Ash & Elm: Best European buffet & service

I have been to this restaurant 3 times in the past 2 months and each experience has only gotten better. Honestly, the best way to know how good this restaurant is, is by visiting it yourself. My instagram highlight @thankGodforf00d will be able to show a greater diversity of the dishes that Ash & Elm has but it only displays my 2nd and 3rd visit and the descriptions of the food cannot be properly seen for my 2nd visit.

(Updated with my most recent visit) Below is a summary of my 4 visits:

18th May - Saturday (Semi-Buffet + Main Course; $48++)

26th June - Wednesday (Semi-buffet + Main Course; $38++)

15th July - Monday (Full Buffet; $38++)
21st August - Wednesday (Full Buffet; $38++)

Note: Full buffets occur at the discretion of the restaurant. It is priced similar to that of the Semi Buffet + Main Course (Hence, $38++ for Weekdays and $48++ for Saturdays)

Initially, I was looking for a different type of buffet to visit with my family and hence decided on this for its relatively low price (Compared to > $50 for hotel buffets) and its focus on quality rather than diversity. Upon reaching the hotel, Intercontinental Singapore, it took awhile to take in the posh and highly luxurious interior design. Having just undergone a renovation in 2016, the hotel looks immaculate from top to bottom and this review pretty much describes the huge contrast in environment from my first step through the door.

Hallway(Within Hotel Intercontinental) leading towards Ash & Elm

Entrance of Ash & Elm

Anyways, going to Ash & Elm located on the first floor of the Hotel, we were greeted by an attentive lady (Same lady throughout my 3 visits) who promptly showed us to our table. Before I go on to the summary of my food experiences for all 3 visits, just want to share about the outstanding service first. Throughout my 3 visits, all the service staff were highly attentive and polite. Warm/Iced water were promptly provided, plates were cleared swiftly (Typically cleared the moment you leave to take more food) and food was promptly refilled after informing the staff. On my later 2 visits, when I patronised the restaurant by myself, the service was equally outstanding, with every customer treated equally. I highlighted this as I've been to places that showed more attention to larger groups or customers who are more well-dressed/older.

Okay, moving on to the food, all in all, the Saturday buffet definitely has a greater variety of appetisers & desserts, similar to the full weekday buffet though the Saturday buffet still had slightly more food when comparing appetisers & desserts only. Their main course menu for lunch can also be found here.

Appetisers typically consist of

- 3-4 types of bread (1-2 Signature flatbread; Only thin slices are given on Weekdays)

- A selection of charcuterie cuts

- 3-4 types of cheese

- DIY Salad with shrimp and sliced chicken/duck

- 2 types of soup

- 2 shooters

- 2-3 salads/pasta

While desserts will include:

- 2-4 types of cakes/tarts

- 1 type of shooter

- Crepe (Have had their chocolate and plain crepe) with condiments

- 4-8 types of ice cream (2 gelato and the rest sorbet/ice cream)

- 1 Baked dessert (Bread butter pudding, Pineapple crumble, Apple crumble)

- Chocolate fondue with marshmallow & fruits

- An assortment of fruits

Their beverages (Coffee/Tea) are all priced at $8++ / cup.

Ranking the variety of appetisers:

1) Saturday semi-buffet

2) Weekday full buffet (Very close to 1)

3) Weekday semi-buffet

However, the weekday full buffet is definitely the most value-for-money as it comes with 3 free-flow mains as well. When I was there,

There was:

1) Charcoal grilled Australian Beef Striploin with spices

2) Barramundi Fillet A La Plancha

3) Roasted Duck Breast with berries sauce & zucchini

All in all though, have found most of their food to be exceptional and of high quality. Will try to showcase as much of the food as possible but sorry in advance for some poor quality pictures. My earlier visits also had less pictures of their buffet display.

1st Visit (18th May Saturday Semi-buffet)

(Sorry, do not have the buffet display for this visit. Hence, subsequent pictures are plates of food that I got.)

