Clove

Located within Raffles City shopping mall at the office space section, Clove is highly popular with tourists and locals for their variety of dishes available for their buffet lunch and dinners.

The restaurant itself boasts high ceilings and an overall spacious and modern set up.

There is ample seating for more than 100 people and the overall atmosphere feels more like a cafe where you can chill out with family and friends.

The plus point of the layout is that each station is spaciously laid out apart from one another to avoid any kind of overcrowding which is common for buffet spreads.

One of the more popular corners is the Japanese corner which serves fresh salmon, tuna sashimi and various types of gunkan sushi and maki sushi. You can also get your Japanese pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce from this station.

Just next to the Japanese station was an area that has various kinds of cold cuts like cheese, ham, smoked salmon and olives.

My next favourite station was the chilled fresh seafood section which has quite a wide variety like scallops, mussels, clams and prawns. Tabasco sauce and fresh lemon wedges are provided as condiments for the seafood.

Something that was very unique at this buffet was the poke bar area where you can make your own poke bowl which is increasingly popular amongst working crowd because of the health benefits. You can customise your bowl with white rice, brown rice or salad. You can pick your protein which includes braised pork or beef

You can also add additional toppings from the salad bar to your poke bowl or just have the salad on its own as there is an interesting selection from the salad bar like soba noodles, seaweed, yuzu flavoured sauces, edamame and Japanese pickled vegetables.

There was a live roast station and was offering tender roast beef on the night I visited. I heard from my friends that the beef was quite tender and flavourful.

The soup station offered 2 selections; one was the creamy mushroom soup and the other was the pumpkin soup.

Next was the sides where you can find creamy mash potatoes and grilled vegetables.

There is a station with various roast items like roasted potatoes, carrots, duck and chicken. There are also multiple sauces to complement your roast meats like dijon mustard, grain mustard, cranberry sauce and more.

There is also a DIY noodle station where you can cook your own noodles soup. There are 3 selection of noodles from yellow noodles, vermicelli and wheat vermicelli. You can also add any toppings you like from the selection of clams, prawns, fishcake, mushrooms and bean sprouts.

You will have to cook the noodles in the hot water before adding the broth which is tom yam flavoured. Most of the ingredients are cooked but if you prefer them hot, you can also blanch them in the hot water.

There is quite a big area reserved for desserts but it was very crowded so I only managed a close up picture. You can find cakes, tarts, fresh fruits and cup desserts like creme Brulee and chocolate mousse. There is also a coffee and tea station next to the desserts area where TWG tea bags and house coffee is available for selection.

Some of the items I missed out on pictures include a nacho station which has freshly baked nachos with chilli con Carne toppings. An entire area dedicated to Indian cuisine which has pita bread, mutton curry and vegetarian curries. There is also a section for other cooked food spilt into cuisines like Hainanese chicken rice for local food and baked cream fish for Western delights.

Now for the taste test starting from the salmon sashimi and seafood. Generally, the prawns are quite fresh and juicy but the size is on the smaller end. The scallops are fresh but not juicy or sweet enough. The sashimi was also not of the top grade as it was a bit too soft not because it melts in your mouth but more of a general grade

The mushroom soup was creamy and thick in consistency and the flavours of the mushroom were also strong and flavourful.

The mash potato was quite nice and creamy while the roast chicken and duck were ok in taste but slightly dry. The tomato paste from the cooked food section was mediocre and so were some of the other items from the cooked food section.

The poke bowl was generally quite tasty as the ingredients were very fresh and I added items that appealed to me like the teriyaki chicken, tuna salad with ebiko. I went with the salad base and the overall bowl was satisfying.

To end off, I made myself a bowl of hot tom yam soup noodles with prawns and mushrooms and vegetables. The soup was not too spicy and had the right amount of sourness. The ingredients provided were also fresh and taste good as the topping.

One other item which I did not get to take a picture of was the ice cream and particularly the avocado and yoghurt flavours. These flavours are quite unique and not found in most restaurants for a buffet. There are other common flavours like chocolate but these 2 flavours stood out from the rest. I was glad I tried these 2 flavours as they were fantastic. The avocado has a creamy and semi-sweet flavour which reminded me of a thick avocado shake bursting with the original flavour of the fruit and not overladen with sugar. This flavour was so good that it ran out pretty fast.

Overall, the food at Clove had a great variety and some unique finds that you do not find at other buffet places. While not all dishes are a great hit, there are some that stood out and the overall atmosphere is nice for a gathering. Something to note is that they also offer a drinks package where you can get free flow of beer with a top-up of SGD 28 so you can also drink to your heart’s content without breaking the bank.

Address: 2 Stamford Road Swissôtel, Level 2 The Stamford, 178882

Operation hours:

Mon to Thurs 6 am to 11 am, 12 pm to 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 10 pm

Fri 6 am to 11 am, 12 pm to 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Sat and Sun 6 am to 11 am, 12 pm to 3 pm and 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Buffet Pricing:

Lunch Buffet

Monday to Friday
$60 per adult $30 per child (6 to 12 years old)

Saturday & Sunday
$70 per adult $35 per child (6 to 12 years old)

Dinner Buffet

Monday to Thursday
$68 per adult $34 per child (6 to 12 years old)

Friday to Saturday
$95 per adult $47 per child (6 to 12 years old)

Sunday
$55 per adult $28 per child (6 to 12 years old)

Applies to all timing- Beverage package

Free-flow craft beers $28 per person
Free-flow Prosecco and wines $35 per person