I had already written about my stay at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay in my hotel review, but Peppermint was one part of the experience I had left unexplored. So I went back for lunch, partly out of curiosity and partly because a hotel this polished should not be allowed to look that put together without also proving it can feed people properly.
That, I realise, is not the most generous starting point for a buffet.
But it is an honest one.
Peppermint is currently running its Tantalising Thai buffet until 17 May 2026, with weekday lunch at S$72++ and at S$82++ on the weekends. And for all my Muslim friends out there, fyi, the buffet stations and kitchen are also halal-certified.
One-line verdict: Peppermint’s current lunch buffet is attractive, well-run, and more convincing when I leaned into the Thai and local dishes instead of trying to eat everything in sight.
First Impressions: The Room Already Does Half The Persuasion
I am easier on a buffet when the room is not actively irritating me.
Peppermint helps itself immediately on that front. The restaurant is bright, open, and surrounded by enough greenery that lunch does not feel like a fluorescent endurance test.
This is still a hotel buffet, so there is the usual choreography of people hovering at the seafood station as if it contains emotional closure, but the space itself stays calmer than many buffet rooms in town.
That matters more than people think. A buffet can have twenty dishes and still feel exhausting if the room is wrong. Peppermint feels like an actual restaurant first. Buffet second.
I Ate Like Someone Who Has Made Buffet Mistakes Before
When I went, Peppermint was deep into its Tantalising Thai run, so I resisted the urge to do that foolish buffet thing where you treat every section equally out of guilt. The Thai focus is the whole point right now. Pretending otherwise is how people end up eating mediocre pasta in a room serving tom yum and mud crab curry.
The dishes that made the strongest impression on me were the ones that actually felt anchored to the theme. The current Thai lineup includes dishes such as Tom Yum Talay, Pu Phad Phong Kari which is stir-fried mud crab with curry paste, Hoi Tad or Thai-style fried mussel omelette and Thai Roasted Duck in Red Curry.
There is also a Josper grill component with items like grilled chicken skewers and grilled squid with spicy sauce. That gave the buffet more identity than the usual generic “Asian and international” promise hotel restaurants like to hide behind.
I would go back for the tom yum. I would also go back for the duck curry. The mud crab curry was the kind of buffet dish that makes you forgive several weaker trays nearby because at least someone in the kitchen cared. The grilled items helped too, especially because they broke up the softer, saucier Thai dishes with a bit of smoke and salt.
The Seafood And Cold Section: Necessary, Not Life-Changing
The seafood is there because a hotel buffet at this price point would cause unrest if it were not.
Peppermint’s current buffet descriptions and partner listings still lean into the seafood section as part of the draw, and in practice it does what it needs to do. The seafood was fresh enough, the cold station looked properly maintained, and it gave the meal that expected buffet opening move where everyone starts in a state of shellfish optimism. But if I am being honest, I did not find myself thinking about the seafood afterwards. It was competent. It did its job. Then I moved on.
This is not an insult. It is just a reminder that not every buffet needs to be a seafood sermon. At Peppermint, the more memorable plates came once I stopped trying to justify my lunch with cold prawns and let the hot line do the work.
Service: The Part That Keeps The Whole Thing Civilised
The strongest thing about lunch, apart from the room itself, was that service never collapsed into tray logistics.
Peppermint is a large hotel buffet and that always comes with operational risk. Plates pile up. People wander. Someone will always stand directly in front of the dish you want and enter a philosophical pause. But the restaurant held together well. Plates were cleared quickly, service stayed steady, and the room never tipped into stress.
That, for me, is where value starts to show. Buffets are not only about food. They are about whether the meal can remain pleasant once everyone else has also arrived hungry.
Is It Worth It?
On a weekday, yes.
At S$72++, I think Peppermint’s current lunch buffet makes sense if you understand what you are paying for. You are paying for a good-looking room, a halal-certified buffet that can accommodate mixed groups easily, a current Thai theme with actual personality, and a setting that feels more relaxed than many Marina Bay hotel buffets. At S$82++ on Friday and Saturday, I would still call it fair, but with less room for mediocrity.
What I liked most was that the meal did not feel detached from the hotel. It felt consistent with it.
The same things that make PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay work as a stay also helped the lunch work. The softened light. The greenery. The sense that even in the middle of Marina Bay, the hotel is trying to lower your pulse slightly.
Final Thoughts
Peppermint is not the loudest buffet in Singapore and that is part of why I liked it.
During this Thai run, it has enough personality already. It does not need to overcompensate with excess. The dishes that worked best were the ones with actual confidence in them: the curries, the tom yum, the grilled items, the plates that tasted like they belonged to a specific theme rather than a generic buffet obligation.
Would I go back? Yes.
But I would go back with a plan, which is the only dignified way to approach a buffet once you are old enough to know better.
J.C. Yue is often in transit, and hotel buffets are her most reliable “in-between” meal in Singapore. She reviews hotel buffets for RERG based on what she actually ate, highlighting what’s worth returning for, and what isn’t.
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