Breakfast at Ascott Raffles City Chongqing

If I were to describe what the complimentary breakfast at Ascott Raffles City Chongqing (you can also read my article about breakfast at Westin Hotel Chongqing) was it would be: an international feast.

This was a buffet style breakfast at the SHAN restaurant that featured dishes not just from China and Chongqing but also from the rest of the world. More importantly though, these dishes all seemed so delicious and what I did end up getting actually lived up to my expectations (they also have great amenities here and you read my article about their gym, swimming pool, sauna, laundry and playroom).

Ascott Raffles City Chongqing Hotel Booking

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Breakfast at Ascott Raffles City Chongqing: An International Feast

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Speaking of expectations, this is what you can expect to see once you’ve gotten inside the restaurant’s buffet area. Here you can see one of a number of stations where you can get your food from. If my memory serves me right, this section was where you could find healthy options such as salads and fruits.

In contrast to the previous section, this one pictured here was more to my liking. It featured meat dishes and boy was I drooling when I actually got to see the food items here up close. This section was really the first indication of the quality of the food being served here.

On the day I was here, the left-most food item in this section were these steamed buns and boiled eggs. I noticed that the steamed buns were relatively popular among the guests (more on this in a later photo). Similarly, I noticed that people were also going for the eggs which is kind of expected I guess.

Now what’s a more quintessentially western breakfast pairing than fried eggs and sausages? The eggs here honestly weren’t to my liking as I preferred runny yolks and these just seemed like they didn’t have that. Still, these probably taste great in a sandwich bun paired with these sausages.

I’m not going to lie, the bacon here looks really delicious. The glistening fat and the pinkish-red meat were speaking to me and whispering how sumptuous they were. Kidding aside, these looked to be pretty much like American/Western bacon so I think they’re probably going to taste similarly to that.

And we’ve finally reached the greatest hits of condiments and sauces in Chongqing cuisine. So these technically are ingredients for the Chongqing Xiaomian and not toppings for the dishes listed in the plaques hanging on the glass. To get one of these dishes, you will only need to get the attention of one of the attendants here.

Here’s a closer look at the noodle dishes available in this section. From the left there’s Chongqing Wonton followed by Noodles with Shredded Pork and Pickled Cabbage, Noodles with Fried Bean and Meat Sauce, Tomato and Egg Noodles, Chongqing Spicy Noodles, and Chicken Soup Noodles (ji tang mian).

Now off to the right of the ingredients, you’ll find this display headlined by the words Chongqing Xiaomian. Then in English, it shows the ratios of the ingredients needed to make the iconic Chongqing noodle dish. Once you’ve gotten these ingredients, it’s all then a matter of getting the noodles from one of the attendants and you should be good to go.

Now it’s understandable if you’re not too keen on noodles early in the morning. When I was there, they had plain porridge and coarse grain congee for guests who wanted something easier to digest. I will say, paired with the right side dishes, porridge/congee can be quite a breakfast treat.

For guests who still aren’t used to the spiciness of Chongqing cuisine, there’s a dedicated section for international cuisine featuring a wide selection of popular dishes from all over the world. One of those dishes is the one pictured above called baked potato with cheese and bacon.

If that’s too Western for you, then the Tom Yum Gong Seafood beside it might be what you’re looking for. This Thai dish is also supposed to be spicy but not quite to the level of Chongqing’s cuisine. I would say, probably try this out first if you’re still not used to spicy food.

If you’re looking for something healthier then this Stir-fried Diced Lotus Root in Sweet and Sour Sauce might just be what you need to kickstart your day. Lotus root is underrated as a vegetable and I think it’s actually quite tasty if cooked right.

Another colorful dish that I saw in this section is this Lemon-flavored Basa Fish cooked Thai style. I was curious what Basa Fish was and found out that it’s a catfish that’s found in the Mekong river basin. Apparently its texture is similar to cod and haddock with its flavor being described as on the milder side.

Aside from Asian dishes, the section also features European fare like this Spaghetti Bolognese that, funnily enough, doesn’t have any spaghetti at all! I was actually scratching my head with this one as the pasta used here is clearly macaroni.

This Stir-fried Beans with Pickled Cabbage is another healthy option that you might want to pair with the lotus root dish from earlier. Personally, I’m not a big fan of beans so I’m not sure what type this is. I will say though that it did look appetizing and I probably would have tried it if I didn’t already have something I wanted to get.

