Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Singapore Food Blog - Element buffet dinner @ Amara Hotel

Location: Tanjong Pagar, Central Business District (CBD), Singapore.

I guess that any search online for Amara Hotel's buffet dinner will result in numerous reviews sharing individual experience of dining there after purchasing online discounted coupons which were available just recently. So here's another piece to add to that growing list.

Welcome to 165 Tanjong Pagar Road!

Chancing upon the offered discounted price from an original whooping $62.40, the few of us decided to give it a try and throw a celebration for the month's birthday boys and girls. Amara Hotel hosts a few dining areas reachable from the lobby, each of them a world unto themselves with distinctive styles. It is unfortunate though that neither name nor label is available to inform the puzzled visitor to the place of interest, which in my case, is Element.

An expansive lobby greeted visitors, with glass walls to offer a vista of the world beyond the hotel.


The expansive lobby is made so with an open balcony on the 1st floor and ample lighting. 

Amara Hotel's website described the area as "a fusion of stylish minimalism and chic sophistication". Not sure I understand what they mean by that, but the area is an art unto itself. How it managed to fit into its namesake of fusing the 5 Chinese elements is beyond me. What is obvious to the eye is that the place is nicely decorated.

The dining area of Element is quite spacious, leaving enough for diners to move around without fear of knocking into each other while balancing platters of their favorites back to their seat.

The center of the buffet line is dominated by desserts of all variety, as well as all time Japanese favorites sushi and sashimi.

What could one expect when dining in Element of Amara Hotel? Seafood is the main highlight here, with crustaceans, mollusks (that's oysters and mussels to you) and fish kept cool on ice. Japanese food lovers will be overjoyed to know that sushi and sashimi are available as well, though they got grabbed to the last piece quite quickly before I had to wait for the refill.

Tagging along with the discounted voucher was half of a grilled lobster per person, which gave me the chance of a lifetime to experience what a lobster tasted like. Mixed with melted cheese, the flesh tasted like chicken (no, seriously)... Not much flesh was available within the wrapping shell, and I found that I really was not sure how to appreciate lobster.

Assorted cold cuts for the meat lovers, which included me of course... ^^
Cuts of meat could go with the basket of bread placed just next to it, with ham and sausage slices being my personal favorite.

The seafood is really the main attraction of Element's buffet dinner. The choices and amount available is enough to stave off any cravings of seafood, from rock oysters to crabs. 

No buffet could be complete without desserts lining at a corner.

Seafood aside, the main choice here is biased towards Western food, but some Asian dish is available as well. In the company of those are breads and slices of cold cuts for meat lovers. A teppanyaki kitchen is available as well, allowing diners to observe how the chef handle the lobster through a see-through partition.

A huge chunk of roasted meat (beef I guess) vertically held over the carvery right next to this teppanyaki station attracts the attention of salivating diners, and the chef happily slices off fresh from the chunk for every plate extended towards him.


The dark shell of a lobster visible on the teppanyaki station awaiting the chef...

...in order to be transformed into the orange-colored meal, served with melted cheese. Tastes like chicken though... 

The carvery located right next to the teppanyaki station has a huge chunk of roasted meat awaiting for order. The chef slices off fresh from this hunk 

An artistic shot of a pot being heated just to show off my recently learned Photoshop skills... ^^

Fresh fruits and desserts are available for diners as after-meals while killing time in the company of each other. Nothing like some pastries and cakes, as well as ice-creams, to sweeten a conversation.

Who could pass up the temptation of a platter of fresh fruits?

Assorted cakes and desserts to sate the sweet tooth.

Chocolate mousse in an ornate holder. Not sure how it tasted since I was not the owner of this dessert... ^^

A handful of chocolates which, as the sign informed, is neither for your hands nor for your mouth.

The variety and choices of dish is commendable for Element, but the amount of it left room for improvement. All of the dishes there are clearly of interest to everyone, and before long most of them are emptied, leaving disappointed diners to wait for refill. Clearly the recent rush of coupon diners is more than what they could handle.

The price of dining here is clearly not cheap (emphasize on the number "$62.40"!!) but considering the choices available here, the price is clearly within expectation. One may visit once in a long while for very special occasions, or when discounted coupons are available...

For the interested lot to get a feel of the variety available in Element, I took the list off the voucher's website and posted it here. Be warned though, that this list may change and it would be prudent to check with the hotel staff through the contact details listed at the end of this article. Bon appétit!


  • Smoked Salmon
  • Meat on Carvery
  • Mongolian Grill
  • Cold Crabs
  • Cold Crayfish
  • Mussels
  • Rock Oyster
  • Fresh Tiger Prawns
  • Fresh Vegetables Soup
  • Grilled Lobster
  • Chilean Sea Bass
  • Cod
  • Salmon
  • Local Chinese & Malay dishes
  • Fresh Vegetables
  • Japanese delicacies
  • Assorted Sushi
  • Assorted Sashimi
  • Caesar Salad
  • Tossed Salad
  • Assorted European Cheese
  • Assorted pastries around the world
  • Chocolate Mousse
  • Macaroons
  • Swiss Friandises
  • Fresh Assorted Fruits
  • European Breads
  • Assorted international ice cream






Suitable for:            Celebration of memorable occasion with loved ones or with friends.
Cost:                             Luxurious; definitely not cheap and not a place which one would visit on a periodic basis.


Website:                    Amara Hotel dining page and their Facebook page
E-mail:                       fnb.sg@amarahotels.com

Contact:                     +65 - 6879 2607
Address:                     165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539.

Operating hours:   Daily (6a.m. - 11p.m.)
                                           Buffet dinner (6.30p.m. - 10p.m.)




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  2. What a great post. The truth is that I really liked the site, some very nice images. The truth is that what I liked the most is that they use stainless steel hotel furniture (mobiliario hosteleria), it is the best material to use in these businesses, such as bars and restaurants. Since it is a non-corrosive material and avoids contamination of the food itself when preparing it. Thanks for sharing.

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