burnt ends, teck lim road.
finally, finally tried out burnt ends! tried to make a reservation sometime in end april, and was informed that the earliest saturday dinner they had was in june. wasn't in a hurry anyway so i took the date- beats having to queue or wait.this was their menu for the night:
we were seated at the counter, pretty much near the centre where we could watch the chefs in action.
took a while to decide, because the menu was seriously indecipherable. so while deciding what to order we were like, so... how is this going to turn out? i even tried googling, which helped a bit, but eventually we gave up and just ordered whatever sounded exciting.
so first up was the kingfish, mango and pepperomia ($15). it was presented pretty as a picture, but the portion, for the price, was puny- it was gone in three bites. still, it was good, kind of like an upmarket thai mango salad. it was refreshing and a good starter. L liked it but i wouldn't order it again- just not substantial enough.
the red miso moussaka ($16) came next. i liked it, especially the charred skin of the eggplant (though L was less enamoured with the charred skin). the vegetables on top included parsley, and i was surprised by how much i didn't mind it. in fact, everything on it worked well together.
then the sanger ($20) arrived! it was the one that i was bent on trying even before i saw the menu. pulled pork shoulder, slaw, chipotle aioli and cheeeeseee sandwiched between fluffy brioche buns. predictably good, because pulled pork + cheese, though L found it on the salty side. it wasn't as interesting as the other stuff we got, because it's a burger after all, but portions were pretty generous. still, i would come just for this. sometimes predictable isn't a bad thing, anyway.
the bone marrow bun ($12) was served alongside the sanger. i was mildly surprised on the first bite i took- didn't expect it to taste like that. then again, i've never had bone marrow, so i wasn't sure what to expect as well (i just decided i wanted to order it on a whim). it was rich, buttery and frankly delicious, though it does get a bit much, especially since it came with the sanger, a pretty heavy tasting dish. for $12, it was a good portion, perfect for two people.
we were pretty stuffed by then, surprisingly enough. but then we saw the chefs preparing lots of steak, and got a serious case of food envy. so of course we had to order it! were told that it was a forty-five minute wait, but went for it anyway (the wait was much less than that). got 100g of the flank ($26) which came with bone marrow and a watercress salad. watched the chefs preparing our steak right in front of our eyes with deft, sure movements. fascinating. (L says that it's a good place to go on blind dates to, since if there's nothing to talk about, one can just watch the chefs. haha.)
the flank was a perfect medium rare. it went really well with the slightly bitter watercress salad (never knew that watercress could be made into a salad) and the fatty bone marrow. (while eating i was telling L that bone marrow is probably all fats, which is why it was so tasty. L disagreed, saying it was protein. so after eating she googled... and i was right. i've probably eaten enough bone marrow that night to last a long time, given how generous they were in the bone marrow bun.)
it was an interesting experience, and the food was pretty good. i would come back just for the sanger and the flank steak (their meat dishes are probably more value for money). saw the people next to us having the kingfish taco, which looked really good! would love to try it sometime. it was a do-it-yourself platter of blackened kingfish, a variety of dips and sides and toasted taco skins.
service was excellent, and they don't even charge for service. our water glasses were refilled promptly without us even asking, and they changed our plates as well. the wait for food wasn't that long as well. not cheap, but for quality like that, it's worth paying for.
