Orion Turtle Chips

As you know, I love snacks.  Even better is snacks from other countries.  And best yet, snacks with interesting flavors.  Which gets us to Orion, a South Korean brand, one of the top manufacturers in the country.

Orion makes Orion a variety of items, like biscuits, cookies, pies, crackers, chips, chocolate, gum, and candy.  If you don't recognize the Orion name, you may know one of its products: Choco Pie, its top seller that has been around since 1974.

"Turtle Chips are characterized by rich texture and double flavor because they create the feeling of eating several chips with only one bite. When you slowly chew your sweets, it maximizes crispiness in your mouth and the resembling turtles are also the alluring features of Turtle Chips."

The largest of their chip lines is the kkobuk chips, or "turtle chips".  The name of the chip comes from the shape, that somewhat resembles a turtle shell.  The come in many flavors, both savory and sweet.  On the savory side, flavors include truffle, corn soup, shrimp, crunch cheese, flamin lime, onion, nutty bean, and seaweed. For sweet, there is vanilla, sweet soybean, cinnamon, and choco churro.

I got these on a whim from a Korean grocery store in San Francisco (along with the Honey Butter Chips), and I'm glad I did.  They were incredible.  I'd get them again in a heartbeat, and would love to try more flavors, but alas, they only had one.

Choco Churro.

"This snack, composed of four crunchy layers, harmonizes and blends in the flavor of Choco Churros."

Ok, these are wild.  I sorta thought I knew what to expect, but it turns out, I really did not.  

The form factor truly is unlike anything else I've seen, with the signature four layers.  The eating experience of these is fantastic.  Just as they say, it really does give you the sensation of eating several chips in a single bite.  They are perfectly crisp, and certainly addicting just based on the shape.

And then there is the taste.  This is where I was even more thrown off, as I was expecting a strong cinnamon component, per the churro name.  There was cinnamon, but really not much of it.  For me, this was a good thing, as I like cinnamon, but, cinnamon and chocolate aren't a magical combination for me.  The pieces did have a great chocolate flavor, a deep cocoa, and additional sugar coating that made them sorta lightly glazed.  Sweet and chocolately, with just a hint of cinnamon.  

The flavor reminded me of unhealthy children's breakfast cereals, but the form was more of a snack, or even a dessert if you wanted to dunk them in whipped cream, which sounds like a wonderful idea to me.  Ok, honestly, I think I'd really enjoy them for breakfast too, and I think the nutrition stats really aren't any different from sugary chocolately breakfast cereals, but mine never lasted that long.

I really enjoyed these, and will get them again if I ever find them!  ****.

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Pâte à Choux

I have a particular fondness for baked goods, which you likely realized from reading my blog by now.  So I'm always happy to hear about a new bakery, particularly one that has unique items.  And Pâte à Choux definitely has eye catching items.

Pâte à Choux has 4 product lines, most, as you may expect given the name, are choux pastries: original choux, chocolate choux, specialty choux, and ... mochi tarts.  The original choux are what you think of when you think of cream puffs, available with a variety of custard fillings.  Chocolate are the same idea, but, with a chocolate puff rather than plain.  The specialty choux incorporate both custard and whipped cream and bring in elaborate additional fillings, like fresh fruit, pretzels, and Oreos.  And the mochi tarts ... well, they are just a thing of their own.  More on that soon.

The shop is located in a mall in San Bruno, not exactly where I frequent often, but, amazingly, they are available for free delivery on DoorDash (with DashPass), remarkable given the distance.  I placed my order online the moment they opened, and it was delivered within the hour, no problems.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Original Choux

"100% handcrafted cream puff, freshly baked every 2 hours."

The most basic items at Pâte à Choux are the original choux, basically, cream puffs.  Original choux come in 5 filling flavors: vanilla, chocolate, matcha, hojicha, and black sesame.  All are $4.99 and are filled to order, the choux themselves baked fresh every 2 hours.    All use a custard based filling, just, different flavors of custard.

The same 5 fillings are also available inside a chocolate choux.

Black Sesame. $4.99.

I opted for the black sesame, being on a bit of a black sesame dessert binge (its a thing!), after having a black sesame mont blanc a week before at Waraku Ramen Dining and basically suddenly deciding I needed all the black sesame things.   I wasn't there to see it filled to order since I got it delivered, but, they fill them to order, and it was clear when I got it that it hadn't been sitting around filled for a while.  Not at all soggy.

Now, if you've been reading my blog a while you may recall that I don't generally care for cream puffs, eclairs, and the like, as I don't really like choux pastry that much.  So, yes, I got this knowing I might not like the bun itself all that much.  It was, however, by far the best choux I've ever had.  Light and airy, but, yes, a bit eggy (the element I don't like).  The craquelin on the outside though - unreal.  Crispy, crunchy, sweet, much like a Chinese pineapple bun but even more amazing.  I've never had a choux with craquelin that good.  The bun was actually remarkably thin, and it was amazingly generously stuffed, which you wouldn't know from just looking at the exterior.

