I'll be honest: I love seafood but I’m not always excited about the idea of seafood buffets. As someone who grew up eating beef in Argentina and came to appreciate Singapore's extraordinary food culture over more than a decade of living here, I've sat through enough hotel seafood spreads to know what to expect. So when I walked into CLOVE at Swissôtel The Stamford recently with my two boys in tow, I was prepared to be pleasantly fed, not genuinely moved. I was wrong.
Kelong to Table is a month-long seafood showcase running through June, developed in collaboration with Singaporean celebrity chef Eric Teo and CLOVE's Executive Chef Roy Vun. The conceit is a journey "across three waters" – river, tropical sea, deep ocean – drawing on Singapore's coastal heritage and kelong traditions. On paper, that framing could easily slip into the kind of marketing poetry that rarely makes it to the plate. Here, it does.
The Story Is in the Food
What struck me first wasn't the spread (which was a plenty) it was the restraint. The Kelong to Table dishes are, at first glance, deceptively simple. But simplicity, as any serious cook knows, is where confidence lives. The appetisers set the tone immediately. The Clam Meat with Pomelo, Peanuts and Umami Sauce is the kind of dish that makes you stop mid-bite and reconsider what you thought you knew about a buffet.
The pomelo isn't garnish here - it does structural work, its clean citrus brightness cutting through the umami depth of the sauce and the sweetness of the clam. The peanuts add just enough texture to keep things interesting without overwhelming. It looked almost casual on the plate. It was anything but – needless to say I kept on coming back for more.
The Tiger Prawn with Chilli Coriander and Ulam Ulam Dressing was another appetiser worth pausing over (and my eldest son paused over many times) – the herbs vivid and the dressing carrying that gentle herbal funkiness. And the Crabmeat with Bamboo Shoot and Omelette rounds out the starters with something more textured and homely, the kind of combination you'd expect to find in a well-loved home kitchen rather than a hotel buffet.
Moving into Chef Roy Vun's Signature Creations, the Local Threadfin with Assam Curry and Fish Noodles is the menu's clearest statement of intent. It carries a sense of place. The Rock Lobster Meat with Creamy Sze Chuan Pepper and Avruga Caviar was my personal highlight of the evening. The Sichuan pepper builds slowly rather than announcing itself, and the Avruga caviar adds a brine-salt note that keeps the whole thing from tipping into richness. I went back for more – again.
Chef Eric Teo's Culinary Selection continues the storytelling through comfort. The Seafood in Rich Milk Broth – tiger prawns, crab, clams and vegetables simmered for over 90 minutes – is the kind of broth that feels like it belongs to someone's family recipe and the Poached Grouper Fillet with Roasted Walnut and Tomato Salsa is another example of Chef Teo's knack for unexpected pairings that land.
The Unexpected Win: Feeding Neurodivergent Kids at a Seafood Buffet
This is where I want to pause and say something that doesn't often make it into food writing: dining out with neurodivergent children is its own navigation. My boys have strong and specific relationships with food – textures, preparations and unfamiliar flavours can be a genuine obstacle. I was cautiously optimistic bringing them here. What I found was genuinely heartening.
My eldest son's evening was largely made by the Tiger Prawn appetiser, which he claimed early and defended with the seriousness of someone who knows exactly what he likes. The fresh sashimi station was another immediate hit – clean, pristine cuts that both my kids returned to multiple times. CLOVE's cheese spread was exactly the kind of uncomplicated, reliable pleasure that settled them at the table – and that became part of my dessert!
Then the actual desserts. The spread at CLOVE is emphatically not an afterthought. The churros were executed properly – crisp exterior, soft interior – and were gone from my boys' plates almost before they landed. The tiramisu was the undisputed star of the evening according to my eldest: properly made, coffee-forward, not cloyingly sweet, the kind that reminds you what the dish is supposed to taste like. The dessert section alone would justify the visit for families with younger or selective eaters.
The Room Tells You Everything
CLOVE fills quickly, and on the evening we visited it told a familiar Singapore story: large multi-generational family groups, birthday celebrations with cakes and bubbly conversation, couples settling in for an early dinner, and a steady stream of hotel guests from across the Southeast Asian region.
There's an energy here that feels genuinely local even within the hotel setting – not sanitised or catering purely to an international palate. The new green display at the entrance, with live papaya trees and tropical touches inspired by Singapore's coastal farming traditions, is a considered detail that sets the tone before you've picked up a plate. The Seafood on Ice counter is stacked with oysters, Maine lobster, tiger prawns, mussels and scallops – and visibly replenished throughout the evening.
Service throughout the evening was genuinely attentive - tables cleared promptly and consistently, without the lapses you sometimes encounter in a busy hotel buffet environment where the floor team is stretched. It's a small thing that makes a significant difference when you're dining with children.
The restaurant sits on Level 2 of Swissôtel The Stamford, directly accessible from Raffles City Shopping Centre and a short walk from City Hall MRT. For families, that accessibility is no small consideration: no taxis to coordinate, no parking to stress over; just step off the train and you're there.
On Value
The buffet is priced at $108++ per adult (or $54++ per child aged 6 to 12) for dinner Monday to Thursday – and for $138++ per adult, that includes free-flow prosecco and draft beer. A further +$38 add-on brings in free-flow red wine, white wine, beer and soft drinks for those who want the fuller beverage package. Weekend and Sunday lunch pricing is slightly higher; check the CLOVE website for current rates.
For a family evening with this breadth of food, this level of sourcing and this much variety across the spread, the value proposition holds up well. The 80-plus dishes across cuisines – the carving stations, Malay and Indian specialities, the international buffet and salads grown on the hotel's own Aquaponics Farm - mean that Kelong to Table isn't a special menu sitting on top of a thin supporting cast. The whole buffet is generous and confident.
The Bigger Picture
Chef Eric Teo put it plainly: many diners today have lost the thread connecting them to where their seafood comes from and the communities behind it. This collaboration is one attempt to restore that connection – through flavour, through storytelling, through dishes that carry the memory of Singapore's kelongs into a contemporary hotel dining room.
Swissôtel The Stamford has been building toward this kind of hospitality for some time. Its urban Aquaponics Farm - the first within a Singapore hotel when it launched in 2019 – produces over 1,300 kg of vegetables and 200 kg of fish annually for the hotel's restaurants. Kelong to Table is framed as the beginning of a longer-term commitment to working with local fish farmers and kelongs as part of the hotel's wider sustainability efforts. Whether that extends meaningfully beyond June will be worth watching.
For now: go while it runs. The seafood is traceable, and it tastes like it. The dishes have a point of view. The service is solid. And if you're bringing children – neurodivergent or otherwise – you'll find more to work with here than at most hotel buffets in the city.
The Details
Kelong to Table: Seafood Buffet from River to Ocean runs until 30 June 2026 at CLOVE, Level 2, Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882
Dinner pricing (Monday to Thursday, 6pm–10pm): $108++ per adult / $54++ per child (aged 6–12), or $138++ per adult inclusive of free-flow prosecco and draft beer. Add $38++ for free-flow red wine, white wine, beer and soft drinks. Weekend and Sunday lunch rates vary – check the CLOVE website for full details.
Reservations are strongly recommended – the restaurant fills fast.
Nearest MRT: City Hall (EW13/NS25), accessible via Raffles City Shopping Centre
e. dining.singapore@swissotel.com
w. www.swissotel-singapore-stamford.com/restaurants-bars/clove
