Saltwater Cafe and Creek

Changi Village Hotel used to be known as Le Meridien and secluded it is, so very far away from civilization. Perfect for holiday makers who love seasports. The layout of the place is queer for people who drive especially, you enter via the basement and into the ballroom reception (so happened there was a wedding lunch held) and to the first floor. Salt Water Cafe's located in one end of the first floor.

This Buffet Tunch took me 2 weeks waiting time partly because there was a bulk booking for a family gathering and being put on a waiting list meant they will only inform on the day itself. Anyhow, the place is rather small..at most 30 people for its optimal capacity.

The lovely view of the golfcourse outside..if it were not for the scorching sun...I would not have minded dining outside!


Starters

Caesar Salad Bar

The selection was quite small with just romaine lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers with salad dressings. Gave this a miss.

Chicken Salad

Nicely mixed roast chicken with pineapple salad and drenched in mayo.

Mushroom Salad

This came with roasted potatoes which I initially mistook to be pumpkin.

Papaya Salad

Thai salad which I passed too.

Tuna Salad
Egg Mayo Salad

These although ordinary appealed to me, the only missing thing was a bread selection to go with these common sandwich ingredients.

Sambal Prawn

I found this a tad sweet.

Octopus

Gave it a pass.

Century Egg Porridge with Condiments

Thick flavourful porridge.

Pumpkin Soup

Very impressed with this! Was certainly expecting a thin gruel or even straight off a can but this was handmade from scratch, the thick consistency and sweetness of the ground pumpkin...warmed the tum greatly. When dipped with the onion loaf, I was already pleased and sold. I had two bowls of this! The onion loaves were slightly dry, perhaps from all the exposure.

Indian Mains

Briyani Rice

Tasteless herbed rice with soft cashews.

Mutton Kurma
Curry Vegetable
Fried Fish
Curry Chicken

The curries were not outstanding with the exception of the meaty curry chicken. Mostly thin curry and not spicy at all. I was expecting Tandoori chicken instead of Fried Fish which had the same spices used, somehow the meat used did not bring out the full flavours of this dish.

Local Mains

Fried Kuay Teow

I did not mind this too much though it was just fried kuay teow with spring onion.

Marmite Chicken with Sesame Seeds

Another of my favourites! The sticky marmite coating the chicken was sweet yet addictive, the sesame seeds were fragrant and best of all, the drumlets (frozen chicken parts) were firm and tasty. I guiltily stuffed myself silly with these.

Chicken Ngo Hiang

Surprised that this was not the regular thaw-and-fry, instead it was home-made.

Carrot Cake

Not our usual hawker black char dao kuay but tasted much like chye poh ommelette.

Sweet Sour Fish

Ordinary tangy dish, the dory fish was too soft.

Fried Rice Salted Fish

The salted fish rocked this dish, the fried rice grains were neatly coated with fried egg. Though the ingredients were simple, it had enough "wok hei" and most certainly brought out the best flavours of the ingredients used.

Char Siew Bao

Fluffy bun with char siew filling on the sweet side.

Siew Mai
Dumpling
Ordinary dimsum.

Baked Pasta

Penne and minced beef baked with cheese. It would have been better if they used mozzarella cheese, the cheese was too light-tasting for a baked pasta.

Stir Fried Vegetables

Piping hot vegetables..so very home cooked but the delicious shade of green these were made it hard to resist. Now, where's the bowl of steamed rice to go with it?

Live Station: Tomato/Cream based with Penne/Spaghetti

Tomato spaghetti was too sour. The carbonara won hands down, the milky gravy was slurp worthy with simple ingredients (green/red peppers and bacon).

Laksa

Outstanding. No wonder the queues were long. I loved the idea of picking your ingredients and making your own bowl of laksa, though nothing can go wrong since it is plain placing everything in the bowl and scooping the gravy. The lemak gravy was spicy and milky enough, packed enough oomph to challenge the famous.


Prawn Noodle

In comparison with the laksa, this bland noodle dish was outright boring.

Toast Roti with Pandan Kaya/Kaya/Peanut Butter/Butter

The last time I saw a toaster for local roti was in Batam, so chancing upon it at Saltwater got me all excited. The allure of kaya toast somehow. The bread was over-charred probably due to the settings of the machine but I loved the crunchy crust and fluffy bread beneath. Slap on your favourite spread and you're ready to go. The peanut butter although very watery retained the nutty buttery taste.

Bread and Butter Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Not spectacular, the pudding was overcooked.