So, even if I don't like choux that much, wowzer, this was so fresh, so thin, so crispy, so light and airy, just, wow.  ****, even for a girl who doesn't like choux.

Black Sesame Inside.

And inside, the filling.  It was stuffed to the brim.  I knew to expect this from Instagram photos, but, yes, it really was as full as it could possibly get.

The filling was only lightly sweet, the black sesame nutty and savory.  It was not a super rich, thick custard, but clearly thicker and richer than a whipped cream.  

Overall, this was actually a fairly light treat, with the airy pastry and the not too heavy filling, and neither element, besides the craquelin itself, very sweet.  It satisfied my black sesame cravings, but, did remind me that choux buns just aren't really what I want.  Still, this was as perfect as one can be, ****.

Handcrafted Mochi Tart

The other item offered at Pâte à Choux is not choux based at all.  Mochi tarts.  If you don't know what that is, neither did I.  I believe these are a custom creation from Pâte à Choux.  I suspect many people just overlook these on the menu.  I'll admit, I nearly did too, but, since I was ordering delivery, I didn't want to just get one thing, and threw on one to just round out my order.   Hedge my bets.  Best. Decision. Ever.

I think the mochi tarts sometimes come in other flavors, but the day I ordered, they only had one: vanilla.  

Original Vanilla. $4.99.

"Crispy shell filled with our handcrafted mochi and topped with vanilla brûlée."

Ok, so a mochi tart.  Even reading the description, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.  And, really, I wasn't sure it made any sense.  A tart, and mochi, and brûlée, all in one?  Even though I adore crème brûlée, so much so that I have a label on my blog devoted to it, this just sounded, well, confused.  And I'm not really one for tart shells either.

And yet, well, this was magical.

I call it the lovechild of a crème brûlée, a Chinese egg custard tart, Japanese mochi, and a French tart, all in one.  It sounds like too much going on, to put it in Gordon Ramsey terms, rather than "fusion" it is "con-fusion", but actually, it was glorious. 

The base is a crisp and sturdy, slightly sweet, pâte sucrée shell.  I often call tart shells throwaway at best, but this was tasty on its own.  A very good short crust, one of the best I've ever had really.  This could make me change my mind on tart shells.  ****.

The top, as you can see here, a perfect brûlée topping.  I think they brûléed it to order.  It had the right snap to it, and lovely caramelization.  As good as any crème brûlée I've ever had anywhere.  I'd be happy just eating a crème brûlée made with this top layer too. ****+.

Just those two components together made this an incredible item I'd rave about, and it made me wonder why you don't ever see crème brûlée in an actual crust of any kind - wouldn't a pie crust, or a tart shell, be a nice addition sometimes?

Original Vanilla: Inside.

But this item just kept on giving.

Inside the tart shell, at the bottom, was a base layer of mochi.  It was soft and squishy, totally odd to have inside a tart and with a crème brûlée, but, actually, it worked.  Such interesting textures together, and it was really a quite good mochi, fresh as can be. ****+.

And then, above that, an egg custard, well set, great consistency, again, as good as any I've ever had in a traditional form.  They nailed this, too. ****+.

And there you have it.  Chinese + Japanese + French fusion dessert.  Each element nailed, exemplary, and I'd rave about how well done they were in a standalone context too.  They shouldn't all work together so harmoniously, but, well, they do. 

This was incredibly unique, and so very, very tasty.  One of the best pastries I've probably ever had.  Perfect *****.

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Ramen Waraku Dining

Sometime in the midst of the pandemic, when restaurants were still closed, I started trialing all the random ghost kitchens at 60 Moris St, not that far from my house.  It was then and there that I discovered Ramen Kobo Waraku, the cloud kitchen version of Ramen Waraku Dining, and, some very glorious takoyaki.  I think it was the best takoyaki I've ever had, including many versions in Tokyo.

Fast forward to now.  I was browsing around on Doordash, and saw takoyaki at a number of places.  Suddenly, I was craving takoyaki.  I needed it, stat.

And thus, delivery it was, this time, from the main restaurant, Ramen Waraku Dining (the cloud kitchen outpost has since shut down I think).  I ordered a complete meal starter, main, dessert, and drinks this time, eager to try a wider range of items.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I ordered on DoorDash, and my order was quickly confirmed.  I did ask for utensils and my order didn't come with any, and I wasn't able to put in any special notes (e.g. sauce on the side) so I had to call to ask for that, but, otherwise, the ordering was easy, and delivery was reasonably fast.

