Raffles, the legendary Singaporean luxury hotel chain, casts a wide net with its lavish Seafood Nights buffet at 33 East in Beijing, Brad Webber writes

The elegant Raffles Beijing Hotel has reeled in a buffet that aims to please lovers of all things piscine.

Facing the atrium on the second floor of the Beijing Hotel's block B complex, the hotel's three-meals restaurant, East 33, exudes Asian panache.

Tucked behind a wall of bamboo stalks, the sleek space fuses modernity with tradition. Contemporary art and blue glass baubles cover the white walls, and immense counters of gray-streaked marble and wooden Chinese chairs outfit the area.

A standard cosmopolitan buffet is offered most nights, but on Fridays and Saturdays East 33 is transformed into a seafarer's - if not a marine biologist's - paradise as chefs roll out three large fish tanks, a sushi case and an enticing array of fresh foods from river and sea.

The star of the show, live Boston lobster (if technicalities matter, the same species from Canadian waters might be on offer; limit one per person), is flown in weekly. The selection is slowly boiled with bay leaves and lime - no salt - and dished up plain with creamy melted butter or grilled with butter and garlic. (Tuna, snapper and prawns are ready to grill, too.) Au natural is the way to go, as the natural hint of brine and tender meat lent more than enough flavor to this delicacy.

The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland had made Norwegian salmon scarce during our visit, but a prize specimen, placed alongside a hot-dish area, was carved on order into translucent slices. A mayonnaise wasabi, among four sauces offered with the salmon alone, was sweet, the wasabi bite tempered in a just-right concoction.

Nearby stood a line of chafing dishes proffering an assortment of morsels, including a curry fish that my colleague Freddie Cheah and I agreed was sublime and the evening's highlight. In a perfect marriage of Malaysian and Indian influences, the tamarind delivered a wonderful tart note. Stir-fried Cantonese noodles that, in other buffets would be a pedestrian standby, became an exquisite concoction when used to sop up the sauce.

The mixture, it turns out, is a special recipe of the mother of Executive Chef Andy Cheah. Cheah, 51, (no relation to Freddie, an Australian who was born and raised in Malaysia) who works by the credo "all the way fine dining" whatever the victual, hails from a family that knows its food.

A native of Penang, Malaysia in a family of seven chefs, he infuses many of the entrees, such as the curry greenfish overflowing its platter, with a Southeast Asian zest of lemongrass, chillies and other herbs and spices.

A considerable presence is the three-sided raw bar featuring sushi and sashimi (cuttlefish, tender tuna that melted in the mouth and firm red snapper, the latter two of which are pulled directly from a whole fish on the counter), Alaskan king crab, various mussels and clams. Seafoods still in the shell are available for the picking, including twig-size crab legs and conch boiled in seawater. I prefer the latter frittered and served under a Caribbean sun, but the cold version here did nicely in the interim.

On one visit to the buffet, crushed ice covered the oysters on the half shell, leaving the shellfish, from Sanya, bereft of its crucial liquor. This oversight, which was corrected on our subsequent visit, was among few (but most offensive among them) disappointments: Cream of lobster soup had a lingering taste of the crustacean but was thin; a shrimp cocktail shooter in a papaya-ginger puree was a bit off, perhaps owing to the shrimp taste permeating the fluid.

Getting it right is critical. Eric Blomeyer, the German executive assistant manager who oversees the hotel's food and beverage operations, said about 85 percent of the buffet patrons are local Chinese who know their seafood.

Overall, seafood lovers from both West and East are well-sated, and landlubbers won't be disappointed with East 33, either. A glass display showcased succulent suckling pig, Chinese sausages (sample the redder of the two, a spicy chorizo-style link) and poultry.

The Peking duck was the tastiest I've enjoyed in the capital. The server dispensed an artful dollop of hoisin to the plate; add pancakes and the item would have given the best of the neighborhood's plethora of Peking duck restaurants a run for the money.

An excellent tender beef, seafood pizzas, Vietnamese-style sugarcane prawn, orange duck and a variety of vegetables help round out the list.

A salad table provides the usual fixings. There, a delicate appetizer of puff pastry with a divine smoked salmon pate starred.

For those not already stuffed to the gills, an enticing array of freshly made ice creams, toppings and other desserts - pies, cakes, cookies and fresh fruit - is set in an adjacent room. Many of the sweets are available in two portion sizes; if you like your raspberry mousse super-sized (advised), pick up the one in the champagne glass. Flavorful chestnut pie, with a perfectly flaky crust, was an unexpected delight.

The subtle refinement expected from a five-star property is evident as guests are warmly greeted. Bus service is gracious and unobtrusive; plates and silverware are oft-replenished, napkins re-folded.

If the tasty food doesn't serve enough reminder that you are patronizing a boutique hotel in the storied Singaporean chain, the trip through the hotel's clubby adjoining lobby in the historic 1917 block B will.