Appetisers

Main Course: Red Snapper A La Plancha (Tapenade, Celeriac Remoulade, Vichy Carrots, Brussel Sprouts)

Red Snapper A La Plancha

Chocolate Crepe with oreo crumble

2nd Visit (26th June Weekday Semi-buffet + Main Course)

Commending the service for being very meticulous once again. As I had a main course, the service staff asked me when I would like to have it, anticipating my desire to explore the appetiser buffet first.

Appetisers

Charcuterie & Cheese room

Highly recommend the brioche roll (Extreme left; Light, fluffy and buttery), Skip the Triangle Cereals Roll and Olive Ciabatta Roll (Very hard)

Left: Brie (Soft cheese, Cow's milk from France) Middle: Fontina (Semi-soft cheese, Cow's milk from Italy) Right: Murcia Alvino (Semi-hard cheese, Goat's milk from Spain)

Mushroom Pate (Extreme right) was surprisingly good

There was a salmon appetiser (Top left of the picture right above this) topped with fish roe placed within a small dish that was very tasty as well, think I had at least 3 servings of this.

Main Course: Salmon Fillet A La Plancha (Pumpkin Puree, Squash, Citrus Vinagrette)

Sweet puree and the tangy citrus vinagrette complemented the perfectly cooked salmon (Crisped skin and juicy interior), Squash was very juicy as well

Desserts

Left: Blanc Marron (White chocolate mousse, Chestnut sponge, Cassis confit) Middle: Cacao Mousse (Chocolate sponge cake, Sable, Chocolate mousse) Right: Forgot what it was but was a raspberry cake (Felt that the raspberry flavour was far too strong)

Cacao Mousse (Chocolate sponge cake, Sable, Chocolate mousse); They ran out of the version in the earlier photo and it was replaced with this (Very delicious as well)

Apricot Bread and Butter Pudding with Almond flakes

Chocolate Crepe with Green Tea Gelato

3rd Visit (15th July Weekday Full buffet)

Appetisers

Chorizo Flatbread

The cranberry roll (Right) was sweet and delicious

As somebody that does not like the taste of chicken liver, felt that the pate was surprisingly good despite having a strong liver flavour

Left: Fourme D'ambert (Blue cheese, Cow's milk from France); Most saltish Middle: Murcia Alvino (Semi-hard cheese, Goat's milk from Spain); Most milky/pungent Right: Brie De Meaux (Soft cheese, Cow's milk from France); Most creamy, also has a strong milky/dairy flavour

Cous Cous Salad (Very delicious)

Seafood Mousse with Tobiko Caviar (Very delicious; Had at least 4 of this); Creamy mayo + hint of tomato complemented by the seafood flavour and crunch of the Tobiko caviar

Main Course

Charcoal grilled Australian Beef Striploin with Spices; Very rich beefy flavour, my favourite protein amongst the 3

Barramundi Fillet A La Plancha; Well-cooked and very moist

Roasted Duck Breast with berries sauce & zucchini; Really moist but slightly too chewy for my liking, could not quite taste the berries sauce as well

Oh yes, they also had extremely fragrant garlic pilaf rice and cous cous with raisins and herbs.

Desserts

Pineapple Crumble with almonds

Liked this the least

Tiramisu; Felt that the chocolate flavour was too strong and the espresso too subtle, causing a flavour imbalance

Subtly sweet and not overly rich

With cocoa balls within for additional crunch

Plain crepes were served on that day together with taro and coffee gelato. The crepe was very fresh with a strong 'egg/flour' (Not too sure how to describe it) flavour. The gelato were very creamy with the coffee gelato having a very pronounced flavour which I liked. However, the taro flavour was too muted.

4th Visit (21st August Weekday Full buffet)

Appetisers

Proscuitto Cotto (Pork, Wine, Seasoning); Cooked Italian ham

Beef salami (Beef flavour was very strong)

Salchichon (Pork, Seasoning); A Spanish summer sausage made by smoking, drying, cooking - Typically made with pork

Italian Mortedella (Pork, Seasoning, Spices, Garlic); A large Italian sausage or luncheon meat made of finely hashed or ground heat-cured pork which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat

Turkey Jadgwurst; Means 'hunting sausage', a german cooked sausage typically made with lean beef or pork - Contains about 20% fat

(Left to right) Brie De Meaux, 24 Month Aged Comte (Hard Cheese, Cow's milk from France), Murcia Alvino (Semi-hard Cheese, Goat's milk from Spain); There wasn't any which was particularly pungent or bold in flavour which I would have preferred.

