Burnt Ends, Singapore (One Michelin Star, 2018)

Tags

beef, burnt ends, caviar, charcoal grill, crab, date night, Michelin, michelin dining, Michelin star, pork, restaurant review, singapore, singapore restaurant review, special occasion, steak

How timely that I’m writing this as we learn that Burnt Ends has just received its first Michelin Star! I’ve gone twice so far. A couple of hits and a couple of misses. I’m usually seated at the counter; most of us are. In an open concept kitchen this usually is a treat. If you’re seated near the furnace end however, it could end up getting a tad too hot. In return, you get to see one of the chefs gingerly eking some bread and cheese or pulled pork into the fiery black furnace. And rapidly pulling back as if scalded. There was one poor young fellow who kept burning himself accidentally on the volcanic hot surface. In the middle there’s the prep area and behind them you’ll see shovels of red hot coal cooking up meat and seafood in various degrees. The name “Burnt ends” is apt indeed.

Once you’re seated, you’re given the menu and your friendly waiter will proceed to explain it to you. The service has been good both times so far.

Smoked quail egg topped with caviar. I’m not a fan of anything smoked, so I wouldn’t order this again. Caviar is good though. The smokiness overpowered the caviar so there wasn’t any point to this combination as neither did the other any good. At SGD 18, this was a thumbs down for me, a small bite and not a very good one.

Beef marmalade and house pickles. The cloyingly sweet beef rib “marmalade” is cleverly balanced with a slightly fresh zing of pickles. Slathered on top of a square of sourdough bread, this little appetizer packs a punch of flavour.

I prefer this over the Burnt Ends Sanger, I find the latter remarkably underwhelming, but if you like pork, give it a whirl as that is one of their signature dishes. They’re both tasty and carefully executed for sure, I’m just left wondering if I could get something similar to the Burnt Ends Sanger at some other burger place that serves sliders and the sort.

The Belly Chop, served with an apple and raspberry concoction. There’s sufficient flavour on the belly chop with enough singe and sear to its exterior. While it is soft, there is still some bite to the meat. I’m wondering if they could take it a step further and make the fat absolutely melt in the mouth. It has been done with char siew, perhaps it could be replicated here. Good pairing with the apple and raspberry nonetheless. Classic with a tiny twist.

This crab leg was not on the menu and we had to ask for it specifically. I’m not usually a fan of crab but this shut all my prejudices up so that I sat silent, picking at all remnants of the sweet flesh from the expertly broken shells. I’m absolutely certain that a big part of its charm was the unctuous drenching of the crab in garlic butter and caper sauce, topped with a smattering of chopped fresh parsley. Our ever-friendly waited suggested sourdough bread to mop up that beautiful sauce. I gladly accepted and a couple of minutes later, was happily tearing up a warm, floury loaf of first-class, quality sourdough bread and sopping up all that lovely sauce with it. Scrumptious.

And then the Blackmore’s striploin, which was better than some of the cheaper cuts that we tried previously. This had a far better marbling that was evident in the tenderness of the final cooked steak. Beautifully fatty, you will need to break this up with bites of the pleasantly tangy watercress salad that it came with. The salad is no garnish that’s for sure! I’d order it as is and still enjoy every bite. Simplicity at its finest.

Pricey it is, but the right dishes shine through and give heft to the brand. However, I think that they should step up their game since they now hold a one star. I believe they can go much further than this.

Address: 20 Teck Lim Road, Singapore 088391

Phone: +65 6224 3933

8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Central, Hong Kong

Tags

alexander house restaurants, alexandra house, black truffles, butter, cavatelli, caviar, central, central restaurants, chanterelle mushrooms, fresh bread, Hong kong, Ice Cream, italian, italian cuisine, lobster, lobster bisque, Otto, Otto e Mezzo, otto e mezzo bombana, parmesan, Pasta, pear tart, restaurant review, risotto, scampi, seared tuna, shellfish, tagliolini, truffle, truffle emulsion, truffle ice cream, truffles

 Just got back from Hong Kong and had the opportunity to have a meal at this restaurant. It is apparently the only Italian restaurant outside of Italy to have received 3 Michelin stars, having been awarded 3 stars by the 2012 Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macau. I was so lucky to get a reservation at the last minute, thanks to a friend of my sister’s!

My goal for the night… EAT ALL THE TRUFFLES! I’ve been so tempted by all the photos of truffles coming out on instagram from this restaurant, as well as my sister who also ate there a week before I went to Hong Kong. So yes… we didn’t go for the degustation menu but what we ordered seemed like a more expensive degustation by itself! Such that the Caucasian women on the tables next to us looked over at us in disgust at the amount of food coming to our table for just 2 of us ;D We are Asian, and we are naturally greedy. Plus the dishes are mostly dainty and in small portions!

