“Brown sugar and salt macarons, yuzu soufflés and green tea éclairs” grabbed my attention. I read on “Japanese guest pastry chef, Makato Nakane is in town”. That bought me over. A shortage of funds meant that I couldn’t go to Japan as much as I would like to. What better substitute than to enjoy Japanese food from the very hands of the Japanese chefs.

The Japanese pastry and desserts buffet was held at The Regent Hotel’s Tea Lounge. Our seat was by a tall glass window that overlooked the quiet stretch of Tanglin. We were presented with a selection of Japanese tea from which we could choose to enjoy for the afternoon.

After choosing our teas, we promptly headed to the buffet spread. My eyes fell on to the table with the rows of tiny berry tartlets, the row of macarons, and mini bite-sized choux pastries that came in the form of green tea éclairs and sesame choux buns. These cuties make a perfect photo with the rush of colors and different forms.

Surprise, surprise. The buffet also had light Japanese-influenced snacks such as green tea sandwhich with cheddar which I love, yakitori, and a light home-made taste of ramen. While the savouries were not exactly the most refined, they helped to balance the sweetness palate just a little.

Just a rundown on the noteworthy:

Brown sugar and salt macaron: Finally, a macaron I found in Singapore that has the right texture (besides those from Canele). A good contrast and play with saltiness and sweetness. The centre was a buttercream with a hint of yuzu zest as well as azuki bean.

Yuzu tart: Intense taste of the yuzu once you take a bite into it. Only grouse is that the tart pastry is a little too dry and hard. Otherwise, it’s perfect.

Triple berry tart: This one’s great because they must have used really fresh berries from summer which tropical Singapore don’t enjoy. Again, the tart base was slightly too dry.

Yuzu soufflé: I’m a big fan of yuzu so forgive me as I mention yuzu once again on this credit-roll. The soufflé was made on the spot just like how it should be so it’s being served to us nice, warm, and fluffy.

After a lovely afternoon of whiling away the time while munching on these sweet treats, we felt overdosed on food. And I don’t think we ate overwhelmingly. That’s the thing about buffets that I dislike intently. I usually avoid going to buffets and I think that rule should remain unbroken (at most times).

Triple berry tarts