Beach Road Kitchen Buffet

I was craving endless servings of seafood when my feed flooded with pictures of Beach Road Kitchen Buffet. My phone must have been spying on me but the gorgeous pictures of fresh seafood really fuelled my cravings to the max and I immediately went to their website and did reservations. I initially wanted to book their buffet dinner in December but they were packed and only managed to accommodate me for lunch in the 1st week of Jan 2023

I waited one month in anticipation of the buffet lunch and was very excited to visit Beach Road Kitchen. Located within the Marriott Beach Road atrium where many other restaurants and bars are located, it is easily accessible via the connected MRT station exit

The restaurant is housed in a glass house structure with full floor-to-ceiling glass panels which are darkened so diners still get privacy from onlookers from outside but get the spaciousness of a glass-like open concept space. The interiors are sectioned out into different spaces which can be seen more clearly from the photos taken from the hotel which I included above

The seafood on ice was in a walk-in cove section which is a tad colder than other areas. The centre counter was where the fresh oysters are served on a bed of ice and right beside the oyster station was the sauces station where you can get choices from tabasco, berry compote, mayonnaise, soy sauce to ponzu sauce for all your seafood and cold cuts. At the far end of the cold pantry, you can find cooked prawns, Boston lobster, crab, snow crab legs, mussels, clams and whelks all kept fresh on beds of ice. The other shelves which I did not really take had cold dishes like cold cuts, cheeses and starters

In terms of hot dishes, they had a standalone noodle station serving laksa and herbal chicken soup, an area serving Indian cuisine, and Italian cuisines like pizza and pasta, a hot grill section serving grilled meats and seafood as well as a general hot dishes section serving dishes like Black pepper crab, stir-fried Chinese vegetables and more

The desserts station was located right next to the entrance where there is a glass cabinet displaying the various cakes, pastries as well as desserts in shot glasses. There is also a live station where the chef makes fresh waffles and creme brulee desserts. Right next to the live station is also an ice cream and fondue counter where diners can help themselves to the ice cream and fruits chocolate fountain

My first plate was the seafood which I will usually get multiple servings from this section as I was a seafood monster. The oysters were fresh and large in size with no metallic flavour. However, not all oysters were of the same size as they served oysters from at least 3 different countries and areas. Regardless of size, the taste of the oysters was fantastic and I loved that there were many selections of sauces so you can keep eating the oysters with different flavours. The prawns were fresh and succulent while the snow crab was quite salty so when you have a few legs, you feel quite thirsty and once you tasted the snow crabs, the normal crab and lobster claws become quite tasteless and bland. The meat texture of the lobster claws was also a bit mushy so I only did 1 serving of it

I moved on to the live noodle station after getting filled up on fresh seafood and took the smallest portion of each dish just for tasting purposes. The laksa gravy was thick and creamy with coconut flavour yet it is missing an important umami flavour. There was no depth in the soup and I could hardly taste the dried shrimp which is a key ingredient in a good laksa. There were 2 different kinds of soup; the clear herbal chicken broth and Western-styled pumpkin soup. The herbal soup has a light herbal fragrance without being too overpowering and has a nice comforting flavour while the pumpkin soup was extremely creamy and milky in flavour and missing out on the sweetness of the pumpkin itself

From the hot selections, I took a sample of the fried bun with chilli crab sauce, papadam with Aloo Gobi and butter chicken, grilled fish with truffle mashed potato, roasted pork and lasagna. Overall, the hot dishes were pretty ok in quality and flavour. The dish that really stood out was the truffle mashed potato where the truffle flavour was not overpowering and complemented the creamy smooth mash very well. The roast and grill dishes were also well prepared with simple seasoning which enhanced the natural flavours of the meats. I actually went back for seconds for the mash and roast pork despite my bursting stomach

When it was time for dessert, I was already 90% done but my greedy eyes were again attracted by the pretty cakes and pastries. The creme brulee was decently seared with a crunchy caramel top and soft and smooth pudding. The freshly made waffles were also crispy and fluffy but the ice cream which should have been the icing on the cake was a disappointment. I am not sure if the chiller had issues but all the ice cream was mostly melted like a milkshake. For the cakes, some of the items were a tad too sweet for me while some were too dense. The cheesecake and truffle chocolate mouse cake was decent enough for me to finish the entire piece

Overall, the buffet was good and I visited when the restaurant was doing a promotion for lunch so based on the price and offerings, it was quite worth the money. The service staff were polite and accommodating although I do think they are quite short-staffed as there were a couple of occasions I could not get any attention to get drinks which has to be ordered as hot beverages were not self-served. The quality of food was generally ok although not the most premium but for a buffet I think it is acceptable

Address: 30 Beach Rd, Singapore 189763

Operating hours: 12 pm to 10 pm