Drinks

I was impressed with the line of sake and beer available for delivery, so, even though I wouldn't normally order drinks with my meal if dining at home, I threw some on last minute.

Calpico $3, Amabuki Sunflower Sake $15.

I selected an interesting strawberry sake and a calpico, as I realized I hadn't ever had calpico before.

Unfortunately, they were out of the strawberry sake and substituted a sunflower sake.   The description of this one said "Sharp and dry. Good for ramen.", which wasn't what I was in the mood for at all.  Luckily I had a yuzu highball in my fridge that I paired with my meal instead.  When I had the sake later, it was fine, and not really particularly sharp nor dry.  I'd still like to try the strawberry one.

Appetizers

The reason I ordered from Waraku is that I was really craving good takoyaki, found on their appetizer menu.  I was craving it once I remembered how glorious the takoyaki from their 60 Morris St ghost kitchen was.  Other appetizer options included seaweed salad (which I would have ordered except I had some of my own from a sushi delivery a few days prior to finish up), edamame, fried shisitos, chicken karaage and fried squid legs, and braised pork belly slices.

Takoyaki. $6.50. (Toppings on the side).

"5pcs deep fried Takoyaki topped with Takoyaki sauce, mayonaise, aonori, bonito flakes."

I knew that some of that glory in it the first time was from having it hot and fresh, and this would suffer a little, but, I was still optimistic.  I asked to have the sauces on the side so it would hold up better for delivery, and I could likely heat it up as needed.  The restaurant did this with no problem (once I called to ask, since I couldn't through DoorDash), with the mayo, takoyaki sauce, and bonito all in their own containers.  The regular garnish of green onion and aonori seemed forgotten though.

The takoyaki were only lukewarm when they arrived, and fairly soggy, so I popped them into the toaster oven, glad I had asked for the toppings on the side.  They heated up easily, soon piping hot, and I assembled my perfect bites with the sauces.

The takoyaki let me down.  First, they weren't as crispy as before, which I attribute to delivery and basically getting soft in the warm container.  I'll forgive them for that.  But the real issue was the amount of squid inside.  Where I lauded them for being loaded with squid before, the same was not true this time.  Several of my balls were all batter, save one tiny tiny little piece of squid in each.  Sadness.  The batter was good, and it was creamy and gooey and tasty, but, I wanted chunks of squid after all.  **+ for the balls themselves.

The sauces were as expected, the takoyaki sauce slightly sweet, slightly savory, very salty, the mayo, well, mayo, but creamy and a good balance.  The bonito was bonito.  Average toppings. ***.

Overall, I was able to crisp them up, and there were good elements to the dish, but the lack of squid inside was the downfall, and I wouldn't get these again. **+.

Rice Bowls

While ramen is the focus, rice bowls are available as a mini meal, in 4 varieties: chicken kara-age, pork chashu or kakuni, or sukiyaki beef.  I opted for the later, just to have another component to my meal.  

Sukiyaki Beef Bowl. $6.
Add bean sprouts + kikurage mushrooms, $1 each.

"Stewed beef, soy sauce, onion, green onion, and sesame over rice."

I knew the rice bowls were fairly no frills, so I added additional toppings, bean sprouts and kikurage mushrooms, to jazz it up a bit.  All the standard ramen toppings were available to add on, I could have added marinated egg, bamboo shoots, corn, etc, etc but settled for just two.

The bowl was a bigger size than I expected for the modest $6 price, but it was mostly rice.  The rice wasn't particularly good.  I'm not really a rice girl in general, but this was fairly mushy, not seasoned.  Not dried out and clumped together I guess, but, not very good.

On top was a reasonable portion of the stewed beef and onions.  It was nicely marinated/cooked in a soy sauce mix, so it had good flavor.  The pieces were fairly fatty and chewy though, not particularly great either.  

The toppings were the highlight, both the included pickled radish and green onions and sesame, and the ones I added.  All were quite fresh tasting and actually went well with my takoyaki too.

I appreciated these toppings, and the reasonable price, but this base really wasn't very good. **+ for rice and beef, ***+ toppings.

Dessert

One reason I ordered from Waraku was the memory of the great takoyaki, but, the other is most certainly for dessert (I know, I know, common story with me).  They actually had interesting desserts, and, in particular, a black sesame based dessert that I'd kinda been thinking about since I saw it on the menu a few days prior, around the same time I had a kinda mediocre black sesame filled croissant from Hanabi (review coming soon).  In addition to the black sesame one I was eyeing, they also have a matcha mont blanc and red bean matcha mochi.

Black Sesame Mont Blanc.  $6.

"Both sesame paste and roasted sasame into sponge dough, which enables us to invent very filling and savory sasame-made Mont Blanc. Accentuating sasame flavor by choosing subtly sweetness of soymilk whipped cream for inner cream."