We ordered 2 starters, 3 pastas, 1 main and 2 desserts. Even the waiter was aghast. No matter! I looked forward to a great meal and wasn’t disappointed at all. 

 The amuse bouche came first, though I didn’t catch what it was. Could very well be a blend of fruit and cheese? I can’t really tell what it was. Quite refreshing though.

 Yes, the bread basket…. the bread is warm! I loved the foccacia! Its the one on the top right. It had a crispy top with some sun-dried tomato and olive baked onto the surface and warm fluffy insides. It’s been so long since I had good bread at a restaurant! I only ate the focaccia but my friend loved the brown bread beside it. Again it had that crunch to it as you bite into the bread, but yet you don’t have to gnaw it to death to take a bite out of it. The waiter had to top up our bread basket with fresh warm bread. How embarassing… and we kept on eating even the 2nd basket.

 Luckily, our first appetizer arrived in time to stop us. This is seared tuna topped with caviar with some dainty salad. They were so nice to split the portion into two plates for us, so this was my portion. I could have sworn that the tuna is of the akami type, the leaner part of the tuna. It certainly had that ruby red hue to it. But when I bit into it, it had all the full flavour of seared fatty tuna. It was beautiful, along with that gorgeous mountain of caviar in unison with a slightly tart and rich sauce.

 Next, the scampi topped with truffle shavings. The scampi carpaccio is fresh, in some sort of olive oil emulsion if I’m not mistaken. It is similar to the truffle tai carpaccio at Aoki but I prefer the texture of tai compared to the scampi. Plus the flavours didn’t blend as well as the truffle tai carpaccio. So while this was nice, it wasn’t one of the must haves for the night. I hear that there is an octopus version of this that is really nice too.

Next up, the pasta dishes.

Shellfish cavatelli in a delicious seafood bisque with chanterelle mushrooms. Sometimes this is topped with sea urchin, but I think that could be seasonal. This was amazing! And also half a portion as my friend and I shared the cavatelli as well. The seafood bisque was full flavoured and bursting with ocean goodness. It wasn’t heavy at all and left us unabashedly scraping at the bottom of the bowl to get at every last drop. The pasta, while I wouldn’t normally order pasta in this style, is great with the bisque and the perfectly cooked shellfish. Nice bite and texture to it but I’d say the shellfish and bisque were the stars of the dish to me.

More pasta dishes up next, we couldn’t decide between the risotto (which was highly recommended by my sister) and the more traditional tagliolini (which was highly recommended by the waitress), so she suggested we take both in a small size. We happily took her suggestion to heart….

When both dishes came, a waiter meticulously shaved… and shaved… and shaved more… and more black truffle all over the pasta until you can no longer see any pasta! How generous! (Obviously this was going to be expensive but when you’re eating, all good reason flies out the window)

 Truffle… with pasta.

This is the risotto, I’m not sure why its green again but it was well cooked with a nice bite to it. You can’t really tell in the picture but both pastas had a ring of dark sauce around it. I’m assuming this is the truffle emulsion and it tasted like a dense, truffled wild mushroom soup. Together with the risotto it added more depth to an already rich and aromatic dish. It is a really small serving, however, you can probably finish it in a couple of spoonfuls, just enough to savour and appreciate the mix of earthy and nutty flavours in this gorgeous dish.

 This is the homemade tagliolini in a creamy, smooth butter and parmesan sauce with truffle emulsion in a ring around the golden mound of al dante pasta. Classic pairing for truffles. It has that super cheesy and creamy taste that I love, but with the truffle emulsion, it helps to bring a different layer and richness to cut into the cheesiness. Very decadent! Along with the truffles, it was to die for. Too bad I only had a bite ;(

 Our lobster main, cooked perfectly, still had that balance between raw and cooked in the center which I really liked. Texture-wise the lobster had a smooth cut to it so that it is still retained that creamy texture. Again…that sauce/broth that came with it? Amazing. I’m not sure if its the same broth as before with the pasta, but it had that same full flavoured brine to it.

 Finally we were ready for dessert. This is the tiramisu ice cream which was actually not bad! I always scoffed at the idea of truffle ice cream. Lovely gold flakes in its presentation and nestled in fresh whipped cream and surrounded by fresh black truffle shavings. I still prefer my hazelnut ice creams though ;p

 This pear tart came highly recommended by my sister. Its got an almost wafer thin flaky crust topped with very delicately sliced pears. I must try to make this one day!!! Very warm, slightly spiced and crispy dessert which ended the meal perfectly.

