+1^ I can't wait to be back at FS BKK...

buffets are in OP because they are all you can eat. now looking for dinner with best/most made to order.

The MELT buffet at MO Singapore is fantastic.

No worries, just think that buffets and 'all-included' warrant separate lists as both are very interesting topics - anyway, the Taj Exotica does made to order dinner also! Had a phenomenal duckling... :P

made to order buffets seem rare, but can be better than all inclusive >
must be very rare for dinner buffets with best/most made to order.

didnt ask about full/half board because its common and best are michelin starred. forgot ballyfin is more full board.

high level all-inclusive is probably fairly rare. even if the 3 new england properties arent the best regarded for food, theyre probably high up, just because of logistics for islands and safaris (africa and elsewhere) - although the best might well be in south africa. not sure how many all-inclusive countryside properties there are.

I thought that MELT was meh. Their dessert table was incredible - several traditional items that were spot on in terms of taste from flan to mango sticky rice to shaved ice with all the fixins. I also really enjoyed the chocolate fountain.

Maybe its because I was there mid week, but I felt that all the hot food was really dry and bland. The "featured" theme was Thai food and I tried a little bit of everything except the pasta bar and the "western" selections, which included items you'd find at your local golden corral in the US. The sushi/sashimi tasted like they soaked the fish in water for days. The biggest disappointment was the seafood table as it looked so spectacular in the photos...but all the items were either dry and bland or watery and bland (except the oysters and shrimp which were average).

While I normally dislike buffets, I like the ones where there are cooking stations with chefs preparing meals in front of you like they did at the Asian buffet at FS Mauritius (think this is organised once a week) and the spectacular buffet at Peninsula Bangkok organised for the Loy Krathong celebration when we visited in November a couple of years ago (date varies from year to year). Also the Sunday Adult Only Brunch at Trisara was good, though with less choice than many other buffets (great tasting selection, though). While the dim sum brunch at FS Singapore mentioned by several of you was very good taste wise, I quite missed the "seeing what you order"-feeling that a "normal" buffet would order. It felt more like a normal restaurant experience. I would also disagree that the price was a bargain; Acually we (two adults, one child) had all the dim sum we managed to eat, but still ended up paying unit price instead of the fixed "buffet" price (they were kind enough to tell us that this option was actually cheaper for us, which was great service). Also we were quite lonely in the restaurant, just one other table was booked, which also took away some of the atmosphere. Better than a crowd, of course, but a bit too quiet.

And one more thing: While - as mentioned in another post - Aman does not do buffets, I am sure that they would be more than happy to prepare a tasting menu with small bites of lots of the dishes on the menu, which would give a similar experience as the dim sum brunch. Some Aman restaurants have already such tasting menus (thinking Indonesian feast at Amandari or the great japanese meal with lots of different items we had at Naoki, Amanpuri). While these menus are set, I am sure they would be able to accommodate any other wishes for similar meals.

Clayoquot... it's an all-inclusive luxury tented wilderness camp, and everything is included: cocktails, wine, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Rustic but excellent food!

If all inclusive resorts count, of course there is Four Seasons Golden Triangle

what camps besides africa have top quality food?

certainly not FS golden triangle at least at the moment.

Musken what time of day were the buffets at FS MRU and Pen BKK? im thinking exactly along the lines you describe. these buffets must be rare, especially at dinner, so just trying to find where the best ones exist.

as i said im not a foodie, rarely do tasting menus, cant discuss food at educated level, so my only real option is all you can eat, obviously preferring entirely made to order and not normal buffet style, but whatever is available.

even if the food doesnt compare to the best food elsewhere, although hopefully some of the best do, at least looking for best available options.

the "feasts" at aman as discussed in other thread, how do they compare when ordering for 2 people and a large group?

The buffets at FS MRU and Pen BKK were evening. Most FS do theme buffets once or twice a week, at least during high season. I forgot to mention another great one; The indian feast buffet at FS KH. Wonderful. Some live cooking stations as well as some pre made dishes. Also a number of FS/Amans have beach BBQs which are very good. Amanpuri and Trisara does this, but also others, just I cannot remember right now. FS KH had a good seafood buffet as well, including both sushi and lots of lobster.

Our Amandari indonesian feast was for two persons. We got lots of different dishes. These are more normally organised for just two than for a whole group, I guess.

Also I can add that we reallly love to try lots of different kids of dishes, and have often had wonderful meals, especially made to us, with lots of dishes, just a little bit to try. I can mention the FS LG oriental restaurant and the FS KH indian restaurant + the FS Jimbaran Bali indonesian restaurant where the chef prepared special menus for us with lots of different things, but also at Aman Sveti Stefan this summer we had one breakfast and one dinner where we especially asked for a taste of local food and god a great selection.

great details, thanks again ^

At Amans, you can always discuss with the chefs about ' tasting ' menus
other than the ' buffets ', BBQs on offer.
At Amanpuri now, there was an appetizer tasting menu offered on the beach y'day.
FYI, no evening BBQ currently , as this is the rainy season here, opposite of Bali.
The Indonesian Amans all have some interesting regional ' spreads '. Love the " megibung " at Amankila which we didn't have a slot to schedule in during our stay the last couple of weeks ! definitely the
next trip. This is usually for 2.
However, we 'd many especially prepared menus for the 12 of us this time, Hamish & Guy along with their teams , Amanusa & Amankila respectively, carried out our requests perfectly
Trying to decide what to have today, already had my lobster club ( off menu ) for lunch, etc .. Also the tiger prawn club. Think / dream about it while I swim in our pool ( or sea ) soon.

Regarding a couple recent stays...

At Amanpulo, I found the food to be generally quite excellent. The sous-chef went out of her way to accommodate our requests, including personally flying to Manila to find some special requested fruits that she decided we'd like to try based on our discussion during the private cooking class we took. Even the private lunch on the sandbar where the food was brought in via boat and sat for hours prior to consumption was most excellent, and presented far and wide better than anything else I've seen for such a remote venue. Very impressive. That said, I found the beach BBQ food to be overcooked and generally of lower quality. I think that may just be an artifact of the particular staffer who was cooking for us, not to mention the light rain which didn't help. Overall I would say I had a very good food experience though at Amanpulo. Note that none of the meals were 'included' in my rate, but I understand they do sometimes offer inclusive packages there.

At Trisara, the Andrew Harper rate included daily fully breakfast. Essentially anything and everything you wanted to order off the menu was comp'ed. I found both the western and Thai dishes to be excellent and was highly impressed with the offering each morning. Service was also top notch. The only issue I had there was the resort provided lunch during the boating excursion was pretty poor, especially the presentation in tupperware. Of course, the beaches in Phuket made up for the food presentation. Unfortunately I wasn't at the resort on a Sunday to try their reputed brunch.

Finally, somewhat random, but Hyatt Diamond benefits afforded comp'ed full breakfast at the Park Hyatt Chicago which I found to be among the best breakfasts I've had within the Park Hyatt chains, only to be outdone by the Paris full buffet breakfast daily.

1. dinner - made to order buffet/club/etc - dim sum/tapas/etc

2. cheapest exclusive-use (private chef) all-inclusive (that is still quality)
obviously very short list, not sure about these, or others
- singita castleton ZA
- zarafa botswana (wilderness safaris)
- pretty beach house AU
im looking at these as much better than accommodations which have private chef included/optional
and assuming existing andbeyond and lebua for example arent worth comparing

re my goal - a "menu" that i can order small dishes / tastes from