The packaging for the mont blanc made me laugh a little, as it was in the same size large bowl as the rice bowl.  A mont blanc should be ... a majestic mountain, and this looked so little in the big bowl, lol.

From the top it looked about as I expected - like a black sesame cream spaghetti mountain.  I was eager to dig in.

The black sesame paste spaghetti outer layer was good - slightly savory, slightly nutty, lightly sweet.  It had a decent black sesame flavor, and did taste a bit like chestnut (e.g. traditional mont blanc) although I don't think there was any chestnut in it.  Thicker than a cream, not quite as thick as a paste, somewhere right in the middle.  It was good, and the portion was appropriate too.

Black Sesame Mont Blanc: Inside.

Under the black sesame spaghetti-paste-cream was a dome of whipped cream.  I didn't taste the "subtle sweetness of soy milk", it tasted like regular whipped cream to me, but, it was good whipped cream, and, as a whipped cream lover, I appreciated how much there was.

And finally, the base, black sesame sponge cake.  Light airy cake, lightly black sesame flavored.  It wasn't particularly moist, but it wasn't too dry.  It was fine basically, and a nice balance to the cream components.

Overall, this was good - the different elements were all decently done, the ratios were in good balance.  I added some fresh fruit and a scoop of black sesame brittle ice cream (!) and really completed it, but I think it would be fine just as it was too.  I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but it was good, fairly unique, and a nice change from my regular dessert line up.

***+.

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Feast, Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

Um, ouch.

You know when people say things like "I'm so full it literally hurts!", and you kinda roll your eyes at them?  Yeah, go ahead and eye roll at me. Because I'm going to say it.  I'm so full it hurts.  Because, I went to Feast, the buffet restaurant at the Sheraton on the Park.

"With almost 20 different nationalities in the kitchen, the diversity of flavours is immense. Savour a world of flavours with meats and seafood grilled to perfection, local favourites that feature authentic tastes and new presentations – the food reflects the wonderful melting pot of cultures we live in today. The open kitchens serve up the freshest food a la minute, while the buffet-style displays encourage an interactive dining experience. 

The stone hearth oven will be the heart and soul of Feast and re-defines the entire dining experience at Sheraton on the Park. Connect with your loved ones over restorative comfort fresh roasts and wood fired pizza and exquisite hot desserts like nowhere else in Sydney, be delightfully intoxicated by aromas of freshly baked bread and pastries emanating from the ovens, be dazzled by range of desserts from the Patisserie that tops all expectations of sweet indulgences and promises to offer the greatest variety in town."

It is quite the buffet.  Dubbed the "International Seafood Buffet", seafood is clearly a star attraction, but there is also a hot foods area, a salad bar, extensive cheese/charcuterie/antipasti, a made to order noodle bar, a chef's action station ... and wow, the dessert.  Each area is extensive.

The buffet is open for lunch and dinner daily, starting at $109 for mid-week lunch, up to $129 for weekend dinner (or more when they are running specials), along with Sunday brunch ($149, includes sparkling).  I opted for dinner, on a Monday night ($89 at the time, not including any drinks, but this is now $109).  I worked hard to get my money's worth!

Would I return?  Probably not.  It wasn't worth $109.  It was a fun experience though, and mostly just made me really appreciate the Executive Lounge even more than I already did, because I realized that many of the items were the same, and, well, I got them for free upstairs.  It did also make me wish the lounge would get better desserts, as they were more extensive and better in the restaurant.

Setting

Restaurant Entrance.

The restaurant is located on the 1st floor of the Sheraton on the Park (NOT the ground floor, where the lobby and Gallery restaurant area), with an open entrance into the hotel.

Interior.

Inside is a large open space, with multiple large buffet sections (this one is the charcuterie bar).  There is also a live action station, with a chef making items to order.

Tables are set fairly elegantly, with bread plate and knife, multiple forks and knives, cloth napkins, and wine glasses.  In the middle of each table is a bucket for shells and a pot of water with lemon, I think for cleaning your fingers?

Chilled Seafood

Since this is the "International Seafood Buffet", it is no surprise that seafood is the highlight, and the very first island.

Lobster is only part of the more expensive weekend buffet, but the week day buffet did have 3 different types of crab, which I was excited by.  There was also no bugs of any sort, a surprise, given that local seafood is so focused around these.

I wasn't very impressed with this area.

Chilled Seafood Island.

The chilled seafood display, mostly on ice, wraps around the entire first section.

Sashimi.

I skipped the sashimi.

Mussels with Sweet Chili Sauce. 

I also skipped the mussels with sweet chili sauce on the side, although in retrospect I kinda wish I had tried them.

Seafood Salad.

I took a chunk of calamari out of the seafood salad, which had assorted greens, veggies, and chilled cooked seafood in it.