Apple Pie

I did not agree with the soft pie base but the apple slices, raisins and chopped walnuts were good on its own.


Kueh Selection

Pretty decent range they have got. A mind dazzling colourful array of kuehs up for selection but some were repeats in different colours.

Mango Cake

Light sponge cake with mango mousse topped off with mango slices and kueh lapis lining the side. This mousse cake worked for me, at least it was not soggy. Liked the idea of the kueh lapis at the side, it was moist enough.

Coffee Cake
Same moistness in the coffee. I have to admit I underestimated the cakes.

Blueberry Cheesecake

These were taken straight out of the kitchen and probably out of the deep freezer as well, the blueberry jelly layer was iced and the cake was too stiff.

Pandan Kaya Cake

Soft kaya in between fluffy layers of sponge cake.

Bubur Cha Cha

The tapioca was cut too near the skin, making it slightly bitter but otherwise, a local dessert I enjoy.

Chin Chow

These were accompanied with longans which I found too sweet.

Dessert Shooters

My major grouse is, these were not replaced at all! They ran out as early as an hour over into the 5 hour long buffet. Did not have a chance to taste any.

Ice-cream Selection (Yam, Blueberry, Coconut)

Ordinary ice-cream but the kiosk created quite a buzz with the cones and toppings.

Assorted Fruit

Tropical fruit's all the rage at the spread with watermelon, pineapple and honeydew.


I could not resist a cone for myself to end off all this gluttony.

This Tunch got me sitting up and savouring every bite. Decent quality food is what Saltwater has to offer albeit the distance from the city. Arguably one of the better local buffets around with pocket pleasing prices too. Service was expectedly slow with a few waiters serving the whole place, it took plates to pile up to averagely three and above for the waiters to come over and remove them. Another pointer, the hotel could have been more mindful of the warmth of the food, most if not all the time, the lids of the trays were left wide open causing the food to turn cold even faster than not.

I hear Changi Village's Italian food's good..

12-5pm
$22++ for Tunch

http://thefoodchapter.blogspot.com/2009/10/saltwater-cafe-changi-village-hotel.html

Went for the lunch buffet on 26/9. I feel tat the menu had improved slightly from the previous round I went(Mar09).

This is the menu they had last Sat.

Appitizers:
Tuna salad,
Mini octopus,
Chilli prawns salad,
Cowslaw

Soup of the day:
Cream Potato soup with bread

Live station:
Pasta

Main courses:
Century eggs Congee

Laksa - Changed from Live station to DIY service but I felt it was better actually. Previously the staff doesnt warm up the noodles enough. Also I can reduce the quantity of the noodles as well. Their Laksa is of a very good standard.

Siew mai & char siew buns - Din try but the siew mai looks dried and unappetising.

Vegetables

Sweet n sour fish - Tis is tender and soft without fishy odour.

Fried carrot cake - Not bad.

Ngor Hiang

Baked Cheese Pasta - I like tis. Taste a little like lagsana style.

Sesame Drumlets - Not bad, if winglet are used, the effect will be better.

Fried rice

Char kuey tiao

Curry chicken

Mutton curry

Curry vege

Brayani rice



Desserts:

Abt 5 types of cakes

Abt 5 types of glass shooters - Tis will be better if they were chilled

Abt 5 types of nongya kueh

Bobo cha cha - Not bad

Cheng Tng

Bread and butter budding - Not good.

Ice cream - Taste like King's.

Traditional yakun bread with butter, kaya etc

Fruits


Verdict:
Tis is my 2nd time having this buffet and I enjoyed the meal in the nice and serene environment. Of course you can't compare it with 5* hotel standards but for the price that I am paying, I am very satisfied and have no complaints.

With HSBC, it is $22++ for 2 pax which I feel is super very worth it.
Promotion till end of Oct 2009.

Came back here with a friend to try the buffet dinner and was disappointed and sorry to beg to differ from the former reviewer on the comments made.

Among the food dishes offered for the buffet dinner, I noticed closed to 90% were repetitive from the Lunch or High Tea Buffet Spread (wondering if they were "leftovers"). The buffet dinner had dishes exactly the same as those offered for the lunch and high tea such as the Mee Goreng, Century Egg Porridge, Laksa (which you have to make yourself unlike in lunch where the chef would prepare for you), Pasta, Stir-Fried Beef, Fried Chicken, Nonya Kueh, Salad, Fried Mixed Vegetables, Pasta (which I must say was quite good) etc.

