Lunch at Sleeping Rhino Restaurant @ Klapsons Boutique Hotel

15 Hoe Chiang Road, Level 1, Tower Fifteen, The Klapsons Boutique Hotel, Singapore 089316

Tel: 6521 9001

Besides enjoying drinks at Fabrika @ Klapsons Boutique Hotel,  I also decided to try the lunch at their restaurant, Sleeping Rhino.

Donned in a lovely contemporary decor, this tiny bistro-style restaurant consists of a bar counter, a salad bar and some rows of seats (booths and tables). The twinkling lights above the salad bar looked elegant at first but after a while it seemed to cause headache. Service was nothing to speak of as well.

Nonetheless, *Sidney and I browsed through the limited menu and decided to go for the All-you-can-eat Salad Buffet (SGD$16.00). The ala carte menu did not leave us a lot of choices and we did not have much appetite - not like there was anything eye catching anyway.

The salad counter was rather small as well, and as we circulated it in one small circle, we realized that the variety was limited too. For the price, we expected a better variety - the salad counter does not have to be as extensive or sumptuous as LeVel 33's, but the spread here was really unappetizing. Read on as to why.

Besides a whole load of very normal vegetables (lettuce, etc) and other greens - one of which made up a Caesar Salad - the tiny cubes of watermelon, papaya and peaches appeared they were just simply chopped and served.

There were loads of tiny items such as olives, beans and nuts to choose from if one pleased.

One of the only saving graces was the ham spread - proscuitto, salami etc, and the thin slices of pork contained no fatty meats (a rarity) and were not too salty.

Next in line would probably be the Potato Salad, which deserves a little praise, because the taste was quite good and the potatoes were soft enough to be enjoyable. 

The greens and other colorful vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes were fresh, don't get me wrong - but just too common for an all-you-can-eat buffet at that price. 

I did not eat the sesame rolls served with butter,  but the Buddy did, and it tasted rather all right despite being a tad hard.

I also ordered an Iced Melon Tea (SGD$8.00) - in which the iced tea was just pure unsweetened tea, and I could pour the melon syrup into it to adjust the level of sweetness to my desire.

So I had a little antipasto and Caesar Salad to start the meal off - nothing to rave or rant about.

We decided to share a main course of Steak Sandwich (SGD$9.00 for top-up, ordered with Salad Buffet) which looked decidedly good when it was served - all golden and crispy. Well, the fries were nice and crispy anyway - with light sprinklings of fine chilli powder.

The "steak" sandwiched between the crispy slices of bread were really just thin pieces of beef, tender and delicious, but the name "steak" seemed to be laying it a little too thick. The tiny strips of onions enhanced the flavor with tinges of spiciness, and added some sweet crisps to the chewy texture of the beef.

I had some cubes of fruits and beans. The papaya and watermelon were dry, and the papaya actually clumped to each other (being left outside for too long?), but nonetheless refreshing enough after a few saltish bites of the sandwich and fries.

The potato salad was not bad, as mentioned, as were the ham slices, paired with feta cheese and green peppers I'd taken.

The two of us spent SGD$33.00 each, enjoying a seemingly light but unsatisfactory lunch. The spread of the salad could really improve, if not in variety then in quantity please. Or if they choose to retain this standard of the salad buffet, then perhaps they could have an optional "add on salad buffet for $10.00" for main courses ordered instead of making it the main ticket with an add-on entree option.