Hotel Jen at Orchardgateway is the first of a new ‘Jenre’ of fresh, friendly and fuss-free mid-range hotels by Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. The hotel opened its doors to the public in Singapore in Sep 2014. More Hotel Jens will be launched in nine other cities across Asia pacific by first quarter this year.

We had a gathering at Makan@Jen (makan means eat in Malay) the casual dining buffet restaurant on level 10 which is also the same level as the hotel check in counter.

Makan@Jen features fresh quality local products and is a vibrant and eclectic all-day restaurant offering a blend of local specialities and international classics. We had the weekend brunch buffet which was reasonably priced at $30++ per pax. There were cooking stations, make-your-own salad options, local temptations and international treats. A very comprehensive and impressive spread I would say.

I was particularly impressed with the self serve wine (additional $19.90++ per pax) and coffee counters. Although there was only 1 wine dispenser, there were about 3 – 4 coffee machines and tea making facilities placed at all sides of the restaurant. While waiting for my makan kakis (literally means eat leg but actually means eating buddies), I helped myself to a cappuccino.

Moving on to the food, there’s sandwiches and salads, good range of breads, and the antipasto station.

We also had very fresh seafood (whole crabs, mussels, prawns, clams), sashimi (only tuna and salmon), and sushi. I only tried the prawns and salmon sashimi, both were very fresh.

There were also slow cooked salmon which was very good, roast meats, Hokkien prawn noodle soup (also good), DIY Rojak (not bad). They also had sausages, hash brown, braised pork bun, fried carrot cake, dim sums (har kow, char siew pao and siew mai), and a small little Indian corner.

Next up, desserts included 4 – 5 flavors of ice cream with different toppings, marshmallows, various cakes which included a yuzu mousse thing (quite good), pandan mousse, nonya cakes, and a few more varieties not forgetting the fruits.

Won’t you agree that this buffet is a steal at $30++ which comes to about $35 per pax? I’d definitely be back for the weekend brunch again!

*Note – the buffet starts from 12.30 – 3.30pm. Reservation required and they strictly only allow entry at 12.30pm sharp.