Ellenborough Market Cafe - Merchant Court Hotel

I went to Ellenborough Market Cafe at Merchant Court Hotel for a buffet lunch with Nicole, Geri and Doreen yesterday. It was great fun, we got there early and took a table outside for a drink. I love the Clarke Quay area on weekend morning, it is always so tranquil and you actually get to see it in daylight. Clarke Quay is more known for its nightlife with its row of cafes, restaurants, pubs and clubs.

There are less people, and it is cool to just chill by the riverside, watching the world goes by, bumboats idling or moving up and down the river, ferrying passengers, watching life slowly stirred to life as it gets pass noon and there are more tourists exploring the area.

I ordered the ice mocha with vanilla ice cream while Nicole had a ice coffee. It took about 20mins before they arrived, and we thought they had forgotten our orders. Found out the drinks are actually from another cafe, hence the time it took. Doreen had the camomile tea while Geri had a latte. I am not that impressed with the way the drinks were served. Remembered my mocha latte and the presentation? The cafe definitely is not big on presentation.

I would expect better from a hotel's cafe and would think the glass will at least
be placed on a coaster. And since there was ice cream in the drink, where is the spoon? There were lumps of ice in the ice cream too. Terrible!


We moved into the restaurant when the buffet started and were given a table close to the "action", right across from the sashimi section. For a moment, I wondered if N actually told them that we wanted a table near the food when she made reservations earlier, and I was kidding her about getting a table near the food she she can check out her sashimi which she loved. She didn't - talk about coincidence - or the waiter being able to read her mind ;)

I like the buffet lunch at Ellenborough as the price is reasonable, and the food is peranakan/international. The spread may not be as much as The Line at Shangri-La, but it is more than enough. Quality-wise, I found the food to be alright, not too bad. Ellenborough is famed for its durian puree dessert (see left) and it always get empty very fast but the staff will refill it very often. I like the salmon sashimi and the chicken buah keluaks ( a very peranakan dish which supposedly is very tedious to prepare).

Plate 1 - salad, samosa (very nice!), spring roll, otak roll, beef salad, some chicken thing, and sharkfin egg omelette in center.

Plate 2 - assam fish, chicken buah keluak, something i don't remember, clams, prawns, baby crabs claws in black pepper sauce.

Dessert 1 - cheesecake (that is good too), fruits in chocolate cup, chocolate mousse cake, banana chocolate trifle (very light, I didn't really like that).

Dessert 2 - Dumpling ball with black seasame filling (aka Ah Balling) coated with crushed peanuts, bread & butter pudding with raisins and almonds flakes and vanilla sauce, jackfruit creme brulee.

I also tried the soup (something with fish maw, not bad), and laksa (thick white noodles with prawn, slices of fishcake, bean sprouts and a piece of otak in a coconut based gravy and sprinkled with laksa leaves).

We were so stuffed after that. Good thing I didn't have any breakfast at all. There were of course more food available, but I did not take those. The durian puree was a bit of a disappointment as it was a bit sour and had a "fizzy" sensation. We thought it was off, and feedback to the waiter. He brought out the chef and he explained that there were different varieties of durians used, and this particular puree was different from previously, hence the sour taste and fizziness. He said if the puree is spoilt, it will be very watery. We told him we preferred the previous type and about 5 mins later, the waiter actually brought out 2 bowls of durian puree (1 was of the previous type, and the other the current version), compliments of the chef, that was certainly unexpected. Kudos to the chef and service staff for that.

The laksa was pretty good, very lemak (coconutty) but the otak was a bit of a surprised. The soup was tasty and thick, it would be great if there was a dash of vinegar too. The sashimi was fresh, we shared 2 plates of that.

Overall, my fave dishes were the samosa, salmon sashimi, chicken buah keluak, assam fish and the cheesecake. This meal lasted me for the entire day. Haha. The bad thing about buffet is stuffing myself as I like to try everything, but of course that is just simply not possible.

Thank you girls, for the treat. I had a wonderful time *hugs* Gonna miss you girls after next week. The next one will in end Feb ;p

P.S: I still dislike using blogspot, so hard to attach and place the picture. Took pictures without flash, hence the darkness.