Renowned for its daily themed buffets and Sunday Champagne Brunch, Checkers Brasserie offers a surprise in store for guests for each day of the week. Showcasing a range of favourites from Asian delights to Western selections, Checkers Brasserie brings to the local palate both international as well as local cuisine. Diners can spoil themselves silly with their favourite cuisine at Checkers.

• The Vibe
  Done up English cottage style with cherry wood furnishings, Checkers Brasserie is all about unpretentious dining. Paintings of entertainment and dining from classic England complement natural greenery separated from the restaurant by a glass window, presenting an atmosphere likened to one of a coffee-house – of a casual and laid-back dining experience.

• The Food
  Checker's daily lunch buffet ($38+++) varies every day, with Monday sporting a Spice & Curry theme, Tuesday featuring Thai, Wednesday and Saturday dinners dishing out a galore of Japanese cuisine, Thursday Indonesian, and Friday showcasing the day's catch of seafood. Weekends see a more general theme consisting of Western and local delights, as well as free flow of champagne during Sunday brunch, and wine during dinners.

  Monday's Spice & Curry theme features a variety of food ranging from continental cold dishes to Indian prata with curry. Served in delicate porcelain spoons and shot-glasses, the cold starters present a deliciously chilled appetizing feast of seafood, vegetables and fruit garnishings. Smoked Salmon is skillfully sliced and served at its freshest, the flesh a glistening orange and succulent in texture. The Querelle Liver Porfiatt consists of a small cube of duck liver masked by sweet crumbly custard stacked atop, blending into a unique fusion of flavours. Its Spice & Lemon Pumpkin with Prawns and Spinach serves up a punch of refreshing olive dressing on springy fat prawns, with accompanying spinach and pumpkin adding a tangy and refreshing juicy conclusion.

  The international spice & curry cuisine made up in variety, for the lack of quality in food. Most dishes served are here of a reasonable standard which meets expectations for such a buffet spread, but there are none in particular that warrants multiple helpings. Nevertheless, a simple Indian prata shines in this Spice & Curry theme. With a choice of mushroom or mutton fillings, square cuts of crispy prata deftly hand-made and fried on the spot by Indian chefs replicate the satisfaction of ordering a plateful in common coffee-shops around Singapore .

  The highlight of every buffet is Hilton Hotel's famous cheesecake, which must not be missed. Available in different flavours; plain New York-style, Oreo-flavoured and more, Checker's dessert station sends every guest into gastronomical ecstasy. One's fork slices cleanly through the cheesecake like knife through butter, and a mouthful translates into creamy yet light, smooth and heavenly sensations. Right on the other end, an Asian Or-ni (yam paste with banana and coconut cream) measures up to its Western cheesecake counterpart. Warm and smooth-sliding down the throat, this is one dessert for the sweet-toothed.

• The Service
  Weekday lunches witness an almost full house as office executives, hotel guests and locals stream through the doors for a satisfying meal at Checkers. The hotel staff are kept bustling to and fro clearing plates, and this may result in neglect on their part at times. Plates were not cleared quickly enough and guests were often left thirsty for too long a period, although efficiency stepped up once the lunch crowd dwindled.

The SD Food Advisor's take on Checkers Brasserie
Checkers Brasserie is indeed an unpretentious dining experience, given its rather average quality main courses on available on Mondays. Appetizers and dessert leave a better impression, but other buffet themes leave much to be desired, particularly the Japanese cuisine. Guests can look forward to other weekday buffets if a particular theme was not to their liking, for Checkers Brasserie caters different cuisines to suit different palates.