I particularly like the revamped Marina Square with the inclusion of The Dining Edition which is a new dining concept that puts together different cuisine from around the world under one roof. From Viet, Thai, Chinese, Japanese to Brazilian restaurants as well as a few new dessert bars and familiar cafes, we are definitely in for a treat when shopping at Marina Square.
The husband and I decided on lunch at Carnivore Appetite as a belated wedding anniversary celebration which probably wasn’t the best move because lunch was buffet-style and we still weren’t in top form after being ill for some time. Though we didn’t manage to eat a lot (which wasn’t a bad thing – at least we weren’t eating more than we should!), we enjoyed the dining experience as it was our first time indulging in grilled meats at a churrascaria in Singapore. He was craving for beef and I was craving for lamb so why not, really.
Bring on your carnivorous appetite if you want to dine here
Carnivore Appetite is the brainchild of the people behind the popular 10-year-old Brazilian churrascaria, Carnivore to bring on this new casual dining concept.
Know the cuts of your meat?
The difference in concept between Carnivore Appetite and its predecessor, Carnivore is that there is no rodizio style of service in the former, meaning there are no service staff coming round to your table to carve meats directly onto your plate. Instead, we see meats on skewers gently roasting in this giant charcoal rotisserie in the middle of the buffet line where you can go to for all your meats.
The selection of grilled meats is not huge for lunch but is accompanied with an extensive offering of salads, appetisers and hot dishes.
I started my meal with some greens dressed in balsamic vinaigrette from the salad bar. Love the rucola, alfalfa sprouts, baby carrots and ultra-sweet cherry tomatoes.
An assortment of antipasti and pre-made salads
And from the hot food section, we had the spicy sausage (very meaty and heavy!), grilled pineapples, pork collar, bacon wrapped chicken, honey baked ham, mashed potato and creamy polenta. The pork was unfortunately too dry for my liking. Same goes for the chicken wrapped within the bacon. I love grilled pineapples with meats but this pineapple just wasn’t sweet and juicy enough. The ham was just a standard one. I was impressed with the mashed potato and polenta though. Both were creamy, well flavoured and not over the top.
There were also the Feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew), soups, spaghetti, rice which I didn’t try.
The highlight of my meal had got to be the meats. Only 4 selections were available for lunch i.e. chicken thigh, escolar fillet (a.k.a. butter fish), beef rump and lamb shoulder with garlic and mint. Just let the passador know what you want and he will carve the meats onto your plate.
Sauces and condiments to go with the meats
The lamb was my favourite – absolutely not gamey at all and was grilled to perfection with a nice pinkish centre in the middle. Also, it came with a nice layer of fats that made the meat tasted really tender but I got so sick of it later on that I just had to remove the fats and eat the meat alone. The lamb went very well with the mushroom sauce.
The escolar fillet was my next preferred and I drizzled it with pineapple sauce and chimichurri to take away any sickly greasy feeling from the supposedly very oily fish. The restaurant had advised diners to limit escolar intake to not more than 3 pieces. I was curious about this because it really wasn’t as oily as I thought it would be so I checked up wikipedia and realised that escolar has a high oil content of 14%-25% as well as high wax ester content that can cause keriorrhea (or gempylid fish poisoning). Keriorrhea is similar to diarrhoea and other symptoms would include stomach cramps, headaches, nausea, vomiting and anal leakage that may occur within 30 minutes to 36 hours after consumption. True enough, I only had two pieces but I started having diarrhoea after my meal as well as nausea for the next couple of days so people with weak stomachs like me, you have been warned.
The beef rump wasn’t too bad either except that the exterior where it was more well done was chewy than the centre part. The beef went very well with the port wine sauce.
The chicken was lacklustre though. Tasted dry and bland so I had to drizzle more sauce over to make it more palatable.
The husband went for his last serving of assorted items which were decent and nothing spectacular.
As for me, I couldn’t resist another serving of lamb and escolar (this was my 2nd piece). The lamb got me hooked.
My verdict? The only thing that I really liked from this buffet was only the lamb that was nicely done. Other than that, everything else was forgettable. I am a carnivore but a meat buffet proves too much for me as meats are just too heavy. We are unlikely to return, not because the food wasn’t up to standard but a churrasco just isn’t our cup of tea.
Prices
Lunch Mon-Fri $19.90++/adult, $12.90++/child
Sat,Sun & PH $24.90++/adult, $12.90++/child
Dinner Mon-Thu $29.90++/adult, $15.90++/child
Fri-Sun & $34.90++/adult, $15.90++/child
Eve of PH
Carnivore Appetite
6 Raffles Boulevard
#02-102, Marina Square
Tel: 6336 2282
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Opens: 12.00pm to 10.00pm daily
Thanks for the review! Thinking of treating the bf to a birthday meal here but I’ll see how it goes XD
Don’t indulge too much in that butter fish! :p