Media Tasting: A La Carte Buffet Dinner at Ellenborough Market Cafe (Swissotel Merchant Court)

Alright, this is quite a belated update as I've visited the restaurant before we backslid into HA. Well, if you've been following me on IG you should know, and hopefully has treated yourself to a takeout feast with the 15% discount promotion code too? 

Anyway, here's a much overdue review of my ala carte buffet dinner at Ellenborough Market Cafe, located at Swissotel Merchant Court. 

A small dampening aspect of the situation now, due to covid measures, is that the buffet line is no longer open. So the excitement of browsing through the buffet line to find out 'what's up for grabs' and also to decide for ourselves on how much or how little of each food to take, is wholly removed from the dining experience. Instead, you'll be given a few sheets of the ala carte order chit and be overwhelmed by row and rows of dish names. 

But that teeny weeny disappointment was quickly dissolved by the wow factor of the seafood bucket that was served to our table. It was literally a bucket, filled with Boston lobster, rock lobster, clam, whelk, prawns, black mussels, king grab, sausages, root vegetables and mushrooms. 

Definitely a treat for seafood lovers, YUMS! 

The dishes available for the ala carte dinner buffet are of a Peranakan fusion theme, so you can expect lovely dishes like laksa, nonya, rojak, kueh pie tee, babi pongteh, nasi lemak rice (dyed a beautiful blue with the butterfly pea flower) and ngoh hiang et cetera. 

And at the same time, you can also find more western dishes like sirloin steak, pasta, roasted potatoes and mushroom soup, and chinese dishes like kung bao lotus root and wok-fried asian greens on the menu to help satiate your hunger. 

While the HB was totally in love with the Rock Lobster in Singapore Chili Crab Sauce (because lobster, DUH!), the dish that left the most lasting impression on me for the night was the pasta with pork ragout and sous vide egg. The super IG-worthy #eggporn moment of breaking the yolk of the sous vide egg aside, the pork ragout was really flavourful, and together with the sous vide egg, gave the paste a lovely creamy, savoury taste. 

Being a ant-person (someone with an extreme sweet-tooth), the dessert menu of 14 dishes wasn't all that impressive. A huge part of it was also because I'm not much of a fan of local/nonya desserts (nonya kueh, chendol, bubur cha cha, durian), and so my choices of dessert was immediately reduced by half. 

Anyway, the HB quite enjoyed the durian fritter, and also felt that it was better than the durian penyet. Well, I guess you just can't go wrong with dipping food in batter and deep-frying them, yes? 

And out of all the cakes and patisserie that I've tried (black forest trifle, new york cheesecake, raspberry lychee mousse, honey pecan walnut tart), I have the say that the raspberry lychee mousse stood out the most. Love the tanginess of the raspberry, coupled with the sweetness of the lychee that is enveloped in the fluffy near-nothingness of the airy mousse. The NY cheesecake was pretty good as well, rich and creamy, but both the HB and I did not understand why they had to add the icing pearl sprinkles on top. It was so hard crunchy that it nearly chipped my filling. =,="

Do check out the HB's full video review of our dinner feast for the night.

For more information on Ellenborough Market Cafe current opening hours and their dining offers, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

Basically Jo: Centella Cica Skincare for Acne & Sensitive Skin [Sponsored]

BasicallyJo was founded by Jolene, who suffers from acne and contact dermatitis (a form of eczema). Her persistent research and experiment with products led to many of her friends in the same situation coming to her for advice on skincare products and she was then inspired to launch BasicallyJo to share her knowledge on natural beauty remedies and products, and help those in the same shoes to regain their skin confidence. 

Promising to be a vegan, clean, cruelty-free and sustainable skincare line, BasicallyJo now carries two brands of Korean skincare - Pureforet Centella Cica and T'else Kombucha Teatox. Both brands contains natural ingredients and are free from harmful chemicals, which allows the skin to 'breathe freely' and hence reduce the possibility of potential acne breakouts and other skin allergy outbreaks. 

Pureforet Centella Cica Multi Cream - $52.90

Do you know that exposure to blue light from screens causes our skin to age rapidly, leading to development of wrinkles and fine lines? In order to repair our skin barrier and combat the premature skin aging, we require ultra-intense hydration and collagen. However, rich moisturisers are typically not very well tolerated by those with sensitive (easily clogged up) skin (like yours truly), and many of us tend to lose out on the benefit of having a well hydrated skin. 

Pureforet Centella Cica Multi Cream is specially formulated after 12 years of research with the Korean Skin Centre for sensitive skin. With a triple combination of shea butter, aroma oil blends and centella asiatica, this multi cream hydrates the deeper layers of the skin, while antioxidants from centella cica stimulates collagen production within the skin, hence minimising the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. This simply means that this cream is not only good for acne-prone or eczema skins, but also comes with anti-aging benefits! Talk about win-win! 

Coming in a handy-dandy 50ml tub, a little goes a long way when using this multi cream. With a slightly gel-like creamy consistency, this multi cream spreads easily and gets absorbed into the skin quickly, leaving no feeling of oiliness behind. Using this cream as part of my night routine has allowed me to wake up to a soft and supple skin, with no oily sheen on my face. The quick absorption of this cream also makes it a good day cream, as I need not wait too long for the cream to "set" before layering on my sunscreen and/or makeup.

Being a rich moisturiser (shea butter is no joke for oily-skin ladies like me, really!), I do get a slight sticky feeling on my skin should I dab on a little too much of the cream. But after nearly two weeks of using the cream, I'm glad to say that the richness of this multi cream is definitely all good and no harm to my extremely oily and yet dehydrated skin. 

And do you know that BasicallyJo is actively looking for testers for their products? Check out their FAQ to find out how you can apply to be their product testers! 

For more information on BasicallyJo and their range of skincare products, visit their website or IG

Till then,

Mia Foo