[Post-uploaded / Wednesday 22 June 2005 12:26AM]

Against all common sensibility and self-control I went for a seafood and teppenyaki buffet dinner at the Vienna at United Square, despite battling one of the worst cough of my life. The cough-and-sputter-nonstop-for-five-minutes, cough-till-both-eyes-are-bloodshot-red, cough-balls-of-phlegm-and-vomit kind of cough that makes you look like someone is casting the demons out of your body. The medication makes my left hand tremble.

I didn’t really want to go, but it was a farewell dinner organized for a colleague and they had specially arranged the timing to fit MY schedule. And Elaine, my best friend at work, kept going on about the magnificent spread of food at the restaurant…

The food didn’t disappoint!

It was a feast fit for a king- there was sashimi, sushi, soba noodles, chawanmushi, Buddha-jump-over-the-wall, sharks fin with crab meat, Ginseng fish soup, crocodile soup (?!!), French pastry corn soup, buttermilk crabs, chilli crabs, black pepper crabs, cereal prawns, black pepper prawns, smoked salmon, grilled pork and beef, fried frog legs, roast meat, GIANT oysters, mussels, baked cheese scallops, ice cream, HASHIMA (!!!), herbal jelly, excellent French pastries, cocktails, coffee, cappuccino, cocoa, a wide variety of flavoured tea… and much much more.

You really should go down to try it out yourself, although it is a *little* pricey at about SGD40.00 per head.