Prego at the Fairmont Hotel throws an all out fabulous Sunday brunch buffet, with a selection of food wide enough to knock your socks off, and with food quality that will keep you coming back for more.

Located in the ground floor of Fairmont Hotel, the Italian restaurant is spacious and sunlit, decked out in honeyed warm woods and red sofas. From the Italian proscuitto and sausages draped from the awnings, to the Parmesan wheels, the restaurant gives off a warm vibe, helped along by their ever-friendly and helpful staff.

The buffet spread itself is enough to fill you right up. There is a large selection of fresh seafood, Italian antipasti that looks like it all came straight from the farmers market, salads, Italian breads, pizza, cheeses, and a dizzying array of delicious desserts.

What’s pictured below is a small section of what’s available!

Their fresh seafood is, well, fresh. SUPER fresh. If you’re into your raw foods, this is it. 

I ended up eating three plates (!) worth of the fresh seafood below, because it was just that good. The oysters were plump, fresh, and deliciously briny. The raw salmon sashimi was so good that Hunter was eating up slice after slice au naturale – no soy sauce needed because of the sweetness of the salmon came through.

This is another plate of mine, which had an amazing beef carpaccio (on the left) and an equally stunning parma ham (on the right) and melon (bottom) combination. Wrap the parma ham around the melon and you have yourself an explosion of salty and sweet – PARTY IN MY MOUTH!

And let’s not forget fresh mozarella (I think?) with basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar… mmm… I went back for two more portions of this.

Carter went to town on the Italian breads there. We also requested for some bread sticks, and our waiter kindly obliged. The kids were in seventh heaven!

And then there are the mains. They are ordered off a one-sheet paper menu that boasts around 40 (!!!) items, and are cooked to order. We could pick as many as we wanted, and they all arrived swiftly.

The Linguini, crabmeat, baby spinach, seafood cream sauce actually leaned more on the tomato-based side than cream. Perhaps that’s a good thing, because it didn’t get too rich and heavy on the palate. The chunks of crab was studded through the dish and the sauce was a potent (and very tasty) bisque.

The Roast leg of lamb, white bean caponata came sliced, making it easy for those of you that don’t like bone in your meat. The lamb was tender and could be cut with a fork, and it was paired well with the reduction.

The star dish of their mains, however, was the Oven roasted barramundi filet, cherry tomatoes, capers, black olives. This was…. SUBLIME. The fish was so perfectly cooked that it was fork-tender and meltingly soft. The sweetness of the fish really came through, and it was so moist and succulent. The kids adored this and polished off the whole dish.

The Flambeed prawns, creamy garlic sauce (mostly eaten because I wasn’t quick enough to snap the photo) featured very fresh and springy prawns, which were drizzled with a tasty garlic sauce. However, sauce aside, the prawns themselves weren’t flambeed or charred enough, so they looked (and tasted) almost like boiled prawns. A shame, because just a little more flambee would have meant the prawns would have a lovely smoked flavour.

The part that thrilled the kids most was a balloon man that came around making complimentary balloon animals for everyone! Hunter’s was a monkey in a tree, and Carter’s a giraffe.

We’ve never been to a restaurant that had a balloon artist on-house to entertain the kids, so this was a HUGE plus in our book!

This, below, is my dessert plate. I only picked out about half the selection on this plate. The variety was impressive! My favourite, by far, was the Torta Della Nonna, which is that large slice of chocolate cake on my plate. But, unlike a regular chocolate cake, this one was exceedingly moist and soft. It was dense, without being too ‘heavy’. And it was DELICIOUS.

They also have these apple donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar. They were quite the hit!

The buffet lunch comes with a cup of coffee. I had a cappuccino, which lacked oomph but it was passable.

Their vanilla milkshake, on the other hand, was a stunner. Freshly whipped up, it was deliciously creamy and with lots of ice cream swirled in. A hit with adults and kids!

Prego’s buffet lunch runs from 12:30 – 3:00PM every Sunday.
Price: S$68++ (Adult), S$34++ (Child)
S$78++ with a glass of wine from the wine trolley or free flow of non-alcoholic drinks
S$98++ with free flow of wine

Last Bite: Prego offers a buffet brunch that is well worth it, especially for big eaters. The balloon artist was a hit with the kids!

Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes
Kids’ menu: No

Prego
Level 1, Fairmont Singapore
80 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189560
Phone: 6431 6156
Prices: $$$$
Hours:

I hold a soft spot for Nassim Hill Bakery, and always leave the place so impressed and eager to return. It’s along Orchard Road (right where the Tanglin post office building is), yet very quiet on weekdays and not packed out on weekends. I fear Orchard Road, and malls in general, on weekends. I can’t handle crowds, and a really packed out cafe makes me anxious. With two young kids in tow, we also don’t have the option or luxury to sit around waiting for food and jostle with everyone else.

Nassim Hill Bakery is centraly located, yet makes for a wonderful and relaxed brunch spot. The area is spacious, the staff are friendly, and the food is excellent.

The menu is pretty extensive, but be warned that the Breakfast and Lunch menus are mutually exclusive – the latter kicking in only at 11AM. I wish the dishes were just part of one menu, because the Breakfast options are limited to eggs, eggs and more eggs.

