Permata’s one-for-one halal buffet features over 50 heritage dishes from Singapore and the Nusantara region

Some dishes deserve a lot more love than they get, with many lesser-known but traditional recipes slowly disappearing from everyday dining — appearing only in home kitchens or during festive occasions. 

If you’ve ever wanted to try these lesser-seen dishes in one sitting, now’s a pretty good time. This National Day season, halal restaurant Permata is shining a spotlight on some heritage dishes with its latest Flavours of the Lion City buffet. 

The buffet spread has more than 50 dishes that draw from Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Peranakan cuisines, alongside flavours from across the wider Nusantara region.

Since opening in 2021, Permata has built a reputation for its rotating Nusantara halal buffet, with its menus refreshed every one to two months. Each edition is built around extensively researched recipes from across the Malay Archipelago.

Permata is housed within the historic Gedung Kuning (Yellow Mansion) in Kampong Glam, beside the Malay Heritage Centre. It’s a beautifully preserved heritage building that dates back to the late 1850s. 

It was once home to Prince Mahmud, the youngest son of the Sultan of Johor and the last Johor royal to reside there. 

The culinary director behind Permata’s rotating buffets is chef Mel Dean, who reimagines heritage Nusantara recipes with a contemporary touch. Leading the kitchen is head chef Manoj Kumar, who brings more than 20 years of experience specialising in Nusantara and Indian cuisine.

During our visit, chef Manoj took the time to walk us through some of the stations and dishes. His warmth and hospitality made the experience feel all the more welcoming.

Here’s some great news: You can enjoy its latest Flavours of the Lion City buffet with a one-for-one promotion until August 31. If you’re planning a visit, here’s a quick breakdown of what the buffet pricing looks like:

Lunch buffet (Monday to Sunday, 12pm to 2.30pm)

• Adults: From S$88 for two (U.P. S$176)
• Senior citizens (60 and above): From S$38 per person
• Young adults (13 to 17 years old): From S$28 per person
• Children (seven to 12 years old): From S$20 per person
• Children (five to six years old): From S$10 per person

Dinner buffet (Sunday to Friday, 6pm to 9.30pm)
On Saturdays, the first seating is from 5pm to 7pm and second seating is from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

• Adults: From S$108 for two (U.P. S$216)
• Senior citizens (60 and above): From S$44 per person
• Young adults (13 to 17 years old): From S$34 per person
• Children (seven to 12 years old): From S$24 per person
• Children (five to six years old): From S$10 per person

What’s on the buffet

Many of the dishes lean on the richer side, so I’d recommend taking smaller portions of each to save room for more. But with more than 50 dishes on the buffet, there’s realistically no way you’ll get through everything in one sitting. 

Here’s our take on what’s worth the stomach space.

The Nyonya laksa was easily the favourite for both my dining companion and me. The broth was smooth, rich, and creamy, but not overly heavy. It balanced the sweetness of the coconut milk with the right amount of spice. You can add rice noodles, prawns, fish cake, quail eggs, tau pok, and laksa leaves. It was really the broth that kept drawing us back — “just one more spoon!” — in between dishes.

Another dish that impressed us was the beef rendang — a dish that appears simple, but takes hours of patience to get right. The beef was fork-tender, pulling apart effortlessly, while the rendang struck a satisfying sweet-savoury balance with plenty of aromatic spices. 

There’s also the light and airy roti kirai — more commonly known as roti jala, a thin crepe — that makes for the perfect vehicle for the smooth and comforting potato curry.

If bold flavours are more your thing, you’ll also find crowd favourites such as tulang merah (bone marrow in a rich spicy red gravy) and sambal paru (beef lung), alongside a grill station serving dishes including sambal barramundi — featuring a flaky and soft fish beneath a punchy sambal topping.

The crispy prawn fritters were delicious on their own, but even better dipped into the buffet’s assortment of condiments. From sambal geprek to sriracha mayo, there was no shortage of sauces to experiment with.

One of the more unexpected creations was the butter chicken masala risotto. It combines creamy Italian risotto with familiar butter chicken flavours, complete with chunks of chicken throughout. 

It’s not meant to replace traditional butter chicken, but it’s an interesting east-meets-west interpretation that’s worth trying out.

The otak otak casserole also puts a spin on a familiar favourite. Rather than the usual grilled parcels, the fish paste is baked into a casserole, creating a softer, creamier texture.

As someone who enjoys otak otak, I especially liked this twist, though the fish flavour takes a slight backseat to the rich and fiery sauce. Fair warning, though: This one packs quite a punch, with a heat that lingers.

Another interesting creation was the martabak (stuffed savoury fried pancake) chicken frittata, which combines the familiar flavours of savoury martabak with the light and fluffy texture of a frittata. It’s a fun twist that still retains the comforting spices you’d expect from the original.

The build-your-own gado gado (Indonesian vegetable salad in peanut dressing) station allows you to customise your bowl with steamed vegetables, boiled potatoes, quail eggs, tofu, and tempeh, before finishing everything with a generous drizzle of rich and nutty peanut sauce. 

It made for a refreshing break from the heavier mains.

For those who prefer milder flavours, there are comforting staples too, including chai tow kway (black carrot cake). As with any buffet, you’ll also find a seafood station stocked with fresh prawns, mussels, clams, and smoked salmon.

You’ll also find the quintessential Singapore chilli crab on the buffet, complete with its thick and sweet-savoury sauce that’s perfect for pairing with fried mantou.

A good selection of desserts

Whatever you do, do not skip out on the desserts here. 

Alongside an assortment of colourful Nusantara kueh, you can make a comforting bowl of warm pulut hitam, featuring soft glutinous rice simmered in sweet coconut milk.

We also enjoyed the serawa durian — also known as durian pengat — a rich Malaysian dessert made with durian, coconut milk, and palm sugar. If you’re a durian fan, this one’s a must.

A dessert that especially caught my dining companion’s eye was the bubur som som — a traditional Malay dessert that’s surprisingly hard to find in Singapore these days. It is made with soft rice flour pudding and served with rich gula Melaka syrup.

If I could only pick one dessert, though, it’d be the cek mek molek. If you love sweet potatoes, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The deep-fried sweet potato snack is crisp on the outside, soft inside, and made with molten palm sugar. 

What I appreciated most from the buffet is its intentionality. Every dish seemed to have earned its place on the spread, whether it was a nostalgic favourite or a lesser-seen recipe that’s becoming harder to come by. 

Between the thoughtfully curated selection and the chance to sample many traditional flavours in one sitting, I’d recommend giving Flavours of the Lion City a try while it’s around. Plus, the one-for-one promotion until August 31 is also hard to pass up.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more halal eats, read on The Udang Clan, a CBD favourite for halal lor mee, and Big Mouth bakehouse at Geylang Serai, by the team behind Fluff Bakery.