Carousel

A reservation for a group of 12pax for buffet dinner on a weekday. 4 of us arrived early at 620pm as traffic was lighter than expected(host included).

We asked the cafe reception staff if we could be seated 1st since we have been allocated a corner section & it's only 10 mins before the buffet commences. The waitor said it was not a problem & showed us the way into the cafe, he was walking behind us. As we stepped into the cafe, a very RUDE waitress yelled loudly at us saying the buffet is not ready & no entry allowed. That was very unbecoming of how a hospitality staff wearing a cheongsam uniform should behave in a 5-star hotel!

We felt insulted & walked out. Paying $65 per head for a group of 12pax (close to a $800++ dinner bill & we are receiving such service standards??? that's unbelievable)!!!!!!! We dun pay $$$ to be subjected to such crap service!!!! If this was a hawker centre/food court, you pay a couple of dollars & therefore really you go with NO expectations! The fact that hotels can charge a premium as patrons not only pay for food qty but also ambience & good dining service level.

The Assistant Manager later came to apologised to us at the hotel lobby. The point is the dinner mood was utterly marred by the rude waitress behaviour! The food was average in taste. What irks us further was when we were trying to take some tim sum items, as it was placed quite out of reach, we requested assistance & the chef was quite unhelpful. So much for service level!!!!

Nah, will not bother to step into Carousel.... there are just so many other places that provide excellent customer service + food standards such as Marriot Cafe, Raffles Hotel (Royal China)& Mortons. The service level has never failed & they have made us their repeat customers for years!

Went for a company dinner there yesterday...

Firstly..service was top notch..the servers and staff were super friendly and nice and made us feel at ease..

I was already aiming the bread n butter pudding but thats gotta wait till after i get me sum salad and food...

tried their different salads..forgot the names but they were not bad..but im still a basic greens salad onli gal..

but the mushrooms..were oohlala..from the moment i smelled the aroma i was like "i want i want"..mine was a mix of shitake n button..loved both..they were fresh and cooked with the right amount of salt n pepper..was tempted to go for a 2nd round but cmon..where would my dessert go then...

The roast chicken and lamb was juicy..and went well with the black pepper sauce..only tried the beef later on n regretted not takin it earlier..the beef was succulent..it juz melted in my mouth..

nxt to the carvin station was other cooked stuff..lyonnaise potato was good and so was this other potato thingy baked with cheese(then again anithin baked with cheeze is good for me)..eat it with the beef bacon located there and the garlic aoli sauce located nearby too and ull b wantin more..even the yorkshire pudding was cool..never tried it b4 so me being the syco goondu ate it with the black pepper sauce/butter u get from the bread station..wic btw has realli nice breads..liked this mini baguette wic had a slight hint of spices and nuts init..pity i onli tried it like towards the end of my meal

also tried the dimsum(1 siew mai)..not bad..small yet tasted like normal siew mais u get from the khong guan auntie..and the seafood...sorri i cnt b of muc help there..not a big fan of the oysters n the mussels but did attack prawns n lobster..or was it crayfish..dunnola..but yummy...good thing i remembered to take it(although it was so near my table)..

passed on the sushi..but my colleagues took em n seemed to enjoy them..esp the seaweed thingy..

asparagus soup was slitely too thick and the cooked food..well the thai bbq beef was ok..culdnt realli taste its thainess..chili paru(liver i tink) was nice..the paru was cooked juz nice so it wasnt too rubbery..the rest was pretty ok..guess i didnt really eat muc of them..kept goin for the lamb n chicken...

n cmon as if id forget the most important part...dessert...ok i took the bread pudding like 3 times in total..each time with more vanilla sauce cos it was sooo divine..it wasnt too sweet and it juz leaves a nice tingly sensation in ur mouth..i was like in heaven..plus i added the chocolate from the fountain..so it was a nice mix...tried the almond geladd but wasnt glad..top crust nice..the rest..not so nice..mini cakes were good..esp the cheeze and the chocolate ganache...and those mini shooters..yummy...one friend took like 2 rounds of that..his plate was filled with 4 shooters each round..i tried onli 2..managed to try both the pistachio creme brulee n the normal one..preferred the pistachio one..it had a unique taste to it..the normal one tasted ok..but a bit coconutty..