Before I proceed with the next dish, let me just say how adorable these signs were as I was looking over the food. I think it adds a lot of personality to the dishes and it gives people an idea as to what to expect when they open the serving trays.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t drooling at this Pan-fried Beef Ribs with Rosemary and Mushroom. After opening the serving tray I was immediately hit by the rosemary’s aroma that I wanted to dig in right then and there. The beef also looked like it was velveted well and cooked just right.

Though this definitely is not the most appetizing dish here, I think this Poached Vegetables dish is probably one of the healthiest in this section. As I’m not a connoisseur of vegetables, I unfortunately won’t be able to ID what’s featured here. If it’s any consolation though, I did see a number of guests get this on their plates.

Speaking of popular dishes, this serving tray that had Teriyaki Chicken was looking almost gutted. It’s really not surprising though as a lot of people just like chicken in general.

Though I’ve come across this dish numerous times before, I think Fried Rice with Pineapple still has to be one of the weirdest food combinations I’ve ever seen. That said, it’s not as bad as it looks. From what I saw, the pineapple was mostly just for decoration and the fried rice didn’t have any chunks of the fruit in it.

I’m now at the drinks section and the first beverages I saw here were these fruit juices. On the left is a dispenser for orange juice while on its right is one for grape juice. I had a sip of these and they were rather sweet.

If the juices’ sweetness aren’t to your liking then to their right you’ll find healthier options. There are pitchers here of lemon infused water, cold and skimmed milk, Chinese and English Breakfast Tea, and plain old Hot Water.

In addition to the beverage options in the previous image, there are also small pitchers for Soy Milk and Hot Milk in this section. I’m not sure if it was just for that day but it did seem like more people were choosing the soy milk here which was really surprising for me.

If you’re keen on getting tea then you’ll find packets of Twinings tea bags just to the right of the pitcher of hot milk. Aside from the tea bags, there are also packets of sugar to help sweeten your drink of choice.

Other than instant tea, you could also approach the restaurant’s service staff and have them get you freshly brewed tea instead. On a side note, staff here were really helpful despite the language barrier.

Here’s a wide selection of yogurt flavors that you might want to consider getting if you’re into this dairy product. I was actually eyeing the Red Dates flavor as that was something that I’ve never tried before. Though I decided to skip it this time, I did eventually get to try it at a later date.

Make sure that you check out this section as well for toppings for your yogurt if you do decide to get one. The leftmost topping is Haw Flakes and right next to it is dried banana. As for the rightmost topping, I think this was just raisins.

If you want to add just a little more crunch to your yogurt then check out this dispenser for rice krispies. You can only see a little of it in the picture but there’s also some corn flakes here that you can either add to your yogurt or add milk to.

Remember earlier when I said the steamed buns were popular among the guests? As you can see, there were only about 3 of these left when I opened the lid of the steamer. Additionally, there were what seemed like red bean desserts so it’s likely that some were used as a filling for the steamed buns.

While I’ve had roasted corn before, I don’t think I’ve ever had one that was steamed like in this Coarse Grain Platter. Aside from the corn, this also has what looks to be a tuber of some kind.

For a complete meal, you’re probably going to want to get some fruits in. Thankfully, there’s a section here with pineapple chunks as well as slices of watermelon and what I think is Hami melon. On a side note, you might be wondering what the figures in the back are. This is likely linked to Chongqing’s love of mala tutou or spicy and numbing rabbit’s head.

As someone who professes to enjoy eating meat, these greens really looked delicious. Maybe it was the colors of the vegetables and their freshness but I was actually thinking long and hard on whether I should get some on my plate.

On the right you’ll see mixed fruits in syrup that likely contains cherries, pineapple, and maybe even some papaya. I didn’t get this though as I find that the syrup the fruits are swimming in are a little too sweet for my tastes. As for the plate on the left, I actually have no idea what this is nor did I try and taste it.

Of course no salad is completely without cherry tomatoes and you’ll find plenty of that here along with some sweet corn, cucumbers, and even olives (just to name a few more salad ingredients). You’ll also notice there’s a fermentation crock here containing fermented chilis which is a key ingredient in Chongqing cuisine.

