After seeing the Merlion, we were seriously hungry. And Carolyn, once a long-time resident of Singapore, had given us our destination: Princess Terrace restaurant at the Copthorne King's Hotel. Home of "Singapore's best-loved Penang buffet," we knew to come hungry. (Penang is a region in northern Malaysia with a reputation for really good food, some of which are Singaporean classics.)
We made sure to get the full value out of our buffet (and Penang eating experience) with a total of seven plates of savory food and six plates of sweets totaling well more than twenty dishes. Get ready...
On the first plate, there was, starting at 12 o'clock: rice flavored with herbs and seafood, La La clams, vermicelli with tamarind paste, assorted Penang appetizer with peanut sauce, chicken satay with peanut sauce, and braised pork ribs.
The standouts from this mix were the vermicelli, the satay, and the pork. The vermicelli had a sweet quality while still retaining its appetizer essence. It also had a soothing coolness. The satay were addictive, and this stick was the first of about 15 that our table consumed. The pork ribs were flavored richly and jumped off the bone, with a good mix of fat to meat.
Next was a small plate of otak otak, a fish dish that is fish and spices mashed and steamed in banana leaves. It had an odd texture, slightly gelatinous, that grew on me as I ate more of it. The middle, where there was more fish, was better than the outsides that seemed over steamed to me.
Third was a fresh bowl of laksa, a noodle soup flavored with coconut milk and fish. This dish was fresh, but ultimately had a bit too much fishiness to the broth to be lapped up.
For the next course it was back to appetizers, namely popiah and kueh pieti. The popiah are the spring roll lookalikes, and they were excellent. The shell is thicker than Vietnamese rice paper. the insides are filled with a variety of ingredients, some hot and some cold, that blend nicely and also make each bit just a little bit different. The kueh pieti (which translates as top hats) are little fried shells stuffed with the same ingredients inside popiah. These were delightful as well, and so easy to pop in my mouth.
The second full plate had, starting at 12 o'clock again: many more satays, yellow rice, fermented fried chicken, fried fish in curry, and green beans with citrus and garlic. Everything was tasty, with the fried fish being a particularly nice balance of fish, fry, and spice. The green beans were also a change of pace and a good reminder of fresh vegetables. The fermentation of the fried chicken was a puzzling addition and remained subtle until the aftertaste, which had a vinegar-like quality to it.
Time for another soup course, this one with thick noodle soup on the left and duck and vermicelli noodle soup on the right. Both were winners, and had light and clear broths. The thick noodle soups noodles were scrumptious, perfectly cooked and easy to slurp. The duck lent a richness to its soup that brought out more flavor from the scallions and vermicelli.
Switching to desserts, the first wave was a bunch of kueh (rice-based desserts). The best were the glutinous rice dessert with kaya spread (at 9 o'clock on the right) and the green topped piece on the left (also at 9 o'clock). Not too sweet but with enough to tell you it's dessert, these were nice. Paired with these was a crumpet-like pancake topped with caramel and banana. As you might imagine, tasty!
Wave two of desserts went to the nuts. There was a freshly cooked peanut pancake with sugar and honey and fresh tofu with simple syrup. The peanut pancake was a good couple of bites but hard to finish. The fresh tofu was a delight. It was lovely to scoop it out of its big bowl into this little one, lovelier still to eat. It tasted of clouds.
The anchor leg of desserts was mixed fruit plate, fruit rojak, and DIY ice kacang. The fruit was excellent, as you'd expect. The rojak was a miss; I just don't get adding fermented shrimp paste to a dish and calling it dessert. Maybe my palate is just off in this regard. The ice kacang was fun to make and fun to eat (and, picking the ingredients myself, I got to tone down the bean-heavy nature of the dish). Here's the full ice kacang station, where, if you zoom in, you can see the various ingredients at play and the fresh ice shavings maker at right.
At the end of the meal, we were no longer hungry. After writing this post, I am made full again. It was at least twenty-four separate items, and maybe more depending on how you count. Yum!
H/T to Carolyn for the recommendation.
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