1 Market buffet more than satisfies

Diners pay before entering and get a
stamp on their arms for re-entry.

1 Market at Plaza Singapura bills itself as "the first big halal-certified buffet restaurant in Singapore by a celebrity chef". There are certainly other halal-certified buffets, but yes, there is only one Chef Wan, a celebrity chef from Malaysia who has also written by cookbooks and appeared on TV.

On researching this restaurant you will see quite a few negative reviews - on the overcrowding, food presentation, variety, freshness and quality of the food, that it is not value for money, basically everything that a buffet restaurant should be good at. All I can say is perhaps I am more easily pleased because I didn't find any of the above to complain about - and we paid full price, not by Groupon.

It took me a while to visit the restaurant because it was always fully booked in the past, and full-house when I finally did get a reservation. This second visit, on a Thursday evening, revealed much fewer diners, with one section closed off. I called on Wednesday at lunch time, and secured the reservation for dinner the next evening. I didn't try everything but what I did have was good.

Food presentation was average, but this is fine when I am more interested in how the food tastes. There were complaints online about the way the sashimi had been presented, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that evening. The lighting at all the tables could have been brighter though - I could have taken better photos then.

There was quite a bit of variety, with a sushi and sashimi section, cold seafood section, Hong Kong dimsum, a salad section, main dishes, drinks, desserts and special counters for Asian favourites - Teochew porridge, Hainanese chicken rice, prawn mee, and DIY fruit rojak. There was ice cream and a chocolate fountain as well.

Most of the dishes - in keeping with Asian cuisine - are heavy on the carbs and can be very filling very quickly, so pace yourself. Bargain hunters can fill up on the seafood and sashimi, neither of which I tried. 

The beef rendang was tender, fragrant, and
smothered in a rich, thick gravy.

I do recommend the satay, beef rendang, and Penang char kuay teow. I also like the Teochew porridge though there wasn't much of a choice for dishes so others might disagree.

The fruit rojak is a favourite for me, but then I like fruit. The dessert spread included durian and mangosteen. There were a lot of pastries for the chocolate fountain. What I especially liked is a chocolate ganache dessert they had in clear plastic containers, with a little bit of fruit at the top and I think brownies as the base. It is very rich and best shared. The custardy bread and butter pudding was also quite nice, especially accompanied by warm vanilla sauce, the kind that has real vanilla seeds in it. 

The Penang char kuay teow had a good amount of seafood in it and the kuay teow was just the right firmness for me. 

From left: mutton satay, chicken satay and beef satay with a drizzle of peanut sauce. The mutton was my favourite, but all were tender and juicy. Some bits are a bit on the charred side so choose your sticks carefully. This is hands-down the best satay I've had in recent times.

The fruit rojak before mixing. I didn't take any of taupok or the sambal, but did have, from 12 o'clock, pineapple, jambu, starfruit, turnip, green mango, and yew char kuay, plus ground peanuts and the rojak sauce. There is one more fruit that I don't remember around 2 o'clock - possibly apple.

If there is anything to complain about, it is that a lot of the sauces are sticky and one serviette may not be enough. I had extra tissues with me but wet tissues would have been so much better.

I left satisfied and would go again. It's possible that detractors were comparing how much you pay for Asian dishes at a traditional food centre and how much more you would pay to eat the same food in the comfortable, air-conditioned surroundings of a buffet restaurant in Orchard Road. Most of that food would however not be halal which is the key draw for 1 Market, and it's unlikely that you can get all of the same dishes at the same high quality in one place. I certainly hope 1 Market survives for a long time to come.

Interested?

1 Market is at Plaza Singapura (Dhoby Ghaut MRT station)
68 Orchard Road #04-45 to 49 (new wing)
Singapore 238839

Make a reservation at +65 63419159
Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm

Dinner: 6pm to 10pm (food will not be replenished after 9.30pm)

Weekend high tea: 3pm to 5.15pm 

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Read the Suroor Asia review on Asian Market Cafe, another halal buffet in Singapore