The best buffets under $30 in Singapore

This restaurant serves an affordable dim sum buffet set in a traditional Chinese setting. At just $25.80 on weekdays and $29.80 on weekends, tuck into a wide variety of steamed and fried dim sum like shrimp dumplings, egg tarts, siew mai, carrot cake with Chinese sausage, salted egg yolk buns, and more. You’d need a minimum of three adults to enjoy the buffet, but it’s best to come in groups of four – most food is served in servings of four, and there’s a promotion where one dines free with every three paying adults. 

Goldleaf Restaurant has been serving bowls of its porridge for over 50 years. While it brands itself as Taiwanese, the base of rice porridge and sweet potatoes is just as familiar. On weekdays ($19.90 for lunch, $22.90 for dinner), pair the humble bowl with sides that include seafood beancurd, braised pork belly with preserved vegetables, hand-shredded cabbage, and it’s popular chye poh omelette. 

You can enjoy your meat prepared two ways – raw and cooked – at Tenkaichi’s deluxe buffet (from $29.90). Thinly sliced protein includes beef, pork, chicken and various seafood are best enjoyed over the yakiniku grill or hotpot, while freshly sliced options like octopus, tuna, and sea bream are best enjoyed as sashimi. There is also a small selection of cooked sides to keep you occupied as you wait for the food to cook. 

There’s now a buffet dedicated to popular Korean street food, tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes). Priced at $18.80 for adults, enjoy your meal in two parts: feast on different kinds of rice cakes, fishcakes, and vegetables cooked in a spicy sauce, then end off the meal by making your own kimchi fried rice in the very same pot.

You don’t need to wait for a rainy day to enjoy the soup from Guo Fu Steamboat. Beyond its 11 different soup bases, the buffet (from $25.90) also comes with free-flow soup dumplings on top of the various raw ingredients that include the standard meats, seafood, and vegetables. There are also other ingredients like shallot pancake, sweet potato noodles, and a small dessert option to sweeten the deal. 

There’s no denying you’ve stepped into a Peranakan Restaurant when you enter Chilli Padi. Its main draw is its buffet line (from $20.80) that allows you to enjoy some of the restaurant’s signatures, including ayam buah keluak and sayur lodeh. Colourful kuehs and other Nonya favourites will round off your meal. 

Ladyboy Mookata prides itself on using fresh ingredients and high quality produce. It also puts a twist in conventional Thai barbeque with a dose of cheese dips at the side. Its mookata buffet goes for $29.90 from Monday to Thursday, featuring vegetables, seafood, and five different cheese (from truffle to tom yum flavoured) to dip your food in.