 The waiter congratulated us upon finishing our meal. *Shy*

 Obviously it cost a bomb, but in comparison to some other top restaurants, this isn’t too bad after all. I think the a la carte would be better than the degustation. Also, if you go during the white truffle season, or black winter truffle season, the experience will be so much better as nothing beats the aroma of the Italian truffles! Our favourites for the night were the seared tuna, all the pastas, the lobster and the pear tart. ❤

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Shop 202, 2/F, Alexandra House, 5-17 Des Voeux Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
中環德輔道中5-17號歷山大廈2樓202號舖
Reservation: Tel: +852 2537 8859 Fax: +852 2537 8895, info@ottoemezzobombana.com
Opening Hours: 12:00p – 10:00pm (Mon-Sat, Closed on Sun)

Just for fun, I’ve included a couple of recipes from Otto’s website. I’m sure I’ll never be able to make it as well as they do despite them openly sharing the recipes like this!

Homemade Cavatelli shellfish ragout and sea urchin

For 1 pax

70gr cavatelli

5gr sea Urchin
15gr scampi (no shell)
15gr octopus
20gr snapper
15gr lobster (no shell)
30gr diced cherry tomato
5gr chopped garlic
50gr lobster stock
50gr seafood soup
3gr basil
salt
white pepper
dry chilli

 

Preparation:

– Seafood: cut the scampi, octopus, snapper and Lobster into small dices, marinate with extra virgin olive oil, salt and white pepper
– pan-fry the garlic and dry chilli until golden color, put on side
– cook the diced cherry tomatoes in medium heat, add lobster stock and seafood soup
– separately, pan-fry the seafood and mix with garlic chilli, basil
– add seafood-tomato sauce
– cook the cavatelli in saltwater for 3 minutes
– mix with the sauce and cook for another 3 min
– transfer onto a plate, garnish with sea urchin on top

Tajima Short Rib and Beef Tenderloin, Red Wine and Plum Sauce, Whipped Potato

Red wine and plum sauce, whipped potato

160 gr short rib (big squared)
180 gr beef tenderloin (wagyu)
100 gr carrots
100 gr celery
80 gr onion
80 gr leek
100 gr Italian tomato
5 gr garlic
1 pcs bay leaf
20 gr parma ham
40 gr porto wine
40 gr red wine
160 gr veal stock
30 gr dry plum
8 gr rosemary
60 gr extra virgin olive oil

Preparation of base sauce:
•    Saut all the vegetables in a big bowl until they are soft
•    Put the ham, plum, porto and red wine in the bowl. Cook everything in the bowl until the alcohool is evaporated. After put the veal stock

Preparation:
•    Pan fried the short rib until a golden colour and put in the bowl with the base sauce
•    Put the bowl in oven at 200 degree for 2 hours.
•    Then take out the short rib cut big squared and the base sauce strim it
•    When the serve take out the short rib and heat again in sauce, and pan fried the beef tenderloin in pan.

Coffee Trio of Tiramisu, Warm Coffee Tart and Crunchy Coffee Ice Cream

 

For 4 pax

For the Tiramisù

•    48 gr yolk
•    40 gr sugar
•    120 gr whipped Cream
•    200 gr mascarpone

Mix up egg yolk with Sugar (Sabayon), melt the gelatin and combine all the ingredients together

For the Coffee Gelly

•    160 gr espresso
•    60 gr sugar

Heat the espresso with sugar

For the sponge

•    64 gr ground almond
•    20 gr cake flour
•    80 gr icing sugar
•    40 gr sugar
•    132 gr egg white

Sift all the dried ingredients. Make meringue with sugar and egg white. Fold in the dried ingredients with meringue and spread on the tray. Bake 180 degree for 12 minute.

For the Coffee tart

•    4 pcs egg yolk
•    80 gr sugar
•    128 gr milk
•    20 gr coffee powder
•    56 gr coffee bean
•    320 gr cream

Roast the coffe bean for 10 minutes at 200。and add into the boiling milk. Infuse 30 minutes. Mix sugar and egg yolk and add the cold cream. Mix the coffee powder with warm milk, combine all the mixture and sift. Bake at 110 degree for 35-40 min.

For the Coffee Ice Cream

•    800 gr milk
•    240 gr cream
•    120 gr coffee Bean
•    70 gr milk powder
•    50 gr yolk
•    180 gr sugar
•    20 gr coffee powder
•    30 gr water

Roast the coffee bean and add into boiling milk and cream. Cook like a custard

 

Tatsuya, Goodwood Hotel Singapore

Tags

akami, anago, bonito, caviar, ebi, flounder, goodwood hotel, goodwood park hotel, halfbeak, ikura, japanese omakase, japanese pear, japanese singapore, kajiki, maguro, musk melon, omakase, omakase singapore, otoro, prawn, restaurant review, salmon, sayori, sea urchin, seaweed, singapore, singapore restaurant, sushi rice, tatsuya, tuna, uni, yuzu

*Edit: Updated Review on Tatsuya here

I’ve heard quite a bit about Tatsuya from friends, and as Japanese omakase is my not-so-secret crush I was pretty thrilled when my makan kaki suggested Tatsuya for dinner. We went after the recent renovation so I have no idea what it looked like before.

