Beach road kitchen is a fine eatery and hotel restaurant located on the fringe of the Marina City district. The establishment offers a good variety of buffet food at a quality indicative of the price.
The restaurant is situated along beach road, adjacent to Suntec city, and along Nichol highway. It offers a commendable international selection of food at a fair price with a very conducive venue suitable for large groups with good service. Let’s check it out with an impromptu visit.
The interior has a Zen look to it, with bright lights reflected off light wood materials and flooring contrasted with a dark ceiling and seating areas. It is spacious and refreshing.
Located in the heart of town
The closet MRT station is the Esplanade station. Here, you exit on the southern beach side of the MRT exits. Its location across Nichol highway opposite Suntec city make it highly accessible and walkable. Moreover, it is also a walkable distance and is near to Raffles hotel and City hall (Raffles City mall).
Moreover, the restaurant sits separate from the South beach hotel establishment. Noting the lack of hotel coffee houses in the vicinity, I reckon it is the coffee house and restaurant to the adjacent JW Marriott hotel.
The Buffet spread
At first glance, the buffet spread selections seems small with the buffet offerings scattered all about the eatery. But when you put it all together, Bread Kitchen actually offers a very hearty and wholesome patellae to patrons. On the cards is an international flair with a stronger European emphasis. Having said that, sadly, there is no Japanese sashimi or sushi, though.
However, despite that, I found the variety of selections was adequate. I was able to go around sampling every dish from every section before I was stuffed to the brim- An indication of a good spread.
Also, the go-to food here will be their extensive Italian offerings. Sitting in the middle of the restaurant is a large pizza oven. You can see the chef behind the counter regular hand-preparing pizzas on the spot before popping it into the oven.
Seafood in a walk-in chiller
Interesting, one of the more interesting sections is the seafood selection. It is a walk-in seafood chiller serving area! This section is tucked in away in the other end of the restaurant with its down dedicated.
Here you can find a seafood chef sitting inside the chiller room preparing and washing up fresh oysters for you. The chef will prepare them for your on request.
Also, here, at the end of the chiller, you can find self-help selections of mini lobsters, crayfish, large crab claws (only the good stuff) as well as an assortment of mixed salads along the side walls. Interesting layout nonetheless. You won’t stay long enough in the seafood chiller to catch a chill. At least you know your food is fresh!
Are those greens and sweets on the walls?
A thing I noticed about the Beach road kitchen is their tendency to have your buffet items blended into the wall decoration of the restaurant. It is a refreshing look. At times you would wonder are they actually part of the buffet.
For instance, the walls of the seafood walk-in chiller are surround by pots of greens, which is actually food you can use to make a salad. In addition, the restaurant main salad bar is inconspicuously located right at the restaurant’s main entrance. It looks almost like a decorative green wall.
Moreover, a little known offering here at Beach Road kitchen is their Salad and Cheese offering. There is a cheese platter with an assortment of over 6 different kinds of cheese for you, paired with choice of breads or biscuits to your liking. A very European thing indeed and sure to delight any cheese lovers.
Curated picks of Asian Cuisines
Moreover, the buffet offers a small Asian (Chinese) seletion of cooked food. Topping up the Asian selection is an Indian curry sections with a small assortment of curry pots which you can pair with Biryani rice with crackers or mini pita bread. There is also a Chicken rice kiosk tucked in the corner. On offer are meat choices of Char siew, Hainanese Chicken white meat served with authentic Pandan chicken rice and garlic chili.
The Asian cooked food selections are great for those who desire more familiar food back closer to home. Choices here includes fired noodles, rice, as well as mixed stirred fried vegetables served in heated pots. There is also pots of sweet chili crab.
Furthermore, there is also a dedicated dim sum section serving an assortment of Pork Siew mai, shrimp dumpling and mini meat Paos in authentic steamer baskets.
Furthermore, there is also a noodle bar. Offerings includes prawn noodles or local Laska. You pick you choice of noodles and ingredients and the staff at the counter shall prepare it with a broth of your choosing. There wasn’t any queues during my visit and a typical dish takes under a minute to prepare. You can have as many bowls as you wish.
Reasonable grilled selection
Topping up the cooked food selections is a grill bar. On offer are choices of pre-grilled meats including lamb and beef. This is not their best section, the lamb is tad overcooked and dry, but the beef on the other hand is actually not bad. The roast meat selections are tad lacking, but made up by an extensive choice of grilled seafood, which I shall touch on bit later.
With the sub-par grill section, I see myself headed back to the Italian section for more pizzas and Lasagna. That is what the buffet is good for.
Fancy a full grilled trout?
In-addition to the grilled section is grilled fish. There is a basket of three different types of fishes. Notably you get the entire grilled fish prepared for you. There is no limit to how many servings as you desire (though I was happy with just one). Your fish typically takes about 10 minutes to prepare and you can simply head back to the counter to collect your dish when ready.
The fish was quite a unexpected nice gem. It is well prepared and is nicely crispy and lightly charred on the outside. The insides are still moist and really juicy. It is best eaten after doused with light served of lime.
Desserts and great service
Moreover, topping up the main courses is a dedicated desert bar section. The counter is manned by a dessert chef, it offers a platter-full of cakes, tarts as well as fondue and ice-cream. Moreover, situated beside the dessert bar is a wall of gummy bean jars and sweets which you can have a self-helping too.
Humorously, you get the occasional curious kid awing at the wall of sweets. Wondering if he or she is in kiddy wonderland, and whether are those sweets actually edible (yes they are).
Moreover, during my visit, the establishment was not crowded and about half full at most. Even for a Saturday night. This very attentive and helpful staff were not taxed and offered a truly a nice service. Plates are instantly cleared when you leave you table and food at the counters remains stocked until closing, unlike some other buffet restaurants I had been to.
All in all, my Buffet dine-in at Beach Road Kitchen was a rather enjoyable experience. The quality food and great service and lack of crowds does make up for the smaller spread. The Italian and fish grills, as well as the seafood sections are worth getting a mention. Beach road kitchen takes the pick in offering good quality fresh foods at an average price for the segment. Their price range of $90 per head on weekends dinners, $80 on of-peak weekday dinners does put it comparable to other hotel buffets offered by hotel similar caliber, such as Grand Copthorne and Shangri-La.
It is definitely worth a try.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Beach Road Kitchen Buffet at South Beach
JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach
30 Beach Rd,
Singapore 189763
Opens daily: 6am– 10pm
[…] their crab is offered mainly whole, unlike other restaurants like Seasons tastes at the Westin and Beach road kitchen offering the best claw parts, which is easier on the hands. Also, I found the seafood offerings […]