The Magic of Bumbu Bali at MELT ~ The World Cafe, Singapore

Right after our two-hour crash course in learning how to cook some Balinese specialties, Paul and I headed to MELT ~ The World Cafe for a delicious buffet dinner waiting for us. Starting last April 28 till May 8, Chef Heinz von Holzen will be in Singapore and this means, you and I can enjoy a special line-up of Balinese specialties which will be included into the lunch and dinner buffet spread of MELT.

Saying this without any bias, MELT is one of my favorite hotel buffets in Singapore. I just love that the offerings aren't too overwhelming nor is it too limited. There's always something yummy that you can find in each station and of course, there are my usual favorites. For this evening, Paul and I focused on the center counter where we found all the Balinese dishes served. In fact, you'll find a couple of Balinese dishes in almost all stations so you can actually have a full course dinner meal with all of Bali's specialties.

Here are some of our favorites that evening:



Palem Udang
Steamed Prawns with Coconut in Banana Leaf 
We also were able to make this in cooking class and it's amazing to see how it turned out to look like a spicy shrimp cake. It was really yummy!

Palung Panggang
Grilled Pork Ribs

Kaki Kambing
Braised Lamb Shanks with Cardamom
A bit on the chewy side though. This is a very mildly flavored dish for those who are not crazy about spicy food.

Sambel Udang
Prawns in Spiced Tomato Sauce
I've raved about this in my previous entry. The prawns are just so delicious and the sauce really made me eat more naan bread as I was really fighting the urge to get rice.

Pecelan
Vegetable Salad in Peanut Sauce
Of course, we just got to have veggies in our meal to make it complete. This is a must-try! I love how the creamy peanut sauce perked up the flavor of the vegetable. It somehow reminds me of those delicious banchans served in Korean restaurants but with more attitude coming from the chili and peanut sauce. Yummmy!

For dessert, we tried two closely similar ones as both makes use of bananas!

Pisang Goreng 
Fried Bananas
I was a bit surprised at how small the pieces of banana were. Also, it was rather on the soggy side as opposed to how Chef Heinz taught us to ensure that the bananas stay crunchy all day long. Guess, someone failed to follow the teachings of the Chef. Teehee.... :P Nonetheless it was good but I would have preferred had it been less oily and more crispy.

Kolak Pisang
Finger Bananas in Coconut Milk
Now, this is the dessert that I love. I am a fan of anything with coconut milk and this one had a really yummy sweet and creamy taste. It reminds me of all the Iced Saba Banana that I had growing up.

We truly enjoyed the dinner and eating all these made us all the more excited for our upcoming trip to Bali, Indonesia! Oh... 4 glorious days of non-stop eating. Can't wait! Meanwhile, we all have till the 8th of May to enjoy authentic Balinese dishes in Singapore.

Buffet Rates:
Lunch: S$68 (inclusive of juices and soft drinks)
Dinner: S$88 (food only) / S$ 118 (inclusive of beer and wines)

Head over to MELT ~ The World Cafe at the 4th Level of Mandarin Oriental Singapore, 5 Raffles Avenue, Marina Square, Singapore. Call them at 6885-3500 to make a reservation.