And now just talkin abt it is makin me wanna go again..mayb for my 6th month with the boyfriend..oh crap tats still 2 months away...arrgh!!!!!

plus a waiter accidently banged into my colleague...and she got quite a bruise as a result of that..theyre were sweet as they gave her a gift to make up for it..not only that but she got a voucher for a free dinner buffet for 4..AND yesterdays dinner was free for her..now thats what i call service...

oh heck..im glad i went...regretted not caring and takin more food though..plannin to go again(thank god for citibanks 15% discount...n u dont have to tell em while makin reservations..they even tell u u get a discount when u pay with that card)..kinda miss the olden days of cafe vienna..cos it costed a lot less but oh well..its still worth it..

edited-
went for weekend lunch...same spread as dinner only since xmas is comin has turkey and log cakes and other yummies...enjoyed the bread n butter pudding this time with chocolate chips n cranberries and the walnut tart and especially the roasted meats..turkey n chicken was my fav..managed to try out the cooked food this time..lamb chops was realli good..overall spent like 50 per person i tink..its official..i love carousel

I've always been a fan of HGW reviews. They've brought me to places that brought great memories on food and experience. But this time was a total let-down shattering all my high hopes for this highly perceived restaurant especially for the price that was paid! Hence I couldn't resist taking the plunge to comment on the experience that I had there.

Let me start with the food. I was there for the buffet dinner btw.

First, the cold seafood selection where there were alaskan crabs, fresh mussels, crayfish and giant prawns etc etc. The crab pincers and crayfish were not too bad but the rest of it wasn't too fresh for me, esp the mussels didn't taste very clean and there was a little sand involved in one of them. Prawns are HUGE but doesnt taste as good as it looks. These have to go with sauces provided which is well expected. I think this was the only section that I was ok with.

The salmon sashimi wasn't freshly cut for you by the chef and was placed in a tray for people to take. Not that I wanna be atas but seriously for the cost you pay, you do expect something like The Line. It was a little hard too, maybe cos it was kept with some ice or something. They also weren't very beautifully cut.

The cha soba was bad too. Noodles were mushy and the soba sauce was not very tasty.

Chinese food section was the most atrocious. Chicken rice had nice fragrant rice, but the chicken was tasteless. The chilli and ginger sucked big time too.

Prawn soup noodles were virtually the worst thing prawn noodles I've ever tasted. The noodles were not even cooked when I bit through them. When I took a 2nd bite thinking I had made a mistake, I was appalled to find that it was the same as the first! The sole prawn that came with it was also not fresh. Dish was abandoned.

I wish I didn't have to talk about dimsum. The supposed hargow looking character was not a hargow but something weird in disguise. I had to spit out the huge chunk of skin the moment I bit through it and I had no idea what the dubious thing I was eating was.

Asparagus & scallops was lousy too. The dish seemed like it was boiled separately and then stir-fried with some light soya sauce. In simple words, bland.

Moving on to the Western food section which is mediocre at best.

There was a pasta station, which had a cook to whip up something of your choice. It was bland too. My bf cooks better pasta and he is IMO not a fantastic cook.

The prime ribs was seriously too cooked and tough that you will really have a tough time chewing through it.

There was this breaded turkey fillet that filled me with question marks after the 1st bite.

And the mashed potato with bacon that scored such high marks on some people's lists was just nothing to scream about.

The chicken pot pie was realy flavourful maybe cos it was SO salty.

I can't remember much of the rest cos I'm doing this based on memory but if it doesn't strike me, it shouldn't be anything worth mentioning.

Dessert section was not very upsetting but just not up to standard.

Chocolate tart wasn't too bad at the 1st few bites but the more you take it in the more it leaves a sourish bitter taste in the mouth like there was too much dark cocoa powder or something.

The little cakes were nothing fancy nor able to make you cry out of ecstasy. They seemed like those that you can find at Sakura.

Creme brulee wasn't too bad.

Some of the items were empty and I totally don't see any staff replacing them.

Chocolate fondue was simply chocolate fondue. Just that the fruits didn't look very fresh and appetising sitting in their dishes.

In terms of ambience, you can't expect much from buffets. But the place was so maximised and crammed I had to squeeze my huge butt through tiny gaps just to get back to my table in the corner. The management should have known better.

The service of the staff was nothing to complain about, friendly and prompt as they are expected to, just that sometimes abit hard to call out to them being seated at a corner and I twice had to walk away from my table to get to them.

Overall, Carousel really failed. Food-wise. You should either pay a little more for The Line to enjoy the mother of all buffets or get much much much better halal food and alot more variety at the less expensive Sakura though not of the best quality but definitely edible and has some hits.

I seriously urge the management to taste the food before dishing them out to think about whether that platter is worth being part of the 5-star establishment.