The only difference was the BBQ counter where you could choose to have prawns, chicken, bean sprouts, chye sim and squid to be barberqued with the various sauces. Although the chefs were there to BBQ for you but you have to wait there and they were not served to you. A small sashimi counter was there with only sashimi but no sushi but to be honest, they were not fresh.

The 3 types of crabs? Yes, they had Chilli, Black Pepper and Butter crabs but were very small and pathetic crabs. The crabs they used were flower crabs instead of the normal ones which were less meaty and small. The seafood counter only had prawns and mussells. The soup, however, was quite good, winter melon.

The dessert were the same on the types of pastries and kuehs, cut fruits and the toast bread with the various kaya were same as the lunch.

Service wise was still ok as the used plates were cleared promptly

Generally, we were very disappointed as we had expected the dishes to be different but were shocked to see almost the same dishes as the high tea. So if you are expecting very different dishes especially if you have been here for lunch or high tea, you will be disappointed although the ambience was still cosy and soothing.

Went there with 3 others for buffet lunch, it was a very long drive from Yishun, and during the journey, I kept telling myself that the food better be good. Finally reach Changi hotel, the carpark was very narrow, so I suggest you park opposite. The spread was good and the service was not too bad, the table they gave us was quite small, esp when everyone at ur table took 2 plates each, glasses were bound to topple, which it did. Haha.

They had the usual salad, cold prawns and mussels. 2 soup: Chicken chowder and pigs stomach soup (very flavaful). They also had a range of raw fish. The hot dishes includes 3 kinds of crab (butter, black pepper and chilli), all big and meaty. Steam fish (my fav), curry prawns, beef, etc. Make ur own laksa, pasta (chef cook for u) and tanpanyaki (not so good and service was quite slow). Also, there was a Indian food corner which did not impress me. Dessert not much variety (ice cream, some cakes, tau suan, chin chow, bread pudding).
Overall, we paid 84 bucks for 4 pple, coz of the RBS promo. Usually it is 36 bucks for buffet dinner.

Was here with a friend for the Weekend Tunch today. The tunch started at 12pm and ended at 4pm.

When we stepped into the cafe, we had a great feeling. The ambience was cosy and soothing, very bright and nicely decorated with crystals and marbles vases with flowers in them. We were ushered to the seat at a window which gave us a good view facing the "transparent glass" swimming pool and saw people swimming in there and some playing golf at the resort next door! What a scenic view!!! (there was also nice background music too but be prepared for the afternoon sun that would shine upon you though it was mild!)

The spread of the tunch was quite extensive, considering the price we were paying. It had quite a good salad bar with different vegetables and condiments, seafood on the ice with mussells and flower crabs, carrot soup, fried vegetables, fried chicken wings, goh hiong (which was very nice), fried eggs, fried rice with salted fish (which was good) and noodles. There was a live cooking counter where you could order for mee siam or laksa, which was not bad. At the side, was a self-service century egg porridge counter. The porridge was very smooth and tasty. If there was chicken or minced pork to be added in, it would be 100% perfect!

The fruits counter consisted of various tropical fruits such as water melon (both red and yellow), pineapple, papaya, orange, banana, plums, starfruit and apples. The ice cream counter has 4 flavours of ice cream, that was not bad. It also served Cheng Teng, very rarely seen in buffet, which was good and sweet (but not too sweet until it was artificial. It had red dates, dried longans, white fungus, which was a good mix)

The pastry counter has a decent spread of nonya kuehs and pastries, which was quite good. Among all, the black forest cake stood out. It was tasty, nice and not too sweet with a faint wine flavour! You could also toast your own bread and add on your favourite spread like kaya, peanut butter, butter etc.

Service was fine and serving crew were generally polite though most of them were students (think they were working on part-time basis) and used plates were cleared quite promptly. If they could refill our water more regularly and not taking a longer than expected time for the servettes, it would receive higher scores.

Value for money? Fantastic. When we received our bills, it was $26 for the 2 of us, tapping on a credit card promotions.

Despite the fact that the hotel is located quite far away on the eastern part of the island, we felt it was a good dinning experience, considering every aspect we have had here and we were already planning for our next visit here again. We did enjoy ourselved very much.

For those who are not driving, the hotel provided a free shuttle bus service that would fetch and transport customers of the hotel to and from Changi Airport at hourly basis. For more details, do contact the cafe/hotel. But you can take bus service 29 from Tampines Bus interchange where you can alight in front of the hotel or take bus service 2 and alight at Changi Village Bus terminal and walk for about 7 minutes to reach the hotel!

