No better way to spend a Sunday than having bubbly over brunch.
We’ve all fallen prey to a term, ‘brunch’, because of what it entails. What’s not to love when you can sleep in, combine two meals in one and have it buffet style. Splash in a little bubbly and we are in for a hearty start.
Hilton Singapore knows the charm in that and is now serving up a wonderful champagne brunch every Sunday at Opus restaurant. I’d say delay those Monday blues with some effervescent fun.
With eight live cooking stations coupled with a larger than life buffet spread, Hilton Hotel’s champagne brunch is sure to satisfy any insatiable appetite. You’ll be pampered with charcuterie from Europe, premium Australian cuts and the freshest catch from the ocean.
I was first greeted by dandy little glasses of appetisers like the tuna tartare, seafood ceviche and alaskan crab suspended in mango jelly, which was very visually enticing. Right next to it was where my heart lies, dessert. You can only imagine how hard it was for me to bypass that and head deeper into the restaurant to start working my appetite properly.
For Sunday brunch, is a bartender who will go around preparing bloody mary cocktails with desired ingredients as toppings. If that’s not how you do your brunch, fret not for there is liquid gold, champagne, other sparkling wines, red and white wines or even juices, coffee, tea and soft drinks to satisfy any type of dehydration.
Behind the live cooking stations are chefs who are readily on stand by to ensure each dish be on its best flavour. Expect tantalising dishes such as the pan-fried foie gras with apple and passionfruit reduction, fresh homemade Italian maccheroni pasta with juicy Maine lobster meat and yabbies’ and classic home made scotch egg with black truffle hollandaise sauce.
It is no wonder the restaurant is filled with an aromatic whiff.
The foie gras is tender and creamy, having a luscious and rich flavour that coats the palate and it is complemented with a sweet and tangy fruit reduction that offsets the decadence, making it seem less sinful but all the more delicious.
The last time I’ve had a decent scotch egg was a pretty long time ago, and I was very pleased to know that they serve it up here and it is one of their specialties. True to that, the egg is cooked to the right amount of doneness with the yolk still slightly runny.
The scotch egg is coated with bread crumbs and sausage meat that is golden and crisp on the outside, tender and savoury on the inside. The truffle hollandaise sauce adds an extra flavour, making it an extremely rich and comforting dish. I’d definitely recommend this as a must try.
Starting with the seafood section, there is a fresh selection of sashimi and premium catches like the Canadian – Maine lobsters, yabbies (a type of crayfish) from Spain, scallops, mussels and oysters from Australia, Canada and France. Yabbies aren’t really common in buffets and this was a refreshing change in selection.
Moving onto the smorgasbord station where all the lovely charcuterie are laid out together with the duck rillette, fruit chutney and foie gras terrine. Another of my favourites, there was the whole leg of iberico ham, lomo ham and gravlax salmon for those wishing for something lighter. The charcuterie are savoury and salty, the right kind of heavy in flavour.
I’d recommend this to go together with the wide selection of cheeses and by wide I mean 20 odd types of fromage. Yep. While usual buffets serve one to two kinds of blue cheese, Hilton serves three kinds of blue cheese and you must know, blue cheese is literally my favourite type of cheese. Each kind was creamy, some more pungent than the other in the best way possible.
Extremely salty, it goes well on a table water and fruit jam or dried cranberries. They have other cheeses such as the comte, pecorino, somerdate and many more.
There is a corner serving chinese delights such as dim sum, kam heong crab and claypot frog leg, which I am sure isn’t the usual suspects of a buffet. Why the kam heong crab, golden fragrance cab, you may ask? The head chef himself hails from Malaysia and prides himself on such a traditional dish, wanting to make it available to the wider audiences. Just as well with the frog legs, to give more variety and better exposure to them.
Definitely for those feeling carnivorous, the meat carving station serves hearty portions of Australian grain-fed prime rib, honey mustard-glazed pork rack and slow-grilled herb roasted chicken. The chicken is tender while the prime rib is done to a medium rare goodness where the juices retain its flavour. The pork is chewy and a lighter option to the prime rib.
As for the open-flame charcoal grilled section, the chefs would grill your meats accordingly to your desired doneness when you’ve chosen from the selection of wagyu flank steaks, lamp chops and Rangers Valley grain-fed beef tenderloins. Expect a smoky experience for your tastebuds that you wouldn’t regret.
No meal is complete without desserts, that’s a given. Indulge in a decadent spread of desserts, from alcohol infused cakes to meringue made with nitrogen. The cakes served there are also available at D9 bakery.
There’s the tangy yet sweet cassis caramel cake, delectable yet not too heavy coffee ivory cake, creme brulee, red wine poached pear in chantilly creme and sake infused jelly. Not forgetting the pralines, macaroons and chocolate hazelnut fondue with all the fruits and marshmallows. With so much to choose from, it’s hard not to get an overload of sugar.
The nitrogen meringue is a definite must try. It is a small casing of meringue made from nitrogen, prepared on the spot and pumped with espuma, topped with mango spherification. When consumed, be ready to take a video of yourself fuming with the smoke reaction from the meringue, as with all of us did. Taste wise, it is very refreshing as a dessert, very light and citrus-like, a good change of palate from all the death by chocolate.
By the time I was done with the desserts, I was sure of two things. That I felt like a stuffed turkey ready to be roasted for a thanksgiving dinner and that I was as happy as a lark. Oh yes, I went there, to the idiom land where nobody actually treads on. But certainly also very bubbly because, champagne is the best companion.
The Hilton Singapore Sunday Champagne Brunch is available every Sunday, starting from noon to 3pm at the Opus restaurant on the first level. Pricing goes at $88++ per adult with a welcome drink, $108++ per adult with free flow of sparkling wine, selected white and red wines and beer, $138++ per adult with free flow of Louis Roederer champagne, selected white and red wines and beer, $39++ per child aged 5 to 12 years old and any one below the age of four get to dine for free.
Do look out for their Christmas brunch happening on Christmas Day itself. You can definitely expect the good ol’ Christmas spirit of stuffed turkeys. Reservations in advance should be made, after all, it’s Christmas.
Hilton hotel sure knows the way to our hearts huh.
