Josh T.
Yelp
I feel that Oscar's is the kind of place that doesn't really feel like "just 3 stars", yet is it on the same level of any other restaurant/eatery I've rated 4 stars? No, not really.
So take this rating with a pinch of salt then. Oscar's is slightly above average as hotel buffets go.
I entered Oscar's with pretty low expectations. Recent buffets fresh in my mind include Carousel, The Buffet at M Hotel, and one other one that was so mediocre I don't even remember where it was.
First thing you notice as you walk around the buffet. Oscar's has oysters, and there're 3-4 types. They're also all shucked to order. There's sashimi, and those are all cut to order to. The night I went, there was Swordfish toro sashimi, and it was spectacular. The fatty, buttery goodness of the swordfish was very memorable, and I'm dying to find out if it's a regular feature on the buffet line (apparently the buffet last night was the "earth hour buffet").
Hot stations featured a salmon in puff pastry (gave that a miss) and a very delicately cooked, perfectly medium rare Beef Wellington. The beef was moist, tender, and pink, and the mushroom gravy was very flavourful (though a bit too rich). There was a seafood pesto linguine that was surprisingly good, and very fragrant... and the juice offering of pineapple, lychee, and mint (called the earth trio, so I suspect that was a special feature) was absolutely scrumptious. Though maybe a bit less pineapple would have made the flavours more balanced.
The waffles made to order were crisp, just a little bit salty so that they made a perfect accompaniment to all that ice cream, and it pretty good ice cream too. Maple walnut is always a winner.
It of course, wasn't all perfect. The other desserts were fairly mediocre, the pear and ginger crumble tart was all crumble and no pear, a lot of the other cooked dishes were only fairly mediocre. The chicken in garlic crust? Horrible. Veal in mushroom sauce? Okay, but the sauce was again, a trifle too rich. Oh. The roasted baby potatoes were delicious, and the Polenta cakes well executed. So it wasn't all bad.
Another thing I liked was coffee and tea being included in the buffet. Specifically, Ronnefeldt tea. It's a brand that Raffles Hotel used to use, and I genuinely like the teas they have on offer. Peppermint and Earl Grey are both excellent, and their Chamomile is also very fragrant (comes served with a pot of honey too).
So, mediocre dishes aside, Oscar's definitely impressed. Service was attentive, food was definitely of a good level. This might just be my new "go-to" hotel buffet.
Of course, it helps that I can book it via Chope (which I did for this visit actually!).