Dinner buffet at Olive Tree Restaurant, InterContinental Singapore.
During my recent staycation at InterContinental Singapore, my family and I had the chance to enjoy a sumptuous buffet dinner at Olive Tree restaurant. After all, one of the must-do’s when you’re on a staycation is to sample the buffet spread that the hotel has to offer.
Chef hard at work with the roast beef. Take note of the rustic stone-washed wall design!
This definitely saves you the trouble of finding a suitable dinner venue during your weekend getaway in the city – especially when you have young kids with you.
Atmosphere
Diners enjoying the buffet spread.
Stepping into the restaurant almost feels like you’re being transported to a quaint Greek dining hall. There were French columns that lined the centre of the restaurant, while the walls were adorned with rustic stone washed details.
As it was the eve of Father’s Day at that time, almost all the tables at the restaurant were filled up. The place was buzzing with the constant chatter of patrons, but thankfully it didn’t get so noisy that you could not focus on the conversation that was taking place at your own table.
There were a few families who brought along their kids, and it wasn’t hard to figure out the one thing that the kids looked forward to during the buffet dinner – the chocolate fountain!
The chocolate fountain with skewers of dried fruits and marshmallows is a hit among the kids.
Food
The fresh oysters and crabs are the highlight of the buffet spread. These have to be refilled quite frequently.
Olive Tree restaurant offers a wide variety of international cuisine – from salads, cold cuts and fresh seafood, to roasts, local favourites and Indian. The restaurant also offers a nice spread of desserts consisting of cakes, jellies, Nyonya Kuehs and cut fruits. All these delights are nicely spread across 7 food stations which are quite nicely spaced out from one another.
So, do take note that you may need to do a fair bit of walking to get from one station to the next. Well, at least this helps you digest the food before digging in to the next plate.
Platters of fruits, cakes and Nyonya Kuehs are lined up along the dessert station.
Weekend lunch and dinner at the Olive Tree restaurant includes a free flow selection of beer, housepour wines and spirits. You can either help yourself to a glass from selected food stations or make a request with the manager on duty.
Take your pick from a great selection of wines to lift your spirits!
Is it kid-friendly?
My 18-month-old with her set of kiddie cutlery.
Olive Tree restaurant gets 2 thumbs up from me for being kid-friendly. Not only are high chairs available upon request, but the restaurant also prepared a plastic plate and cutlery set for our 18-month-old who was dining with us.
We also had the opportunity to let our daughter try selected dishes from the new kids’ menu. Recently launched at InterContinental Singapore, the menu was put together by award-winning chef Theo Randall and internationally best-selling kid’s cookbook author and child food expert Annabel Karmel.
During our dinner, I chose the following dishes for my daughter:
Smiley Tomato Soup ($6)
Krispie Fish Fingers ($8)
Lychee Frogurt ($6)
She loved the Smiley Tomato Soup so much that she managed to finish half the bowl (for her, that’s quite an accomplishment!). She didn’t have much room left in her tummy for the rest of the dishes, but that only meant that the adults get to try the food, too.
The Smiley Tomato Soup gets a huge nod of approval from the toddler!
Cost
The Nyanya dishes are presented in huge claypots.
Dinner at Olive Tree Restaurant is priced as follows:
Lunch
Monday to Friday: $68++ (Includes free flow of soft drinks)
Saturday and Sunday: $78++ (Includes free flow of soft drinks, beer, coffee and tea)
A tasty selection Indian cuisine presented in copper cookware.
Dinner
Monday to Thursday & Sunday: $88++ (Includes free flow of soft drinks and beer)
Friday and Saturday: $109++ (Includes free flow of soft drinks, beer, housepour wines and spirits)
Service
A nice selection of cheese to go with fruits and crackers.
The manager and wait staff attended to our needs quite promptly that night, despite the restaurant operating at an almost full capacity. However, one of the wait staff may have been too eager to clear our dishes. There were several times when she asked to take our plates and we were clearly not done with our food yet.
Reservations
The Japanese food station offers a selection of sushi and sashimi.
I recommend that you make a reservation before heading down to Olive Tree restaurant, as the place is highly likely to be packed during weekends.
For reservation and enquiries, you can call the Dining Reservations team at 6825 1008 or email intercontinental.dining@ihg.com.
Helpful hints
My 18-month-old enjoying her bread stick.
If you’re bringing along your toddler with you, it is best to be at the restaurant as early as you can. This gives you ample time to feed your toddler his/her food first, before enjoying the buffet spread yourself.
Try to request for a table at one of the side booths, where it’s quieter and located further away from the main restaurant. This also ensures that your kids do not get in the way while walking (or running) around the table.
Attire
The selection of freshly baked bread serves as the perfect start of a great meal!
Since Olive Tree restaurant is a casual dining place, there’s no need to slip on your favourite cocktail dress and heels. Putting on a nice and comfy tank-and-jeans combo or casual dress will suffice.
Ingredients for the classic Indonesian ‘Gado-gado’ with peanut sauce.
Getting there
Tip: You can request for the chef to prepare any type of pasta that you like. But if you’re going for Aglio Olio pasta, remind him to go easy on the chilli if you’re not a big fan of spicy food!
Olive Tree restaurant is located at:
InterContinental Singapore
80 Middle Road
188966 Singapore
(Nearest MRT station: Bugis)
Our platter of salmon and tuna sashimi to share…
Opening hours:
Breakfast
Monday to Sunday, 6am to 10.30am
Lunch
Monday to Friday, 12pm to 2.30pm
Dinner
Monday to Friday, 6pm to 10pm
Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday, 7pm to 10.30pm