Now you might be asking why these eggs are here considering there’s already another section that had boiled eggs. Well, these are actually salted eggs which also happen to go well with a lot of salads.

Speaking of salads, here are a couple that are already pre-made so all you need to do is get some and be on your way. I’m not quite sure what these are called though and there was surprisingly no signs showing what they were called like with the food from other sections.

Just next to the salads is the breads and pastries section. On the bottom basket you’ll find what I think is some type of raisin braid. The top basket I wasn’t too sure about. It seemed like a cross between bread, a bagel, and a donut. I will say though, it did look tasty and both were still reasonably warm.

Of course, if there’s bread then you’ll almost always want to slather it with butter. Thankfully, there’s plenty of packets of butter here just for that reason. If you’re not too keen on getting butter then there are also packets of fruit jam here that you can opt for instead.

Oh look, there’s also Nutella here! As you’ve probably noticed, this was quite popular among the guests with almost half of the bottle already gone by the time I got here. I personally think Nutella is a little too sweet for my tastes so I tend to avoid it.

Perhaps the crowning glory of the breads and pastries section are these sourdough breads. Much like the rest of the bread here, these were still warm when I got to this section. You can probably get a whole loaf if you wanted to though I would personally just go with a slice or two then slather some fruit jam or butter on it.

Here’s the basket where you can find the rest of the sourdough bread. Interestingly enough, it didn’t get as much attention from the guests as I thought it would. Looking back now, I think a possible reason might be that guests just couldn’t be bothered to cut a slice for themselves.

Indeed, when you can already get pre-sliced white and whole grain toast, there’s very little reason to go to the effort of cutting a slice of sourdough bread. This is especially true if you’re in a hurry or just want to get your breakfast over with the soonest possible time.

Right next to the basket that contains the white and whole grain toast is this HECMAC conveyor toaster. Next to that is a coffee machine that dispenses Espresso, American Coffee, Coffee Latte, Cappuccino, and regular hot water.

Now if you plan to make a sandwich then you’re probably going to want to head on over to this section. You can choose from three types of cheeses here which you can then pair with some deli meats. Not a fan of cheese on your bread? Then you might want to pair it with the crackers shown together with the deli meats instead.

Perhaps the most in-demand pastry here in this section are the chocolate tarts on the left basket. At the time of taking this picture, there were only four left though I did see the staff refill this at some point after. Beside the chocolate tarts is a basket containing butter cookies which surprisingly wasn’t getting as much as attention as I thought it would.

So here are a couple of interesting pastries that you may want to try. On the left are some Apple Butter Cookies that I heard were slightly better tasting than the regular Butter Cookies. As for the pastry on the right, it’s some kind of deep fried twisted doughnut with lots of braids.

Another pastry that was seemingly popular during my visit to SHAN were these Red Velvet Swiss Rolls. While they weren’t as in-demand as the Chocolate Tarts (likely because the servings were larger) I did notice that the guests who did get these cakes looked like they were enjoying eating them.

Now here’s something that I don’t usually see in breakfast buffets: banana bread/loaf. I actually think banana bread is low-key delicious and it would seem like a lot of people agree if we’re basing it on what’s left here in this display.

The choices in the bread and pastries section is undoubtedly mind-boggling so if you’re still not sure what to get then might I suggest just getting these brownies. Seriously, these looked so good I was tempted to get a couple to chow down later in the day. On the lower right of the display here are some ramekins of what I think are creme brulee.

To the right of the brownies and creme brulee is another tray that has some really cute cakes cut into bite-sized portions. These were honestly too pretty to eat with the colors making them stand out from the rest of the pastries in this section. Again, these were relatively sweet so I ended up not getting them.

I’ll then end this short review of my experience of this breakfast buffet with a picture of these dishes and utensils found in the bread and pastries section. Breakfast at Ascott Raffles City Chongqing’s SHAN restaurant was honestly okay. It wasn’t quite to the level of a Michelin starred establishment but it was still more than good enough. It offered a great variety of food from Chinese as well as other international cuisines. The breads and pastries were also quite nice as they were served fresh and some were even still warm. Since this breakfast is complimentary, I’d highly encourage you to try it out in the event you do stay at the Ascott Raffles City in Chongqing.

If you’ve ever been here then make sure to share your experiences with SHAN and its breakfast buffet in the comments below!