It was horrible.  Very, very, very fishy. *+.

Blue Swimmer Crab.

The first crab I tried was the blue swimmer crab.

This was the most leggy of the three.  It was not very good, extremely salty, and very fishy.  Certainly not worth the extraction effort (yes, tools were provided). **.

Spanner Crab.

Next I tried the spanner crab.  These chunks included big body cavities loaded with meat, so were easier to get a nice portion out of.

They weren't crazy salty.  The meat was ... fine?  Not particularly flavorful in any way.  However, there were lots of bits of shell in here, whomever pre-cracked pieces really made a bit of a mess.

Again, it certainly didn't seem worth the effort, very mediocre. **+.

Jonah Crab.

The final crab was Jonah crab claws.  The easiest of the three to eat since they were large claws and mostly pre-cracked, but also ... they were horrible.

Really icy and waterlogged. *+.

Vannemei Prawn.

 I skipped the prawns, they looked similar to the ones I had in the lounge two days prior.

Sydney Rock Oysters.

And I skipped the oysters, I'm not really an oyster person, and we had these in the lounge every day.  I was surprised to see only one type of oyster.

Tiger Prawn.

 Other prawns that I skipped.

Smoked Salmon and Accompanments.

The smoked salmon, capers, creme fraiche, onions, louis sauce, lemons were identical to what we had in the lounge.  I like all of these, and eat them nightly up there. ***+

Sushi.

The sushi selection was also about the same as upstairs in the lounge, with basic nigiri (eel, prawn), a couple basic rolls, and pickled diakon, ginger, seaweed, sushi, wasabi.

I really liked the sides, quite juicy and fresh.

I also tried the crazier roll, filled with crab stick (I think), cucumber, spicy mayo, and topped with bonito flakes.  I actually really liked the crab stick and spicy mayo.  The best of the chilled seafood items. ***.

Hot Foods

A random scattering of hot buffet foods filled another section.  

"Select from a World of Flavours."

No real rhyme or reason to this section, it was just a bit of ... everything?  

Hot Foods Side.

This was standard buffet style, occupying one long side of a buffet that had dessert on the far side.

Cream of Sweet Potato and Corn.

Token soup of the day.

Beef Curry / Prawn Crackers.

I got some prawn crackers to dunk in other things, and quite liked them.  Crispy and fluffy.

I didn't try the beef curry, which was very generously garnished with parsley!

Roasted Vegetables / Honey Soy Chicken Wings.

The honey soy chicken wings were in the lounge the night before.

The "Roasted Vegetables" made me laugh.  The signage was actually generally quite good, but then, this.  I suspect it changes sometimes, and they just use the generic sign?  Anyway, it was one item, pumpkin.

I'm honestly not sure why I decided to try it.  On the first round even.  But I'm glad I did.

The vegetable in question was pumpkin, it was roasted perfectly, and drizzled with a sweet addicting glaze.  I really loved the glaze, and although I wasn't really in the mood for pumpkin, this was a highlight of all the savories. ***+.

Grilled Lamb Chop with Ratatouille / Steamed Corn.

I skipped the lamb as I don't like lamb.

I also skipped the corn, although in retrospect I wish I hadn't.  Corn was in season in Australia, and it certainly wasn't in the US.  Ooops.

Steamed Whole Salmon with Bernaise Sauce.

Well, this was a looker.  A whole salmon on the buffet line.

And I was the first to be brave enough to break into it.

It was ... ok.  It was kinda cold, certainly didn't hold heat well in the buffet.  It was cooked through, not overcooked, but I love medium-rare salmon.  It didn't have much taste to it.

The bernaise was sadly not good.  Too ... something.  I'm not sure.  Too oily.  Too thick.  Kinda broken.  I guess not really the sort of thing that works well in a buffet after al.

Overall potential here, but, just not great.

Beer Battered Fish with Tartare Sauce.

The beer battered fish though, that was pretty great.

I had fish & chips the night before at Rockpool.  I had the fried fish in the lounge a few days prior.  I had fish & chips at my office.  I had a lot of fried fish on this trip.

I skipped it from the buffet the first round, as there were so many other things to try.  But I went back for it, and I'm glad I did.

It was good.  I really liked the flavorful, well seasoned, crispy batter.  It was somehow really still piping hot.  The fish itself was just eh, kinda firm, uninteresting, but still fine.

The tartar I had in the lounge was better, more herby, this was just too much plain mayo taste, and I actually preferred my fish and chips with other sauces I had on my plate from around the buffet (sweet chili, Chinese vinegar, even just soy).

Still, the best seafood of the night. ****.

Fish & chips is also on the a la carte menu for $32, probably a better value than the buffet.

Farro Saute with Vegetables / Potato Wedges.

Neither of these called out to me, so I skipped.