Beef Salami Pizza (Beef Salami, Mozzarella, Peppers)

Vegetarian Pizza (Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Artichokes, Onions, Capsicums, Olives, Mozzarella)

Had a variety of locally grown vegetables for their salad that day

Pomelo, Plum and Sauteed prawn salad (Apple Cider)

Hummus with crispy Vegetable sticks (Chickpea and Sesame mousse); Subtle chickpea flavour which was a bit too sour on its own. However, when eaten together with the sweet pomegranate seeds and the cucumber, it complemented each other well with the cucumber providing a refreshing finish to cleanse one's palate.

Fattoush Salad (Romaine lettuce, Pita bread, Cucumber, Onion, Tomatoes, Citrus dressing); Liked the pita bread which was buttery and had hints of garlic

Grilled Vegetables (Assorted Vegetables, Arugula, Balsamic drizzle)

Cream of Mushroom (Mushroom, Onion, Cream, Vegetable stock); I really liked this as it was very thick and had a strong mushroom flavour

Chicken Consomme (Chicken, Mixed vegetables); This was really good as well as it had a lot of flavour

Main Course

Mixed spice pilaf rice (Carrot, Onion, Lemon, Pistachio); Fragrant, Slightly buttery and dry, Not too oily

Seabass A La Plancha (Sicillian Tomato Sauce, Olives); Sauce was too tart for me

Roasted Chicken Thigh (Mashed potatoes, Buttery corn, Rosemary chicken jus); Extremely tender and flavourful

Spinach Ricotta Tortellini with pesto cream; Very rich and creamy

Beef ribeye (Didn't manage to take a picture of the description)

Came with a side of 'double mustard sauce' which was infused with mushrooms and did not have the typical spicy kick you will get from mustard

Very tender and had multiple layers of fat; My favourite protein again

Desserts

Bread Butter Pudding (Almond flakes, Cherry, Pistachio, Vanilla custard sauce and raspberry coulis)
Chocolate crepe was served beside it
Sorbet selection: Passionfruit, Mango lime, Lychee rose, Berries, Lemon lime
Gelato selection: Thai green milk tea (AMAZINGLY GOOD, EXTREMELY strong thai milk tea flavour), Caramel (Tasted like a creamy and sweet latte) 

Chocolate Mousse; Like how the raspberry jam here was not too tart, balancing the sweet milk chocolate mousse well

Marble cheesecake; Not tart nor too rich but the crumble was soggy, nothing spectacular

Coffee Opera; Very strong espresso flavour from the sponge base with a very thick dark chocolate ganache on top

Coconut Lime Mousse; Perfect balance of flavours. Felt like I was eating a cloud as well. Lime was hardly tangy and very refreshing, coconut flavour was evident with neither flavours overwhelming/conflicting each other. Even the occassional persimmon at the top helped to provide a slight acidity to cut through the subtle sweetness of the mousse. Would order this as a Birthday cake if I could.

The desserts were definitely the highlight for my 4th visit with the Green Thai Milk Tea gelato and both cakes on offer being made to perfection. The beef ribeye was also extremely flavourful, tender and overall just delicious. The soups were particularly enjoyable on that day as well. The variety of cheese present was slightly lesser than usual but still got to try new types of cheese. I would have preferred at least 1 cheese with a bolder flavour profile though.

Overall, I have had lovely experiences at Ash & Elm and am really grateful to both the service staff and the chefs for giving me such a memorable experience. Just in case you may not have noticed, I am NOT paid for this review but I highly, highly recommend anybody that sees this to try out their semi-appetiser & dessert buffet during the weekdays. Anyways, hope to visit the restaurant again soon and perhaps I will try their Sunday Brunch ($98++) in future. :)