The phenomenal Crab and Durian Buffet promotion kicks off tonight at the Sentosa Boardwalk! From 9 to 26 June 2011, there will be hedonistic feasting of over 40 dishes starring crabs and durians. What a killer combination, right? Also a tremendously irresistible one, especially at only S$38++ (adults) and S$21 (children aged 5-11). Yes, so much so that it's SOLD OUT already!
So, my apologies. This post is going to make a lot of people frustrated. You can see, but you can't eat. But if you are one of the lucky ones who have placed a booking, here's a preview of some highlights you will be enjoying along with a great sunset view of the harbour.
Live D24 durian, imported from Malaysia, and opened fresh on demand. Take a deep breath. Yes, beautiful durian. As much as you want. Yes, you know what they say about moderation. I say everything in moderation, including moderation.
See? Why hold back on enjoyment?
The buffet is set at the upper Promontory of the Sentosa Boardwalk (the garden themed covered walkway along the bridge into Sentosa). It has great views of the Vivocity waterfront promenade on one side, and Sentosa on the other. We caught the mechanised crane dance as it happened at 9pm too.
It's al fresco, but breezy fans ensure a cool atmosphere. Tables will be arranged to fit exactly your reservation number of guests. So it does look like a nice dining set up.
Back to the food. Let's look at the starters. Some cold items first...
From top to bottom: Salmon sashimi, prawn and mango with avocado mousse, baby octopus, and poached tiger prawns. They are similar to what you will get at the cold seafood section of a buffet, and lend some variety to the spread.
Also some warm stuff like deep-fried soft-shell crab, served with a pineapple-tinged creamy dip. These are done tempura style, with nicely crisp batter.
Coral Crab Bisque with Sour Cream - thick, luscious, and super-umami. There is also crabmeat chawan mushi with mushroom, which had nice, tangible lumps of crabmeat.
But the stars of the show...of course, are the crab dishes. Interestingly, each of them had their own personality, so they did not all taste alike.
Wok-Fried Chili Sri Lankan Crab served with Fried Mantou (also shown in first photo). Decently sized crabs, as you can see. While not the premium XXL jumbo types, these are certainly sweet and fleshy. This dish was the favourite of our table, even though not all of us are fans of chili crab. The flavours are nicely balanced and not shy. I particularly liked that it had a spicy kick to it, but that chili heat may be a bit strong for others.
Salted Egg Yolk Crab. This is more creamy than sandy. Folks who are used to the drier rendition of salted egg yolk crab may take a while to get used to it. But it does grow on you. This one's not spicy, and is carried by more muted flavours, but it's still a very rich dish.
The black pepper crabs are fiery hot, thanks to the pepper specially imported from Hawaii.
There are other crab dishes on the menu like nonya curry crab, masala mud crab, ginger scallion flower crab and grilled mud crab.
If all the seafood is making you crave some red meat, help yourself to the beef striploin. There's also beef rendang and roast beef rump on the menu too.
If you're still hungry, there's crabmeat and seafood fried rice!
Among the durian desserts, we tried (from left to right) the durian cheesecake, durian pengat and durian mousse. I liked the mousse best - it was light but fragrantly durian. The pengat I felt it would have stood well on its own even without the sweet gula melaka layer on top.
Best dessert is still the fruit itself.
Not our intention to tempt you...but free-flow plates of durian?
Check out reviews by fellow bloggers above Calvin, Yee Leong, Philip, and Mui Yee.
Many thanks to Sentosa for arranging this media preview last week. I hear the promo will be back next year, so keep your fingers crossed. Or you could try calling to see if there are last minute cancellations.
THE ULTIMATE CRAB AND DURIAN BUFFET
Date: 9 - 26 Jun 2011
Time: 6pm - 11pm
Venue: The Promontory, Sentosa Boardwalk
Prices: $38++ per adult; $21++ per child (5 – 11 years old) (note: drinks not included)
Tel: +65 6279-1767 (call between 11 am to 9 pm)
Click here to download the full menu.
I guess we can only feast with our eyes, they are fully booked through out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sadly. Even I missed out on bringing friends and family back there!