Salad Bar

Moving on, a salad bar.  For those who want to pretend to be healthy at the buffet.

I mock, but actually, I really liked some items there.  Then again, this came at a point in my trip where I had been seriously over indulging in heavy food at basically every single meal, and I think my body really, really wanted vegetables.

Salad Ingredients.

I won't enumerate everything here, but there was assorted types of greens, only a few veggies, lots of crunchy things (nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit) and, several types of sprouts.

I actually loved the sprouted things, returning for seconds.  All three types were good, but I particularly enjoyed the ones that I think were pea sprouts (so fresh and flavorful!) and the ones I think were sprouted mung beans (so crispy!). ****.

Nothing here was labelled.

Beetroot and Apple Salad / Tomato, Olive, Basil, Capsicum Salad.

I'm guessing the composed salads of the day are also what is featured in the lounge.  There were two here, one with beetroot and apple, the other tomato, olive, capsicum (likely labelled "antipasti" upstairs!)

Randomly were bins of nuts, and whole apples in the back.

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad / Farro Salad.

Two more composed salads, one was Asian chicken noodle, the other farro based.

Croutons, Cucumber, Salmon?

I'm really not sure why these items were in their own little section down here.

Dips / Salad Dressing.

None of the dips were labelled, but I was very excited to see 4 types, rather than just the two we had upstairs.  I hoped my favorites would be there, but alas, they weren't.

I tried these two though.

The roasted red pepper one was fine but not a flavor I really care for (which was true when I had it previous years in the lounge). ***.

The light pink one was really flavorless. ***.

There were two unlabelled salad dressings here as well, one was creamy, and what I used with my sprouts.

Beet Dip, Eggplant Dip, Dressing.

The beet and eggplant dip were the same as in the lounge, which I had been eating all week, so skipped here.  Interestingly, there were no chips to go with the dips here.  I used prawn chips from the curry.

Two more unlabelled vinaigrette looking dressings completed this section.

Cheese / Charcuterie / Antipasti

The other side of the salad bar was more cold items.

Bread and Butter.

I'm not sure who goes to a buffet like this and gets bread, but, there were several types, with packets of butter or margarine.

Cheese, Fruit, Roasted Veggies.

Cheeses were next (blue, cheddar, gouda, brie), plus cut fruit (melons, kiwi), and some roast veggies (eggplant, red onion).

Nothing interesting to me.

Dried Fruit / Crackers / Pate / Pickles / Onions.

Much like the nuts on the other side, there were jars of dried fruit in the back row here.  I really doubt anyone ever takes any of that stuff, it is hard to reach, doesn't really have tongs, and, well, why?

This section also had the crackers to go with the cheese, and a few other things that I skipped.

Stuff.

Honestly, I don't know how to categorize this section.  Nothing was labelled.

Roasted mushrooms went along with the roasted eggplant and red onion that were next to them, but the jars in front?  I tried a few things, pickled garlic and onions, and some kind of fermented citrus.  I have no idea what the creamy white ones were, they looked like yogurt and cottage cheese perhaps?

Charcuterie Carving.

The charcuterie was large format, being sliced periodically throughout the night.  Some of this actually looked pretty good, but I had plenty of protein with the fried fish, salmon, and crab, so I decided not to try it.

Carving Station

Moving on the to far end, another signature station, the Carving Station, which features different proteins nightly.

Lamb Leg, Spatchcock.

On my visit though, this was highly uninteresting: lamb, which I don't like, and spatchcock, ugh, little birds.

Mint Jelly / Sweet Chili / Mustard / Tomato Sauce.

I was excited by all the sauces though, and used some of the sweet chili with my fried fish and crab.

Seeded Mustard / Cranberry Sauce / Apple Sauce / Mustard.

There were more sauces, more mustard.

Noodle Bar & Chef's Specials

The final savory station was at the far end, with a wood fire oven, and several chefs running action stations.

Chef Station.

This section had a few buffet style items, plus the more signature made to order noodle bar and chef's specials.

Noodle Bar.

The array of choices at the noodle bar was vast, although, at least on my visit, all Asian style.  5 types of noodles (shanghai, "fine noodle", egg, Singapore, rice noodle), a few veggies to add in, toppings, sauces.  I didn't make a noodle bowl, but I tried a few things.

The seaweed was the same as down in the sushi bar.  The "shallots" were uh, chives?  I liked the chinese vinegar, chili oil, and soy sauces though, to dip my seafood into.

Prawn Crackers / Pappadums.

More prawn crackers were here, alongside, very randomly pappadums.  Uh, now they can check off the Indian box?

Steamed Rice / Stir Fried Asian Greens.

The asian greens were ... green beans?

Bo-ring.

Stir Fried Noodles with Pork.

I recognized this one, as they had it in the lounge that night too (where I had swung by prior to get a drink).

