It’s not cheap but we’d come back over and over to the Knolls for breakfast. With classics like eggs Benedict in its made-to-order menu, this is our favourite breakfast buffet.
The Capella Singapore serves its daily breakfast buffet at the Knolls, its Mediterranean restaurant. This is our favourite hotel breakfast buffet. It’s not cheap but we’d come back over and over. The highlight was its little menu of seven items made to order. Eggs Benedict, wonton noodles (there were soup and dry versions), laksa, roti prata, buttermilk pancakes, brioche French toast, and baked waffles — each was superb. Then there was the buffet table itself which wowed us with its excellent execution of such basics as hash browns, bacon, congee, croissants, and bread. The buffet even included sparkling and still mineral water for when we tired of the freshly-squeezed sugar cane and fruit juices.
We review anonymously and pay for everything. All opinions expressed here are our own and all information is correct as of our last stay or visit and subject to change without notice.
The highlight of the breakfast buffet was its little menu of seven items made to order. This included the brunch favourite eggs Benedict — a rarity in hotel breakfast buffets which, at most, sometimes include poached eggs. We’re glad to report that this was one of the best eggs Benedict we’ve tasted, coming with not just the right doneness but also appearance. The roti prata was also one of the best we’ve tasted — crispy, flaky, and perfumed with the buttery and nutty fragrance of ghee — pairing superbly with its accompanying vegetable curry.
The Singapore-style laksa wasn’t one of the best we’ve tasted — we like our laksa broth thicker and richer — but it was still pretty good, served with fresh shrimp. If stomach capacity permits, we would also go for the wonton noodles both ways. If we had to pick just one, it would be the more intensely-flavoured dry version, though we also enjoyed the broth in the soup version. In both versions, the fresh and firm shrimp dumplings in their thin soft skins were excellent paired with the thin egg noodles.
We wouldn’t rank the three sweet options — buttermilk pancakes, brioche French toast, and baked waffles — as being among the best we’ve tasted either, but they were certainly above average. The pancakes were served with maple syrup, berries, and whipped vanilla bean butter while the French toast came with a superb cinnamon apple sauce. Both were fluffy enough, though we’ve had fluffier. The waffles weren’t bad either—crispy on the outside but soft and chewy inside—and came with berries, honey and mascarpone cheese.
Then there was the buffet table itself which wowed us with its excellent execution of American breakfast basics. Case in point: the hash browns — golden brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. We also loved the thin and crispy bacon which crumbled to the bite. We did think the sausages could have been bigger and juicier, but we couldn’t really complain when it was that tasty. We even liked the baked beans which we’re fairly certain didn’t come straight out of a can like in many other hotel breakfast buffets. We also enjoyed our omelette from the live station for eggs made to order, which came stuffed with cheese, peppers, onions, ham, and mushrooms.
We were a little less impressed with the Asian food selection which, all things considered, wasn’t bad. The dim sum was better than most hotel breakfast buffets but still not quite at the standard of dim sum restaurants — which surprised us, considering its excellent Cantonese restaurant Cassia. We’d go with the silky tofu from the Japanese section and ladle ourselves a bowl of the soft and creamy congee instead. The nasi lemak (rice cooked with coconut milk) wasn’t bad either, its coconut flavour holding up well to its accompanying spicy sambal chilli paste and otah (otak otak) fish cakes. We didn’t think the sushi selection was anything to shout about.
Three types of croissants — no, we don’t count pains au chocolat as croissants — were available in the bakery section: plain butter, wholemeal, and almond. We’re annoyingly — some might say impossibly — picky about our butter croissants. So it gives us great pleasure to reveal that here they came close to meeting all our requirements: they were flaky and buttery (but could still be softer inside!). But we wouldn’t miss something even simpler: the freshly-baked bread. Crusty, soft, and chewy, they were tasty enough on their own if the accompanying spreads failed to rouse the appetite. Gluten-free toast was also available upon request. With the big bowls of kaya coconut jam and butters, basket of sliced bread, and conveyor toaster, it was even possible to whip up Singaporean kaya toast.
The other pastries weren’t bad, even if they didn’t blow us away. The muffins, loaded generously with chocolate chips, and the sugar donuts were satisfying treats, even if they probably weren’t going win any awards. We also enjoyed the rich fillings of the Portuguese egg tarts, even if we thought their crusts could have been flakier. The cranberry scones were less buttery and crumbly than we would have liked, but we loved that they had been paired with proper clotted cream. The apple turnover and the chocolate orange Danish pastries were a little thick and hard, though their fillings were tasty and on point.
1 The Knolls, Capella Singapore, 098297
+65 6591 5046
