Renowned for serving Singapore’s Best-loved Penang Buffet since the early 1970s, Princess Terrace Café at Copthorne King’s Hotel featuring favourites such as Penang Laksa, Prawn Noodle, Popiah, Satay, Curry Chicken, Kueh Pie Tee, Fried Kway Teow, Duck Thigh Mee Sua and a delightful selection of Nonya Kueh and silky Soya Beancurd.

Frankly, the hotel looks unassuming but their Penang buffet is not bad! And they have been serving it for the past 40 years! We went on a Thursday night and the entire buffet restaurant was full. While the selection may not be as varied as other luxury hotel, but the food here is authentic, hearty and comforting.

We began our meal proper with some hot pig stomach in pepper soup and homemade pork ball with white cabbage soup. Followed by a Penang style appetizer with tougay, cucumber slice, fried beancurd. There were also Kerabu bee hoon, Achar awak and Nasi ulam. Happy to see Nasi Ulam in the buffet because it was not easy to prepare this dish.

The delicious Penang style rojak consists typically of cucumber, pineapple, jambu, turnip and other fruits. The prawn sauce (ha koe) is thick and the peanuts added the flavours. You can toss and mix the dressings and ingredients by yourself.

The curry chicken was balanced – there wasn’t too much coconut milk or spices. It was creamy and went well with Nasi Kunyit (yellow glutinous rice) and Roti Jela (yellow mee kia). What struck us was how ‘homely’ the curry tasted and you could tell that effort was put into making this.

The Penang Char Kway Teow had an aromatic smoky wok-fried flat rice noodles with crunchy bean sprouts, Chinese sausage, prawns and eggs in savoury black soya sauce. Don’t remember seeing cockles, yes, the noodleswere springy and every strand was coated with flavour. However, it lacks wok hei.

Live station looks abit empty but never miss out the penang laksa, hokkien mee tng, herbal soup mee sua cooked ala minute. The hokkien mee broth is prepared with stir-fried crushed prawn shells, pork bones and ground dried chilli. It gives a medium-to-light punch of flavour that does not overwhelm the palate. It is ladled over cooked noodles and bee hoon, kang kong, bean sprouts, prawns and pork rib.

The assam laksa is slightly watery for me. Nevertheless, there are generous helping of cucumber, onion and pineapple.

As their penang dishes are on rotational basis, ngor hiong was not offered on the day I went. But it is okay, nasi lemak made it up for it. Love its fried chicken wings. Their chicken satay had tender chicken skewers marinated with an oriental flair is served with a spicy peanut dip. It was slightly on the dry side.

We also marveled at the array of colourful nonya kuehs such as Apom bokwa with banana sauce, Ang ku kueh, Seri muka, Abuk abuk, Kueh dadah, Kueh lapis, Kueh bengkah, Kueh talam, Pulut ta tai, Ban chang kueh (Peanut pancake) and DIY Ice kachang. The dessert that gained nods of approval was the beancurd. It was silky smooth and you can choose to have normal sugar syrup or gula melaka. End your meal with a cup of teh tarik.

Pricing:

Weekday Lunch (Monday to Thursday): Adult S$38.80 | Child (between 5 to 12 years old) S$25.80
Weekday Dinner (Monday to Thursday): Adult S$40.80 | Child (between 5 to 12 years old) S$25.80
Weekend Buffet Lunch (Friday to Sunday & Public Holiday): Adult S$40.80 | Child S$25.80
Weekend Buffet Dinner (Friday to Sunday & Public Holiday): Adult S$43.80 | Child S$25.80

Princess Terrace

Address: 1st floor, Copthorne King’s Hotel
Tel: +65 6318 3168

Thank you Copthorne King’s Hotel, I am giving away 2 sets of dining vouchers for Penang buffet for 2 pax each, applicable for Lunch or Dinner, weekday or weekend. The voucher is valid for 6 months and not to be used during F1 period (19-22 September 2013), Christmas eve & Christmas day, New year’s eve & New Year Day. Simply answer a simple question:

Question: Which restaurant is famous for their Penang Buffet in Copthorne King’s Hotel Singapore?

Closing date: 11 August 2013 (Sunday), 23:59.

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