It is a good sized traditional Japanese restaurant located at Goodwood Park Hotel and offers counter seats where you can watch the chefs do their thing as well as table seats.

As far as omakase goes, the rates are similar to other omakase restaurants in Singapore. We went for the SGD 280++ omakase option and topped up a little for desserts.

Sat at the counter, always very educational and you’re left with a better idea of the skill level of the chef as well as the dedication they put into their food.

Now, so far I’ve only been to the really traditional types of Japanese omakase restaurants and I expected Tatsuya to be the same. However, I quickly realized how wrong I was. Yes indeed they do go about the traditional methods of preparation but they also favor the technique of “aburi” (flame-torching) alongside using modern twists in preparing the fresh seafood.

Here’s a beautiful carpaccio dish that serves as a good example to the delightful little surprises that they come up with at Tatsuya.

Beautiful is it not?

First up we each had a dish of ikura with some yuzu grated over the top. What makes this ikura stand out is that each roe is separate from the other. I’ve gotten so used to roes sticking and clumping together that this came as a bit of a surprise. A good one of course. Each individual sac was fresh and not at all slimy, bursting with briny goodness. 

Some dish that the chef was preparing for the other guests.

Next, we had some simmered mackerel (on the left) and monkfish liver (on the right). I love monkfish liver, but I’d gauge these two dishes as average. Perhaps I just prefer raw fish haha!

Above, some flounder topped with seaweed, uni and bonito. Great texture on the fish, a little bite, alongside the game changers, the toppings. While the uni topping was my favourite, the bonito came a close second.

Here we had a plate of half beak (sayori) sashimi with ginger and spring onions. Shiny skinned fish tend to smell a little stronger so ginger and spring onions are often used to balance out the smell. As the fish was fresh there was hardly any smell, while the ginger and spring onion only served to heighten the flavour of the fish. 

Once we were done with the sashimi, they whisked away the bones of the fish and deep fried it so that you can enjoy those too and nothing is wasted. 

The next offering: a plate of delectable, thick-cut sashimi

Akami remains my favorite. The fried ebi topped with caviar and yuzu was heavenly as well. Fantastic combination.

This is something we did not try as we both do not take beef. It looks good doesn’t it? The fat on the beef was just melting before our eyes as they torched it.

❤

Torched abalone with yuzu, I think they must have added some butter at some point. Tender and flavorful, but not as mind blowingly good as the one I had at the curb market in Sapporo .

*drools*

Above, an aburi toro. Meltingly soft and juicy, the fish went so well with the rice, daikon and spring onions with just a hint of smoke from the torched surface.

This is definitely a place that has got its rice right. Nice short grains of lightly vinegared rice.

Next up, aburi Kajiki (swordfish belly) which had a little more bite to it in comparison to the toro. While it doesn’t hold a flame to the toro, it holds its own ground pretty well too.

Aburi Kampachi belly topped with bonito flakes, nori and roast sesame seeds. Oh and yuzu of course. I love how Tatsuya manages to blend all these strong flavours together and never overpower the fish. The flavours all come together very harmoniously.

This? Party in my mouth! Aburi Ebi with mentaiko mayo topped with yuzu and lumpfish caviar. BEST COMBINATION EVER! Or rather perhaps I’m biased towards anything with mentaiko mayonnaise. Prawn is amazing with that mixture. When they torched this baby I could hear the mentaiko popping furiously as they cook. The sweet mayo, marinated mentaiko, half crunchy, half creamy ebi and caviar just took this dish to level heaven (yes I’m dramatizing food, I loved it that much)

This is yet another favorite! Hotate (scallop) and Foie gras lightly touched and topped with yuzu and er… tiny anchovies haha. I thought that the anchovies got in the way of the scallop and foie gras a little. It was divine nonetheless.

Rich heavy foie gras with the smooth clean and creamy taste of the scallops… mmm…

This is something I’m more familiar with, the conventional sushi as it is. Uni and ikura ❤ 

I remember asking for no eel at the start of the meal. I’m not sure why this came but I’m glad it did. It was nicely broiled and delicious.

Lastly, a really crunchy, simple roll that you just eat with your hands. Simple, no fuss, minimalistic yet really satisfying. Did I mention that the nori is fabulously crunchy?

Chef preparing hunks of beef

Beef on fire! It was sizzling and I found myself drooling over a meat I’ve only tried once or twice in my life and never crave for!

Ended the course with some fruits; a musk melon and japanese pear. As Japanese fruits go, these were extraordinary in flavour and texture as well.

We couldn’t resist…. ordered a yuzu sorbet and caramel ice cream. Refreshing end to a fantastic meal.

Tatsuya

ADDRESS

22 Scotts Road Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore 228221

(65) 6737-1160