The last time Esther and I went to Fremantle Seafood Market, we were reviewing its lunch specials as part of Clarke Quay's S$15 nett set lunch promotions for a local publication. While Fremantle Seafood Market no longer participates in that campaign, at the time we were extremely impressed with its incredibly fresh seafood - I still remember the sublime melt-in-your-mouth, creamy seabream cooked papillotte style (baked in paper), which was a perfect way to showcase the freshness of the produce. When we were invited to try out their new Fremantle Sunday brunch buffet, it was very difficult to say no.

Located at the corner of Clarke Quay near the GMax Reverse Bungee attraction, Fremantle Seafood Market occupies the quieter end of the Singapore River away from the bustle of the pubs and dance clubs in Clarke Quay's interior. The seafood branch buffet takes place on the verandah outside the restaurant proper, which can be a little bit of a hit-or-miss depending on the unpredictable weather we get on this sunny (and often rainy) island. But the verandah does provide an excellent view of the river, and you can watch the odd tourist sailing downriver in bumboats as you enjoy your meal. It's no San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, of course, but it comes pretty darn close. However, it was a blazing hot day when we visited, so we opted to sit indoors instead.

As you can imagine, Fremantle Seafood Market is so named after the port city in Australia, famous for its seafood markets and the fresh bounties caught by fishermen in the waters of the South Pacific. The restaurant itself has its seafood brought in thrice weekly, featuring produce from the Pacific as well as the Atlantic oceans.

The highlight of the brunch buffet is, of course, the cold platter with a large variety of seafood such as lobster, crab, prawns, clams and mussels, simply boiled to retain their original flavours. One tip: the cold seafood platter is piled up quite high, and careful digging can unearth different varieties of seafood hidden by the ice.

And if you're a fan of oysters, this is definitely the place for you.

Many hotel buffets shuck their oysters in advance and keep them in salinated water, but that compromises the flavour. Here at Fremantle Seafood Market, the bivalves are literally shucked in front of you. How's that for freshness?

Here's a closer look at the chainmail-like glove the chef wears to protect his hand while shucking the oysters. Very medieval, we think.

Any good buffet featuring seafood needs to serve Japanese-style sashimi. There's the ubiqituous sake and maguro sashimi here - it's well-sliced, thick enough to give the right texture while not so thick that it's overwhelmingly fishy. Esther and I were somewhat disappointed there wasn't mekajiki (swordfish), which is one of our favourites.

Don't muck around with seafood - a dash of tabasco or a squeeze of lemon is often all you need. Although there was this time I remembered this excellent wasabi cream sauce, served at a pierside restaurant along Sydney Harbour, that paired beautifully with seafood. Hmmm...

For those who enjoy their fish cooked, Fremantle Seafood Market serves a variety of grilled fish which they bring out time-to-time from the kitchen. When we were there, we had the opportunity to try the barramundi (also known as the Asian seabass), as well as the rarer, big-eyed Alfonsino.

Here you have the Alfonsino, perfectly grilled, which tasted wonderful next to a piquant Thai-style green mango and guava salad.

For those who need red meat, there's roast wagyu beef. It's decent, but surrounded by great seafood we were less inclined towards meat. Chicken was strangely, and conspicuously, absent from the buffet.

On the other hand, and to Esther's delight, there's foie gras. It's uncommon to see foie gras at buffets to say the least. We were impressed at the way the on duty chef at this station carefully and lovingly seared the goose liver.

Perfectly crisp on the outside and wonderfully creamy inside, the foie gras was heavenly eaten with the accompanying brown and/or berry sauce. Needless to say, we went back for more than seconds.

By this time we were already stuffed to the brim, but there's always room for dessert. I opted for a waffle from the "live" waffle station; however, it was clear that their expertise was not in this course - my waffle was soggy, no thanks to the cook opening the waffle iron once in a while to check on it. Who opens a waffle iron in operation?!

We were also served with a dessert platter of fruit and various cakes such as the usual brownies, apple pie, and even a lemon meringue pie, but dessert was perhaps not a forte. The cakes and pies, for example, came from a commercial kitchen; but to be fair, I'd hardly expect a seafood kitchen to have a pastry chef along the likes of Canele's Pang Kok Keong. Instead a simple selection of good ice cream would have sufficed, and would make some young children (and the young-at-heart) deliriously happy.

We found out later that this was the third week that Fremantle Seafood Market was trying out the brunch buffet concept. The restaurant manager assured us that they were still tweaking the menu; we might just see ice cream on the menu during a next visit.

We also fed back that we thought oyster shooters should be made part of the buffet; wishful thinking perhaps, but it would make a really nice differentiating factor to other buffets out there. After all, they do serve a range of oyster shooters ($9.90 for one, and $24.90 for a trio).

For $68++ per person, it's great value for money considering the range of fresh seafood here. Fruit juice - juiced onsite - is included as part of the brunch buffet, and is a perfect counterfoil to a blazing hot day. For those who need a shot of alcohol, free flow Prosecco, house wines and mojitos is at an additional $20.

Don't expect the range of food and cuisines you'd find in hotel buffets, a la Shangri-la's The Line or Royal Plaza on Scotts' Carousel here at Fremantle Seafood Market's Sunday seafood brunch. Like how Basilico keeps its Italian roots for its Saturday brunch buffet, Fremantle Seafood Market's expertise is seafood, and they should focus on doing it well. Anything else would frankly be a distraction.

You can find Fremantle Seafood Market at Clarke Quay, Block 3E River Valley Road, #01-05/06 Singapore 179023.

- Daniel