Pasta Special.

There was a sign for a pasta special, penne with nap sauce, but I didn't see it anywhere.  I think you had to ask for it?

Mixed Seafood.

This wasn't labelled, and I was surprised when I pulled the lid off the steamer basket to reveal an array of steamed seafood.

I tried a chunk of crab from here, it was fine, nice to have a warm piece. ***.

Chef's Special: Fried Pork Patties with Fresh Noodle / Garlic Fried Rice / Pizza.

And lastly, the chef's specials.

Which includes daily pizza, for, the kids?

The fried rice was in the red thing, but the other big bowl was fried shallots.  There they were!

Chef's Special: Fried Pork Patties with Fresh Noodle.

This chef's special seemed odd to me.  The noodles looked like they were cold, and the pork patties were set out on this grill post-cooking ... it wasn't a grill they were actually cooked on.

Dessert

And then ... dessert.

To say I over-indulged at this point is an understatement.  I'm a dessert girl, and, um, this was an entire buffet, devoted to dessert.

I can't say it was actually awesome, but there were a few things that I enjoyed, far superior to the selections in the lounge.  

Dessert.  All Dessert.

Yes, this was all dessert.

There were candy jars.  Puddings.  Mini cakes.  Large format cakes. Chocolates.  Hot items. Ice cream.  Bring. It. On.

That said, there were a number of dessert categories entirely missing, like cookies/biscuits.  Aren't those always crowd pleasers?  And pies.  No Australian items either.  Not that I necessarily wanted these things, but, the selection, while huge, seemed to skip major types of desserts.

Ice Cream and Sauces.

To start the lineup, ice cream (with cones on the side).

The selection was kinda lame: chocolate ice cream, "Mixed Berry Ice Cream", and mango sorbet.

Since I don't have caffeine in the evening I tried just a tiny bite of the chocolate, and it was good, rich, creamy, but alas, not what I could have in evening.

So I went for the "Mixed Berry Ice Cream", that was ... totally sorbet.  I'm sorry, this was not ice cream.  It was icy and fruity and not creamy.  I'm fairly certain it did not have dairy in it.  Sad, sad, sad.

I really did wish they had vanilla, or at least some other fairly neutral ice cream, to use to pair with my desserts.  Minus a few points here.

The ice cream/sorbet also had all garnish inside the containers - a bit hard to see here, but there were little meringues on the chocolate, frozen mango slices on the mango sorbet, and berries on top the mixed berry.

The sauces were not labelled, but were chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and I think sweetened condensed milk (or maybe creme anglais?).

I ended up using a lot of that last one, as there was no whipped cream available either, and, you know me, I need whipped cream or ice cream to pair with my desserts.  How could I have apple crisp without ... something?  So, scoops of sweetened condensed milk it was.

Hot Desserts: Apple Crumble, Chocolate.

There were two hot desserts, which made me very happy.  I love hot desserts!

First up was apple crumble.  It was actually pretty good.  The apples were nicely cooked, well spiced with cinnamon, and the very generous crumble on top was crispy and buttery.  There were a few plump raisins in the mix too.  It was also fairly warm.  I really wanted vanilla ice cream to go with it though.  I settled for some whipped cream from one of the cakes on my first go-around, and then just added tons of the sweetened condensed milk on subsequent rounds.  Yes, I said "rounds".

The crumble was my forth pick overall for sweets, and yes, I went back for "just a bit more" 3 more times. ***+.

The second hot dessert looked like sticky toffee pudding, and wasn't labelled, so I took a scoop, including plenty of what I thought was toffee/caramel sauce.  It ... wasn't.  It was chocolate sauce.  And, chocolate cake.  Warm, super moist, but, not what I wanted. ***.

Chocolate Mud Cake.

If I was eating chocolate ... I likely would have tried the chocolate mud cake.  I don't like cakes, but, this one had some serious fudge layers.

Coffee Caramel Slice / Chocolate Mud Pie / Mango Panna Cotta / Banana Caramel Gateau.

I didn't try any of the little cakes from here, but, being a pudding, an panna cotta lover, I grabbed one of those little jars.

Mango Panna Cotta.

So this ... was interesting.

Impossible to eat given the larger spoons on the tables, so I asked for a mini spoon, the kind that go with coffee.  I'm really not sure how you were supposed to really fit a big spoon into these.

Even with the small spoon, it was hard to eat, the boba came spilling out no matter how careful I was.

Anyway.

The base, the "panna cotta" was totally not panna cotta.  It was not creamy.  It was firm, slimy, and tasted like plain jello.  The orange layer, I guess mango, was also not great, just a gel.  Both seemed heavy in the gelatin.

