Pierside Weekend Brunch

The weather during the past few Sunday mornings has been nothing short of cheery (: I really love seeing the sun shine especially when I don't have to go to school. Perhaps my biggest grudge is that I tend to spend the second half of Sunday doing work because Saturday is technically my 'break' day (break from work but not from other things!). Increasingly, I find myself feeling very high strung because I constantly feel like there's too much to do and too little time. Thankfully, I've supportive family and friends who never fail to take me out for a much needed cheer-up-meal whenever things get a little too down.

A few sundays ago, Jeffrey decided to bring me to Pierside for their weekend brunch! (: I've never had an ala-carte Western buffet before so I was thrilled when he told me that he wanted to bring me there! (: We checked out the menu before we made our reservation just to make sure that we would have a wide range of yummy food to satisfy our tummies.

Because we were slightly later than the regular lunch crowd (we reached Pierside around 1), we were given an outdoor table, which we were fine with until the scorching sun decided to be merciless!

I guess if you really can't stand the heat, you should try to beat the weekend lunch crowd by making a reservation or heading down to Pierside around noon.

Because beverages and fruit juices aren't included in the ala carte buffet menu, I tried my best to resist ordering my favourite drink. However, the heat proved too much to bear so Jeffrey and I decided to order a glass of (overpriced) freshly squeezed orange juice ($10) to share.

Piereside's ala carte buffet is unique in that it mixes both ala carte buffet and traditional buffet styles. To my knowledge, ala carte buffet means ordering dishes off the menu and waiting for these dishes to magically appear on your table when the waiters/ waitresses deliver them. Pierside adopts this particular ordering style for their 'short orders', which are mini portions of 'main dishes'. Apart from that, you have to visit their bread corner, salad bar, pasta and risotto station, egg station and dessert corner inside the restaurant itself to get the other kinds of food on their menu.

After placing our 'short orders', Jeffrey and I wandered indoors to check out their various counters. We managed to get a plate of lettuce with caesar sauce, some tomatoes and some rosti from their salad counter.

We also visited their bread corner and got ourselves two slices of bread each with strawberry jam and marmalade! I love marmalade (:

Grilled pork sausages with mashed potato & onion gravy. Jeffrey LOVED this dish! He said that the pork sausages tasted very different from the others that he had tried. I liked how soft and well-blended their mash potato was. The sauce definitely gave this dish a boost as well! It's a must-try!

Pierside classic fish & chips! The fried fish fillet was pretty normal but the fries were awesome! (: Really love straight cut flavoured fries.

Chicken dukkah with mesclun & orange dressing. Okay I've no idea why this dish has such a fancy name but essentially, it's fried chicken pieces that were slightly above average.

My favourite dish that day: Eggs benedict with smoked hollandaise! (: I loved it so much that I refused to share it with Jeffrey so each of us had our own eggs benedict! haha I'm such a greedy and selfish person when it comes to dishes that I like. This reminds me of Joey from Friends, heh.

Another must-try dish would be the smoked salmon frittata with cream cheese. This tasted like smoked salmon on top of scrambled eggs with cheese. It has a very rich but satisfying taste (:

Snapper pie with fennel with white wine cream. This was a tad too tiny for my liking because I didn't have enough mouthfuls to decide if I like it or not but in general, it's quite creamy so if you're looking for clear soup, avoid this.

One warning about the dessert counter: the food runs out VERY QUICKLY! It's scary! Whenever a waiter/ waitress brings out new desserts, you can literally see people rising from their seats and heading towards the dessert corner IN A PACK! EEKS. Anyhow, Jeffrey and I got ourselves a platter of fruits while waiting for the dessert corner to be 'refilled' with food.

After waiting for so long, we managed to get a little shooter containing mango & lemon grass crumble each. I felt that the crumble was the thing that gave the entire shooter the extra kick! Love it =)

Finally, I proudly present our much awaited dessert platter: chocolate ganache tart, lemon meringue tart and mango sponge cake. Let me give you a little advice: whatever it is, GO FOR THE TARTS. They are REALLY good! No wonder they always deplete so quickly! The chocolate ganache packed a punch and the lemon meringue helped to offset the choco-blast. I love the tarts! (:

If you're feeling in the mood for some western 'fine-dining', you can consider going down to Pierside for their weekend brunch. It costs $40++/ pax, which is relatively alright considering the quality of food and ambience of restaurant (:

Have a great weekend! (: