Best affordable buffets in Singapore under $50
What’s not to love about buffets? Food, food, and more food━as much as you can stomach, and then even more. Some of the most atas buffets in Singapore cost a pretty penny, though, which might not be the most prudent in this GST-hiked climate. For those of you who still want to indulge without the splurge, here’s a roundup of the best affordable buffets in Singapore so your tummy and your wallet are happy.
Are there time limits for buffets in Singapore?
Hotel buffets in Singapore don’t usually come with time limits – the stated opening hours are however long you can continue sitting and enjoying your food for.
These usually come with higher prices; however in order to keep prices down and turn tables quicker, an increasing number of restaurants are implementing dining time limits at their buffets. Common dining time limits are approximately 60-90 minutes, which is more than sufficient to eat everything if you do it right.
Prices of buffets in Singapore range from under $20 a head, to numbering in the low hundreds – it really depends where and when you’re dining, and the ingredients used in the spread. Lunches typically cost a lot less than dinners and have shorter dining times, so they’re much easier to book on short notice, or none at all.
Many eateries also impose wastage fees, so take note of this if you tend to take or order more food than you can finish.
In general, most buffets have an international spread of food, though you have more specialised ones featuring Italian, Korean, Japanese, and even Indonesian fare. Besides cuisine-specific options, there are those catered to hotpot lovers, alternatively there’s mookata, K-BBQ and more.
| Name of Restaurant | Price | Dining Time Limit |
| Swensen’s Unlimited | Lunch price: Mon-Fri: Child $15++ | Adult $31++ Sat-Sun: Child $30++ | Adult $50++ Dinner price (from 4.30pm): Mon-Thu: Child $25++ | Adult $35++ Fri-Sun: Child $30++ | Adult $60++ | 90 minutes |
| TungLok Seafood | Child $29.80++ | Adult $39.40++ | NIL |
| Cosmo Dining | Child $14.90++ | Adult $29.90++ | NIL |
| MiMi Korean BBQ | Mon-Thu: Child $19.50+ | Adult $29.50+ Fri-Sun: Child $24.50+ | Adult $34.50+ | 90 minutes |
| Kiseki Japanese Buffet | Lunch price: Child $16.90++ | Adult $29.90++ Dinner price: Child $19.90++ | Adult $47.90++ | NIL |
| Lao Beijing | Child $15.80++ | Adult $21.80++ | 90 minutes |
| Stirling Steaks | Lunch: $35++ | Dinner: $38++ | 60 minutes |
| Express Cafe & Bar | Child $8.40++ | Adult $13.40++ | NIL |
| A.K Zai Lok Lok | $19.90+ | NIL |
| Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant | Lunch price: Mon-Thu: Child $25.20++| Adult $42++ Fri-Sun: Child $27++ | Adult $45++ Dinner price: Mon-Thu: Child $27++ | Adult $45++ Fri-Sun: Child $28.80++ | Adult $48++ | NIL |
| Hai Lao Wu | Mon-Thu: Child $16.90++ | Adult $27.80++ Fri-Sun: Child $16.80++ | Adult $29.80++ | 90 minutes (3 pax) 120 minutes (>4 pax) |
| Guo Fu Hotpot | Lunch price: Child $17.90++ | Adult $33.90+ Dinner price (after 3pm): Mon-Thu & Sun: Child $19.90++ | Adult $36.90++ Fri-Sat: Child $19.90++ | Adult $39.90++ | 90 minutes (2 pax) 120 minutes (3-6 pax) 150 minutes (>7 pax) |
What’s the best way to enjoy a buffet?
Some of you may be seasoned pros at the buffet line, but here are tips for your next pig-out.
Most importantly, dress for the part. This means loose-fitting, bloat-friendly clothes, with stretchy elastic waistbands so you don’t feel the pinch as you indulge. Go light on the meals before your planned buffet too, but don’t skip them entirely, or your stomach might rebel against the sudden food overload. Stay hydrated, but avoid coffee, gassy drinks and alcohol as they can cause indigestion or heartburn.
We also recommend doing a quick recce of all the dishes available at the buffet before you hit the ground running. Go easy on the carbs especially, and make a beeline for protein options.
You’ll see people making a beeline for the more expensive ingredients to get the most value from the buffet – noodles and rice, while tasty, are low-cost items that fill you up too quickly. Sample a bit of everything before you decide which dish you want seconds and thirds of. Slow and steady is the name of this game.
– Best buffets in Singapore under $50 –
1. Swensen’s Unlimited
Free-flow seafood on ice & 48 ice cream flavours from $31++
Image credit: Eatbook
Everyone knows and loves Swensen’s, so when they launched Swensen’s Unlimited, priced from just $31++ with free-flow seafood on ice and a whopping 48 ice cream flavours, fans went wild.
Image credit: Eatbook
The international selection includes Peranakan and Asian dishes such as Ayam Buah Keluak and Beef Hor Fun, alongside roasted leg of lamb and striploin. On the ice cream front, there are flavours like Red Velvet, Durian and Kaya, which you can pair with waffles, kroffles AKA croissant-waffles, and smashed croissants.
This buffet operates non-stop from 11am-11pm everyday, but you’ll have to pay the dinner price if you’re dining from 4.30pm.
Lunch price:
Mon-Fri: Child $15++ | Adult $31++
Sat-Sun: Child $30++ | Adult $50++
Dinner price (from 4.30pm):
Mon-Thu: Child $25++ | Adult $35++
Fri-Sun: Child $30++ | Adult $60++
Dining time: 90 minutes
Address: 60 Airport Boulevard, #01-03, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, Singapore 819643
Opening hours: 11am-11pm, Daily
Contact: Swensen’s website
2. TungLok Seafood
Dim sum buffet with 40 items from $43.80++
Image credit: @andrew_tijoe via Instagram
Dim sum fiends, put Tung Lok Seafood on your list of lunch spots. This concept by the 40 year-strong Tung Lok Group specialises in Singapore-style seafood, though their a la carte dim sum buffet is not shabby either.
With no dining time limit, you can feast for almost 4 hours, with the option to add on free-flow drinks for $5++ a diner. The line-up features starters such as Crisp-Fried Eggplant with Pork Floss, salmon sashimi, and even Californian maki – surprising at a dim sum buffet, but who’s complaining?
Moving on, there are 11 kinds of dim sum on offer, with favourites like Pan-Fried X.O Carrot Cake with Sausage, Steamed Custard Bun, and Steamed Chicken Claw with Black Bean Sauce. Pair these with Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee, Drunken Herbal Prawn and har cheong gai too. If you’ve still got space, there are fried rice and seafood hor fun dishes too, and a single serve of salted egg yolk prawn per table, amongst others.
Price: Child $29.80++ | Adult $39.40++
Dining time: NIL
Full list of outlets
3. Cosmo Dining
$29.90++ wellness lunch with DIY sandwiches & noodle dishes
Image credit: @cosmorestaurant via Instagram
Easties, drop your lunch plans and check out Cosmo Restaurant in Fraser Changi City instead. Take their Wellness Buffet Lunch as a 2-hour reset for your mind and body, and nourish it with their selection of salads, including the bougie-sounding Waldorf Salad, Thai Style Green Mango & Seafood Salad, or Oven Baked Honey Glazed Pumpkin with Cranberry & Balsamic Reduction. There are 4 daily, from a rotating menu of 17.
Don’t forget, there’s also seafood on ice, with live poached prawns, clams, and mussels, plus 2 soups daily. Whether you like comforting Chinese Style Winter Melon Soup with Herbs, or soul-warming Cream of Forest Mushroom, they’ve covered all the bases.
There are hot dishes of seafood, chicken, beef and tofu, 10 desserts each day, and a bounty of DIY stations. Just in case their salads don’t rock your boat, you can build your own, otherwise there’s DIY sandwiches with ingredients such as smoked salmon & dill mayo, gochujang chicken mayo and assorted cold cuts.
If you have the stomach real estate, there’s a popiah station too, while the hawker noodle DIY corner features laksa, Penang lor mee and Hokkien prawn mee, or curry chicken noodles, to name a few.
Price: Child $14.90++ | Adult $29.90++
Dining time: NIL
Address: 3 Changi Business Park Central 1, Singapore 486037
Buffet hours: 12.30pm to 2.30pm, Daily
Contact: Website
4. MiMi Korean BBQ
K-BBQ with unlimited meats at $29.50++
Image credit: Eatbook
Jio your chingu to MiMi Korean BBQ Restaurant for a buffet that’s super wallet-friendly and tasty. Choose from 7 different kinds of meat, including beef bulgogi, marinated pork galbi, spicy chicken galbi and beef short plate.
Image credit: Eatbook
For an extra indulgent feast, top up $5+ for additional cheese to go along with your barbecued meats. As with all Korean meals, the buffet comes with side dishes AKA banchan such as kimchi and fish cake, which you can enjoy as much of as you want.
Price:
Mon-Thu: Child $19.50+ | Adult $29.50+
Fri-Sun: Child $24.50+ | Adult $34.50+
Dining time: 90 minutes
Address: 2 Peck Seah Street, #01-01, Air View Building, Singapore 079305
Opening hours: Daily 11:30am to 3pm, 5:30pm to 12am
Contact: 6225 1317 / 9114 9510 | MiMi Korean BBQ Restaurant website
5. Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant
Tempura, sushi & skewers from $29.90++
Image credit: @kisekisg via Instagram
Flights to Japan will set you back a couple hundred dollars minimally, but you still can send your tum on a gastronomic retreat at Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant.
The restaurant is located on the 8th floor of Orchard Central, so you’ll be dining to panoramic views of Orchard Road while you feast on more than 10 different categories of Japanese food. There’s sashimi, sushi, maki rolls, cold seafood, tempura, teppanyaki, grilled items, mini rice and noodle bowls, and desserts, to say the least.
Dinner is more expensive, but there’s a wider selection at dinner which includes snow crab legs, crayfish, oysters and more.
Lunch price:
Child $16.90++ | Adult $29.90++
Dinner price:
Child $19.90++ | Adult $47.90++
Dining time: NIL
Address: 181 Orchard Road, #08-01/02/03, Orchard Central, Singapore 238896
Opening hours: 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm (Daily)
Contact: 9817 5259 | Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant website
6. Lao Beijing
High tea with DIY popiah & dim sum for $21.80++
Image credit: @poodforn.sg via Instagran
Another Tung Lok Group restaurant that makes this list is Lao Beijing, a Novena institute that’s been around since 1996. Step into the restaurant and be transported to China of the 1980s, where you can sip on Chinese tea from bone china cups, and nibble on classic Chinese dishes.
Their High-Tea Buffet menu has 30 items, of which 8 are dim sum including Homemade Pork and Cabbage Dumpling, Shrimp, Pork and Chives ‘Guo Tie’, and Prawn Wanton with Dark Vinegar and Chilli Oil.
The highlight, however, goes to Lao Beijing Signature D.I.Y Popiah, served in a tiered, lacquer basket. Save room for other chef’s specials such as Deep-fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk, Braised Fish with Pickled Cabbage and Chilli AKA suan cai yu, and ‘Mapo’ Tofu.
Price: Child $15.80++ | Adult $21.80++
Dining time: 90 minutes
Address: 10 Sinaran Drive, #02-76/84, Square 2, Singapore 307506
High tea hours: 3pm-5pm, Daily
Contact: 6358 4400 | Lao Beijing website
7. Stirling Steaks
60-minute, all-you-can-eat steak from $35++
Image credit: @stirlingsteaks via Instagram
The steak buffet at Stirling Steaks is one for the meat lovers. The East Coast mainstay has brought back their Eat All You Can Steak Buffet, still priced at a wallet-friendly $35++ at lunch, and $38++ for dinner.
Not only do you get free-flow ribeye and sirloin steaks, cooked to medium doneness by default, at this affordable buffet, you’ll also be treated to unlimited serves of grilled beef and pork shabu, chicken thigh, dory fillet, as well as garden salad and fries. You only get 1 hour to stuff yourself, though an extra $8++ gets you an extra 30 minutes on the clock, while $12++ means you can eat for as long as you want.
Lunch price: $35++
Dinner price: $38++
Dining time: 60 minutes
Address: 115 East Coast Road, Singapore 428804
Opening hours: 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10pm, Daily
Contact: 8940 4245 | Stirling Steaks website
8. Express Cafe & Bar
Teochew porridge buffet from $13.40++
Longtime Taiwan porridge buffet favourite Coffee Lounge at Goodwood Park Hotel seems to have switched to Taiwan porridge set menus, but if you’re still looking for the buffet option, check out Express Cafe & Bar instead. They’ve just launched their All-You-Can-Eat Teochew Porridge Buffet, starring more than 20 dishes.
As an introductory special, the buffet is going at 50% off for the whole month of March. Even without the discount, you’re looking at $26.80++ a diner, which is well worth the 5 hours you get to dine for. Pair your porridge with braised dishes, bittergourd fried egg, fish, steamed minced pork, kung po chicken and lots of other classic accompaniments.
Price: Child $8.40++ | Adult $13.40++
Dining time: NIL
Address: 201 Balestier Road, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Singapore Novena, Singapore 329926
Buffet hours: Sat-Sun 5pm-10pm
Contact: 9170 0684
9. A.K Zai Lok Lok
All-you-can-eat lok lok & mookata for $19.90+
Image credit: @a.k_zai_lok_lok via Instagram
Honestly, there’s no need to cross the Causeway for lok lok when there are plenty of options right here in Singapore. You’ll get lots of bang for your buck at A.K Zai Lok Lok, an Outram Park bar that serves all-you-can-eat lok lok and mookata.
There are more than 40 types of lok lok on offer here, which you can pick from a fridge that’s stocked full with skewers. Have them boiled in a soup of your choice, or deep-fried to order. For $10+ more, you can pick from tom yum, mala, laksa and pork broths – on Tuesdays, the soups come free.
Price: $19.90+
Dining time: NIL
Address: 259 Outram Road, Singapore 169056
Opening hours: 5pm-1am, Daily
Contact: A.K Zai Lok Lok website
10. Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant
All-you-can-eat, halal-certified Indonesian buffet from $42++
Image credit: @furamasingapore via Instagram
If you’re looking for a more cuisine-specific buffet, why not try the Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant buffet? You can’t afford to go carb-free here, with no less than 4 kinds of nasi AKA rice that are the perfect vehicle for all the main courses and I kid you not, 7 types of sambal.
Main courses here include Rendang Kambing, Bakso Urat, Ayam Taliwang, beef lungs with potato, butter crab, salted egg or butter crab, Grilled Fish with Dabu Dabu Sauce, and roasts such as ayam bakar and beef ribeye.
Desserts-wise, do not pass over their durian pengat; there’s also bubur cha cha, kueh-kueh, French pastries and puddings.
Lunch price:
Mon-Thu: Child $25.20++| Adult $42++
Fri-Sun: Child $27++ | Adult $45++
Dinner price:
Mon-Thu: Child $27++ | Adult $45++
Fri-Sun: Child $28.80++ | Adult $48++
Dining time: NIL
Address: 405 Havelock Road, Furama Riverfront, Singapore 169633
Buffet hours: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm (Daily)
Contact: 6333 8898 | Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant website
11. Hai Lao Wu
BBQ & hotpot buffet with hanfu dress-up from $27.80++
Image credit: @joycet.bell via Instagram
Live out your Chinese period drama fantasies at Hao Lai Wu Steamboat & BBQ, where you can dress up in hanfu (traditional Han Chinese clothes) while you feast. This a la carte buffet has more than 80 items for you to choose from, which you can enjoy BBQ-ed on a grill, or poached in one of 8 different soup bases.
Their signature soups include Babe Clams Soup, Collagen Beauty Soup and Authentic Spicy Mala Soup. You’ll find the regular hotpot suspects here: luncheon meat, cheese tofu, assorted seafood and meats; they have a selection of organs, plus house-special marinated meats too.
Note that the hanfu costumes are only available at their Burlington Square outlet.
Price:
Mon-Thu: Child $16.90++ | Adult $27.80++
Fri-Sun: Child $16.80++ | Adult $29.80++
Dining time: 90 minutes (3 pax) | 120 minutes (>4 pax)
Full list of outlets
12. Guo Fu Hotpot
Unlimited xiao long bao & individual hotpots from $33.90++
Image credit: @hamster06 via Instagram
Free-flow hotpot and xiao long bao? Say less. You won’t even have to fight over hotpot soup bases at Guo Fu Hotpot, since everyone gets their very own pot. With more than 60 ingredients to pick from and 15 soup bases, you’ll have a ball of a time trying everyone’s soups. There’s Kim Chi Soup for a Korean twist, Curry Beef Soup, or soul-warming Old Hen Fungus Soup.
For something more unique, check out the Male Vitality Soup, boiled with duck and cordyceps, or Beauty Soup, simmered with black chicken.
Image credit: Eatbook
Each basket of xiao long bao is freshly steamed to order, and sport a toothsome flavour that many reviewers online love.
Lunch price: Child $17.90++ | Adult $33.90+
Dinner price (after 3pm):
Mon-Thu & Sun: Child $19.90++ | Adult $36.90++
Fri-Sat: Child $19.90++ | Adult $39.90++
Dining time: 90 minutes (2 pax) | 120 minutes (3-6 pax) |150 minutes (>7 pax)
Address: 7 Wallich Street, #02-01, Guoco Tower, Singapore 078884
Opening hours: 11.30am-10pm, Daily
Contact: 6557 0906 | Guo Fu Hotpot website
These are the best affordable buffets in Singapore
Eating out can get pretty costly, especially if you have a bottomless pit of a stomach. Keep this list of best affordable buffets handy, so you can satisfy your stomach while keeping your wallet happy.
For more affordable nosh:
Cover image adapted from: Eatbook