dishes that I got this evening there was a bit of beef, a bit of the ham, and a few pieces of turkey. The honey baked ham gave me Christmasy feels whilst the beef and turkey made me feel like I were somewhere else instead of here. Why, exactly, I don't know, but beef with cranberry sauce (or some other sweet sauce) just hits different compared to mint jelly or mushroom sauce.
The one thing I loved about the food here were the sides.
Don't laugh.
OSCARS does a selection of very good sides.
Right by the roast beef and the honey baked ham were pots of roasted vegetables that included broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes and a host of other vegetables. Near to it there was pasta, there was squash, Brussel sprouts, and mashed potato.
At first I thought of trying the Brussel sprouts- they had done them in some sort of a sweet honey sauce which I found rather interesting- but then I changed my mind and instead helped myself to a bit of the pasta and a good portion of the truffle oil mashed potato. Then because I thought I ought to have a bit of vegetable thrown in, I crossed to where the salad counter was and got me a couple of cherry tomatoes.
After that I walked around a bit, first taking a look at the salads, the cold cuts, the cheese and crackers, the fruits, then hopping over the Asian section where there was an offering of fried noodles (something like Yi-Mian), stir-fried vegetables, chicken done in a slight Sichuan style, and fish chunks done the Chinese way steamed in clear, soup-like gravy.
At one end of the row there were the soups.
At the other end there were the breads and the buns and the butter.
Back at the table I helped myself to our second plate of oysters, then I had another serving of mashed potato and pasta, plus a taco because I got interested in the guacamole avocado filling, the meat (I now cannot remember what it was) and the cheese.
And then because I thought I ought to have a wee bit of vegetable, I got a couple of cherry tomatoes from the salad section again.
I was getting a little bit full by this time but then my friend told me about the noodle station at the alfresco side, so I went and got myself a bowl of laksa- with extra quail eggs on special request, and which the chef gladly obliged.
Up came the third plate of oysters afterwards which I had initially thought was too much and impossible to finish but surprisingly wasnt.
Perhaps oysters don't fill one up the same way prawns and crayfish lobsters do.
It was time for dessert by the time we finished, and after a bit of green tea to wash all the mains down, we went and got ourselves some cake, some tiramisu, some custard pudding, some little Christmas cookies- I love the cinnamon icing ones- and a waffle- without the ice cream.
Thinking about it now I wish I had gotten the ice cream.
Here at OSCARS they do it gelato style with a couple of fascinating flavors.
But because ice cream really fills one up and this evening I wanted cake more than I wanted ice cream so I got myself a nice little piece of crispy waffle drizzled with some maple syrup, and a tiny little serving of apple crumble pie instead.