For my birthday dinner, hubby has decided to bring me to Mandarin Oriental Hotel for their buffet. It's not like we have heard or was informed that the buffet there is fabulous... He picked the place because it is some place new and we wouldn't have to travel far on a Friday evening.
I called in a favor to Amanda and asked her to help book us a place. They only start at 6.30pm, and when we arrived at 6.35pm, we were not their first customer! Yup, there was another table occupied already.
We settled down and got our sofa seat. Hubby ordered a bottle of red wine for us to celebrate the occasion. A Merlot Chile red wine - Just perfect!
Whenever we go for buffet, the waiters will just bring us to our seats and just leave us to it. But in MO, the waiters actually served us with bread as appetizers. Yes, there is a counter at the buffet table for us to grab ourselves, but they served it to us anyhow. Great service! And their bread is very fresh!
To start, we have the Lamb Soup. We only took a bit cos we have to save the space in our stomach for the rest of the food.
This section offers raw marinated food that the cook will grill for you. They have fishes, lamb, beef, prawn, vege etc. I like the Lamb Satay!
This is one of my favourites - Steamed Giant Pomfret. I love steamed fish, and this is absolutely yummy! Fish is fresh, and the chili dip is the perfect thing to go with.
Some of their food from the Chinese food section:
The mini Red Bean Pau - delicious!
Then, it's the Japanese food section. Check out their offerings of seafood. I didn't try this cos I don't think I can anymore.
Very fresh raw food!
They also have an Indian food section, which I didn't touch at all. Kinda regretted not trying this out though.
My first time seeing this in buffet - Middle Eastern. I tried their Kebab, which is just tasty!
Then, it's my favourite part - the DESSERTS! Yummy!
MO definitely has a huge selection of desserts! I don't normally pay any attention to desserts offered in buffets, but MO has proved that I should never neglect desserts!
These are only some of the desserts that I've taken picture of. I don't remember what they are are call, but do check these out. Their desserts are totally recommended! All of them that I've tasted are just delectable!
Hubby got this when we came back from his round at the desserts section - Marshmallow dipped in Chocolate. Very sinful! I tried it and it tasted utterly savory! The chocolate didn't taste like those cheap melted chocolate. I couldn't help myself and went over to the chocolate fountain to take some pictures, and also some more marshmallow LOL!
As we enjoyed our food, I felt a lil cold and was yearning for something warm. Hubby said he saw a coffee machine somewhere near the dessert section and when there to get me a latte. He returned in just a short while. Apparently, the waiter will serve the coffee to our table. Fancy!
Just as we were chilling and relaxing, we saw the hotel's saxophonist walked passed our table and into the kitchen. We were quite puzzled but none of take too much attention to it.
Then suddenly, IT came! The sounds of a saxophone at a birthday song's melody. At first, I was wondering who else is celebrating birthday, and then it hit me! The song is for ME! The waiters were all with the saxophonist and they were singing birthday song to me! What a surprise! First time I have a saxophonist for my birthday!
I got a cake on the house! Wee~~ It's not like I can eat it anymore, but hey! I'm very touched with the gesture! I looked at hubby and hubby said it's not him... He didn't arrange this. He is as shocked as I am. Then I know who arranged this. It must be AMANDA! I called her immediately and she said she did arranged for the staff to bring the cake for me, but she didn't know anything about any saxophonist! LOL Anyhow, I thank her very much! Such a sweet gesture!
This is the birthday cake courtesy of MO. It is a rather huge slice. Obviously, none of us can take it anymore. I can't even take a small piece. We could only stare at the cake LOL!
I guess the waiter must have noticed that we were really stuffed, so he offered to keep the cake in the fridge and have it packed so that we can take it home with us. What a professional person! My, MO's staff's professionalism is without a doubt, the bestest best so far!
So happy with all my birthday celebrations this year! Really really good surprises that I really treasure and am so touched with!
As we were leaving the cafe, the waiter gave us a piece of chocolate each. Although I really can't fit it anything else in my stomach, I really can't resist this beautiful chocolate. Took it and it was just sinfully delicious! Yummy! Hmm if only I can have more LOL!
Luv the surprise, and the service level by MO staff is more than satisfactory! I really don't mind coming back here. One thing they could improve on is their variety and amount of their food. Then, it will be the best buffet place!
Mother-Daughter Melbourne Trip (Part 2)
7 years ago