"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong." - Bertrand Russell

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I was at Royal Plaza on Scotts' Carousel/Palm Cafe (owned by the Sultan of Brunei) a while back for the lunch buffet.

The food quality was not great. The meats (with the exception of grilled duck breast) were generally dry; the cold cuts were especially disgusting - I took a piece of duck breast and it was extremely dry.

The pseudo har gao not only had little (no?) har (prawns), it had very thick skin and was cold, though it was taken from a steamer; the linguine at the pasta station was tough. Meanwhile the cold soba sauce was lacking something (mirin), and though the moussaka was good, when I had it I bit into something hard - tendon. Ugh.

I didn't try ordering whiskey or some such, but I'm quite sure that would not have been possible. So for those who need a stiff one to go with their meal - don't go here.

On the up side, the inari was above average for Singapore, and the variety was very good. Probably more significantly (and accounting for why it was full despite being lunchtime on a weekday, and why it had a Singapore Women's Weekly award), the desserts were fantastic, with delicate flavours, having the highest overall quality of any buffet I've had. Though some of my ice cream had huge ice crystals in it.

Also, it had the best service I'd ever gotten, at a buffet no less. The staff were attentive in making their rounds and cutlery taken from the stand in front of you was replenished often. After I'd finished eating some whole prawns, a waiter came, opened a towelette and offered it to me. At the end of the meal the waiter personally gave us a feedback form. And topping it off, it's only the second place I've been to which, before you pay, informs you of which credit cards will get you what discounts. While I believe food quality comes first, good service is like the cherry on top of the whipped cream (i.e. food hygiene).