But the green popping boba?  They were fantastic!  I think green apple, really sweet and flavorful, absolutely bursting with flavor and liquid.  Why were they on top of my panna cotta though?  So. Strange, but I did love them.  The popping boba were in top few dessert bites, but, I'll rank the overall dessert lower since the rest of it was so poor.  My second choice overall, just, uh, for the boba.  ***.

White Chocolate / Milk Chocolate / Marshmallows.

In the very back, where no one else seemed to grab for, was white chocolate studded with gummy candy and sprinkles, milk chocolate studded with nuts and dried fruit, and mini marshmallows, the same ones I had seen in the Air New Zealand lounge.

I may have snuck a piece of each of the chocolates into my bag.  For later.  Shhh, don't tell.  I loved all of these.  ****+.

Fruit Tart / Chocolate Mousse / Tiramisu / Lemon and Lime Petit Gateau.

The back row here had a fruit tart that I felt compelled to try since it was something different.

It was not good.  The shell was chalky.  The filling was just apple, really mushy, with a strange gel.  The fruit on top was fine I guess, and I really love their fluffy whipped cream, but, the tart was horrible.  **+.

I also tried the tiramisu, even though, obviously caffeinated.  I mostly avoided the cocoa powder on top, and only took a tiny bit of the super moist soaked cake (just to evaluate!).  It was easy to avoid these things, and basically just get a big scoop of mascarpone.  It was quite good, very rich and creamy, nice sweetness. Above average tiramisu. My #3, I wish I could have indulged more though, but, #caffeine. ***+.

I didn't try the petit gateau since it was lemon and lime, not flavors I go for in dessert.

Lemon and Lime Petit Gateau / Strawberry Lemon Cold Cheesecake. 

The "Strawberry Lemon Cold Cheesecake" I had in the lounge a few days prior, and it wasn't good then.  I did laugh at the sign though.  Did they mean "lemon curd", not "lemon cold"?  I'm not sure.  Also, it really wasn't cheesecake, maybe the white layer was supposed to be, but, this was a layer cake.

Opera Cake Slice / Orange Chocolate Petit Gateau / Chocolate Mousse.

I didn't try anything from here, since all chocolate.  If I could make a take-home bag though, I certainly would have grabbed a chocolate mousse.

Strawberry Mousse / Triple Chocolate Brownie / Opera Cake.

In the back was triple chocolate brownies, chunks of brownie, on a platter, that also randomly had a few tufts of whipped cream, slices of strawberry, and chocolate straws.

I stayed away from the brownies, but used this as an area I could take some whipped cream from, without destroying the presentation, or taking from individual pieces.  No one would know it was missing from the brownie platter, right? My desserts needed whipped cream!

Strawberry Mousse.

I skipped the strawberry mousse on my first round, but after the lackluster panna cotta, but good popping boba, I was inspired to try it, as i really was in the mood for pudding, even if strawberry is never my first choice.

This was no different from the panna cotta.  It certainly was not mousse.  It too was firm, slimy, and like jello.  Someone went heavy on the gelatin this evening.  And it too had tasty popping boba on top, although I liked the green ones a bit more.  At least the boba were consistently tasty. ***.

Strawberry Triffle Cake.

I took some triffle cake on my third round, I'm not really sure why, as I don't like cake that much.  I think I was drawn in by all the whipped cream.

And, well, I liked the whipped cream of course, but the cake was no different from the mini cakes, dry, not fresh tasting, not good.  **+.

Coconut Sago with Nata de Coco.

In front of the triffle cake was a big pot of coconut sago.

I had literally been craving this exactly for several days prior, so I was thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to see it.

Coconut Sago with Nata de Coco.

The ice cream area had little bowls for dessert, but I went straight to the soup station and got a much bigger bowl.  I knew I'd want it for this.

The sago I appreciated because I wanted it so badly, but it wasn't actually that great.  It was a bit watered down, the broth at least wasn't overwhelmingly sweet like can sometimes be.  There wasn't much sago in it, but what was there was good, small style, white tapioca, not mushy, not clumpy.

The chunks of mango were kinda meh, and I couldn't figure out if I liked the nata de coco, but I think I did, they were a nice texture.

So overall, actually lackluster, but at least interesting, and I really did want it, and easily finished my bowl, and went back for a bit more.  I think it was my favorite item, in the end, but mostly just because I wanted it. ***+.

Biscotti.

The only cookie-like item, biscotti, which the lounge also had during the day, and I never tried because, well, who cares about biscotti?

Candy.

There were a number of candy jars randomly placed throughout the dessert bar, but the very end had four in a row, with gummy bears, chocolate covered raspberry licorice bullets, and hard candies.  I love candy, but, given al the other sweet options, these weren't high on my list.  Still, a nice touch for those who just want a tiny bit of something sweet?  Also, I do quite like those licorice bullets, a regular in the lounge during tea time. 

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