Was looking through the UOB 1 dines for free promotion and stumbled upon this 1 for promotion at Saltwater Cafe at Changi Village Hotel.
So I thought ' Why not? Nothing much to lose since it's 1 for 1'.

A nice and pleasant place with an outdoor BBQ and Teriyaki.
Although there wasnt much varieties and some were common fare, the quality of the food was fanastic. The black pepper chicken and sliced beef were very well prepared and marinated. The Indian corner had potato and lamb masala, chicken curry and fish sambal. All were good!

We had choices of butter, chilli and black pepper crabs also. They were a bit disappointing though as the smallest crabs were used. Probably to cut costs! The laksa is a must try. Best I ever had at a buffet.

Beef used for the BBQ were tender with choices of a few sauces. The chicken had a smell I didnt like. There were many people lining up for the teriyaki. THere were selections of chicken, prawn, squid and beef. The average waiting time was 30 minutes.

The deserts included apple pie, pulut hitam, same cakes and ice cream. All fanastic!

The only thing that irked me was the sudden flow of people from a function. There were at least 100 people around the food area after I was almost done with the main dishes, which wiped out almost all the food.

As for the service, the staff were attentive to our needs and were quick to top up our water and clear the plates. However, they took a little long when we asked for more napkins and the bill.

The total bill came up to $48 for 2 pax, which is valued for money! Definitely have to try while they're still having the promotion!

hubby brought me there for a birthday dinner. had initially wanted to go to The Line at Shangri-La but settled for Changi instead as it is nearer our house. Bearing in mind the baby's bedtime, Saltwater appeared to be the better option. Made a reservation earlier in the day and when we arrived, we had a table set up for us at one corner.A baby chair had also been prepared for us. So sweet. Had been to Saltwater before and that table was never there. Even though it is at one corner, some distance away from the main crowd, we were still very thankful. We would not want the baby to disturb the rest of the dining crowd. She cried a few times as her bedtime drew near, but both the dining crowd and the staff were very nice abt it.

In my opinion, the ice-cream was the best. Buffet dishes like thai fish and chicken thighs had not much taste to them. Dishes like kong pao chicken and cereal prawns were slightly above average. Some of the stired fried beef were undone. Hainanese chicken and braised duck were cold. Curries looked unappetizing. Tuna sashimi was still frozen hard. Well, I have not had buffet in a long while so was still really gald to have the chance to eat such a variety. Being a stay home mom now does not give me much opportunity for such indulgence. After a 20% discount, we paid about $70 plus. Not bad...we would have paid double that if we had gone to The Line...then again...we would have gotten better food...

the waitresses were all very prompt to clear our table. they were gentle and warm and i like that. when we were leaving, the manager even came by to say thanks and bye. atmosphere was quite nice because of the yellow lights. it is not like some places where the whole place is flushed with yellow lights, making it too warm for my liking. at Saltwater, it is nicely blended with dark lightings...cosy and somewhat sensuous.

if you wan a quieter and more romantic dining experience, do ask for a table outside, beside the pool. that is if you don't mind the heat...geesh, cant stand the weather nowadays. go on a weekday too, it would be less crowded.

10 May 2008 : The ever-ready-to-eat gang of peasants gathered here to discuss the future plans for the sweatshop. After a morning of discussion, the sweatshop peasants were rewarded with a buffet lunch.

SLIDE SHOW

The highlight of the meal was the steamed chicken, the prata, the sashimi & the ice cream.

Ambience : The circulation space of this feeding place is bad. Remember to watch where you are going, hug your plate close to you and tuck your elbows close to your structure. It gets really crowded and cramped.

Went with 2 other friends.
I muz warn, it's inconvenient to go there w/o own transport.
But the ambience is really nice, wanted to take the upper poolside deck, but the section was closed, so we settled for the lower poolside deck.

Mainly serve International Buffet with BBQ Grills.
The seafood are fresh and good.
The pasta is good too, the chef cooks it in front of you and we can ask him for extra condiment such as garlic, sauces etc.
We are spoilt with the spread of choices at the salad bar.

As I'm not a sweet-toothy, I din really rackey the dessert counter, but the bread & custard pudding, dat my friend indulged in, looks tempting. I took a mouthful and it tasted heavenly.

Service is prompt, with waitresses collecting used plates from time to time.

Went on a Tuesday evening, and expectedly, no crowds.
Haha... Of cos! Since it's at the most eastern tip of the island which is inacessible and almost unheard of.
But if u r searching for a quiet and soothing place to hang out, it's ideal.

NB: Check out the hotel's top floor for it's nice seaview and pool too. U might love it like I do.