ReplyDeleteWe went yesterday. I don't like to bash the event but the crabs were awful - the flesh was mushy (all of them), but thankfully no tummyache today. The durian was good - if only they had more than one person de-shelling, and if they had more durians in the first place! It took me 45 minutes in the queue to get to the durians. And then, when we wanted to get a 2nd helping, and after queueing for another 20 mins, they ran out! Terrible value for money. We would have been better off buying the D's from somewhere else instead.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. I'm surprised because they do try to limit the number of guests per evening. Still, I guess demand for the fresh durians was just too much. I can't imagine queueing 45 mins for it!
ReplyDeleteWe went on Monday, nothing fantastic. Those crabs are so small, not much flesh, not juicy (dry dry) but the man tou is nice. Sashimi only salmon available and does not look very fesh as well. The durian does not taste like D24, the flesh is not creamy, it taste so watery and very little flesh. Overall, this is not a place for quality food.
ReplyDeleteWe went on the 17 Jun and it was the worst buffet I've ever eaten. Crabs are cold,rough and mushy. Topping up of food is slow because the staff have to walk to the restaurant to collect. Other food they have are also served cold, the arrangement of tables and chairs are very cramp. The only consolation are the durians but you have to q at least 45 mins for only 2 plates. If you want 1 more round another 45 mins of q-ing. Definitely not worth the $$$.
ReplyDeleteSo it's ok to give it a miss! No lost!
Oh dear. Let's hope next year will be better.
ReplyDeletewent there on 15th june and i agree that it was very bad. the fried food were soggy and oily, the bisque was remarkably thin and bland, crabs werent great, and you have to queue for durians. atmosphere wise, its just really hot and they used white lights so it felt more like a hawker. really aint worth the $45.
ReplyDeletei really think that the organisers served up better food to the media invitation but probably couldnt be bothered afterwards.
Went there yesterday (21 June) and I feel it was a waste of money. The food is pretty bad, the crabs were small and not fresh at all. Worst of all, there was a queue for oysters and durian. For the oysters, the refills came once every 20 mins, and there was a queue waiting for the refill. Each refill was maybe 20 oysters, cleared out by the 1st 3 people in line. It's ridiculous, I didn't pay $45 (incl taxes) to spend dinner time queueing and not eating. The durian queue was 45mins-1hr long. And you can only walk away with 2 small plates at a time. Even though the durians were good, eating it brought no joy after the entire experience. All in all, crap food, crap service, crap value.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to add on the sashimi, it is dyed horrendously red, almost the colour of fresh blood. The colour of real salmon is a pale pink, not a lurid red. Does this scream quality to you? Or even mediocre passable quality. No sirree. Save your money. I want mine back.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the readers who went to the buffet upon reading the review at your blog and some of the other food bloggers'. As per what the readers above have commented, the crabs served were definitely not fresh. They were tiny in size and mushy! The worst was the ice the prawns were placed on melted and they did not change it so the prawns were swimming/drowning in ice water, it was totally disgusting! Oysters were terrible too. Very unhygenic.
ReplyDeleteI'm known by my family and friends to not be a picky eater, but i consider this to be the worst buffet i went to in my life, wasted $38++ for nothing. Felt cheated by the reviews posted here and elsewhere, especially with regards to the size of the crabs and their quality. The organizers should take note of the comments and work on this if they shall be organizing a similar event again.
oh, and to add on, the bisque was terrible as well! I'd only had bisque at JACK'S PLACE (so you can have an idea of the quality of food i'm comparing it to), and this bisque was worse than the jack's place version! Very thin and bland as stated above. Very disappointing, considered that i couldn't make a reservation and actually queued for three hours just to get a spot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the feedback, guys. I will flag this up to the folks at Sentosa.
ReplyDeleteshocked to hear all this
ReplyDeletewoah, I am so shock to hear all these comments and bad reviews.
ReplyDeleteActually wanted to find out if anyone had cancelled their bookings.
Guess I will miss this one....
Sorry Freddy, but you're a year too late. The promotion is already over.
Deleteshocked to hear all this
ReplyDelete