Nassim Hill Bakery do a lovely and smooth coffee, albeit with woeful latte ‘art’. I have never had a chance to try the biscotti, because my kids always pinch it straight off my saucer!

The complimentary bread basket (served with the Breakfast menu items, I believe), is a stunner. All the breads are baked fresh that morning within the premises, and it shows. The breads are all exceedingly soft and fluffy, with a beautiful aroma. A HUGE hit with the kids, being the carboholics that they are!

My interest was piqued by the sound of the Spicy Huevos Benedict. The two poached eggs oozed perfectly, and the seared Spanish chorizo slices added a lovely saltiness to the dish, which was paired well against the subtle flavour of the freshly baked ciabatta.

The only woeful item was the jalapeños guacamole, which was shockingly bad. It was basically mashed avocado, but the avocado was clearly ‘off’. It was brown, mushy, and had the weird brown ‘wormy’ bits all through it. It was absolutely inedible, and very obviously looked disastrous to the naked eye – so I was totally shocked they actually allowed this out of the kitchen (pretty shameful).

Nassim Hill Bakery’s rendition of the Chilli crab pasta ($16/$25) is a stunner, and easily the best crab pasta I’ve had in Singapore.. and possibly one of my favourite overall pastas. Yes, it’s spicy, but it’s worth it. The sauce is spot on, tasty and creamy, and studded with generous amounts of crab meat. It was fantastic and a must-order.

Equally impressive was their Hot Reuben – corned beef with melted emmental, sauerkraut, onions and russian dressing on signature asahi kuronama beer bread ($18). The saltiness of the corned beef went very well with the melted cheese, but was not overly salty. The beef was extremely tender, and came in a generous portion. In fact, the whole sandwich is actually pretty big. Small eaters can easily share one of these sandwiches between two people.

It comes with a side of garden salad, though I’d have also loved to have seen it served with a side of fries as well.

I’d actually ordered the Granola & Berries Parfait for Carter, but I ended up eating quite a lot of this, surprisingly! I generally dislike this sort of breakfast (too healthy, too boring, too fruity), and don’t like fruit in my meals. But I was surprised to find myself liking this, and kept going back for more with my spoon!

The crunchy granola paired well with the smooth yogurt, and the berries and raisins dotted through were sweet. It was very nice all mixed up together, and Carter gave this the thumbs up too.

 
Last Bite: Nassim Hill Bakery is the place to go to if you want a relaxed cafe right on Orchard Road. Their food is excellent, as is the coffee, but it’s their freshly baked breads (also available to bring home) that wow!
 
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes (in mall)
Kids’ menu: No

Nassim Hill Bakery
56 Tanglin Road #01-03
Singapore 247964
Phone: 6835 1128
Prices: $$
Hours: Tue – Sun: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
 
 

I’d been to PAUL Bakery when we lived in Shanghai, and we’d always enjoyed their coffees and pastries. I was delighted when they opened a branch in Takashimaya mall in Singapore, and now in Tanglin Mall (in July 2013).

PAUL prides themselves on their baked goods, but we’d decided to visit for lunch to try their lunchtime menu.

I was pleasantly surprised by the complimentary bread basket which was filled with sliced baguette. It seems fewer and fewer cafes are doing so in Singapore, so the ones that still do get a big thumbs up in my book. Specifically because my kids love bread (don’t all kids?!) and it keeps them occupied as they merrily chew on the bread whilst we await our mains.

I opted for the Ham, cheese and mushroom crepe. Oddly, it doesn’t exist on PAUL’s menu, which either has ham/cheese combination, or mushroom/cheese combination. But because I am a greedy pig, I asked for all three, and they complied.

I believe they charged me around $20 for this (the crepes on the menu run around $18 each) and I thought it was pricey for a small serving. It’s enough for breakfast or for a very petite eater, but otherwise, you’d be left pretty hungry.

Thumbs up, however, for the large roasted tomato on the side. It added juiciness to the dish and complemented it well.

They went fairly heavy-handed on the cheese, which I was delighted with. I would have preferred another slice of ham (could hardly taste it as it was one thin sliver), and for the crepe itself to be a little drier and crispier as it was a tad soggy. I suppose I’m used to the amazing crepes we had in Paris!

Their latte was superb and hit the spot. It was served in an adorable thick-walled glass mug, and had a rich foam over a punchy coffee.

Their dessert+coffee set is a staple of mine. This mini dessert platter comes with a tiny pot of creme brulee (Carter loved this), a small slice of chocolate fudge cake (absolutely luscious), and two macaroons (lovely).

It’s the perfect portion size for a dessert, and will leave you satisfied but not overly-full.

 
 
Last Bite: PAUL Bakery now has two convenient locations on Orchard Road, and offers a small but satisfying lunch menu. Our favourite? The dessert + coffee set!
 
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes (in the mall)
Kids’ menu: No

PAUL Bakery
Tanglin Shopping Centre
163 Tanglin Road
#01-16/17
Singapore 247933
Phone: 6736 3257
Prices: $$
Hours: Sun-Thu 8am-9:30pm; Fri-Sat 8am-10pm