Prego, Fairmont Hotel

In a nutshell, Prego resembles as a warm, homely trattoria with a touch of 5-star goodness. Unlike the snazzier and more stylish Basilico, Prego's Sunday buffet has largely flown under the radar, which makes for a more relaxing and less chaotic experience.

Clearly the bastion of Prego's buffet is their variety of cured meats and ham. The entrance could almost be the Hanging Gardens of Baloney.

Prego has hands down the sweetest figs I have ever had in my life. Right now, I'm pretty depressed thinking it would be near impossible to ever taste such sweets figs without touching Russell's childcare fund.

The seafood section is sufficient but not the most extravagant. They have your usual suspects - oysters, prawns, scallops, mussels and smoked salmon - but you might be disappointed if you are the type who would raid the seafood section to get your money's worth. 

On the other hand, the hot food section was a pleasant surprise. I'm not one to usually spend too much time with food warmers but there were many things worth going back for seconds.

   

Thumbs up for the creamy crunchy sautéed prawns, spoon-tender beef cheeks and porchetta.

Other stuff include chicken cacciatore, roasted chicken, pam-seared salmon, osso bucco (below), shredded duck confit (above), roasted vegetables, cauliflower gratin...

I'm getting sleepy just typing this.

Curiously, there was an obligatory breakfast section with eggs benedict, pork sausage, scrambled eggs and baked beans - guess it must be for those who have to scratch that eggs-for-breakfast itch before moving onto something more fancy.

A carving station to satisfy your carnivorous needs. 

The mini pizzas are decent but I decided to save my stomach space for desserts after a quarter slice.

Cooked ala mode and to your liking, an Italian meal without pasta could hardly be considered Italian, can it?

There is also a cart serving meatball spaghetti and lasagna. 

I have never met a lasagna (too plebeian in a ghetto-homemade way) and this didn't change my mind. 

Desserts was a mind-boggling sugar fest that would trigger your saliva ducts. 

Vanilla cheesecake, meringue roll, hazelnut praline torte, chocolate moouse, tiramisu, chocolate flan, cannolis, apple fritters, panna cottas, gelatos are just some of the stuff I remember. 

I was gunning for the tiramisu but that ended up to be a disappointment - too much mascarpone and too little sponge fingers make for mouthfuls of textureless cream.  

The radioactive pink macaron shell did the vanilla cheesecake little favors. However, the vanilla cheesecake, which was more of a cheesecake brownie, was delightfully smooth and light. 

It was a mistake to finish the chocolatey stuff before moving onto the pistachio financier and lemon meringue tart. Learn from my mistake: Savor the fruity nutty items before you hit the Chocolate Wall of Death.

Out of all the chocolate desserts, my favorite was the hazelnut praline tort.

And when we were done, it was finally time for the bub to get his feed.