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
Baked crab tarts with onion and cheese. This was one tasty morsel! The tart was buttery and flakey and everything a truly well made pastry should be. And how could one go wrong with onion and cheese in a tart?
Polo char siew pao with barbecued Iberian pork. While the filling of barbecued Iberian pork didn’t give much to admire, the pastry was to die for! It had a delicate crusty exterior, slightly sweet, and crumbles charmingly upon biting into it. Coupled with the Iberian pork filling, this easily became my favourite dimsum dish of the day.
Look at that perfection!
Xiao Long Bao. The skin on this is not as thin and delicate as the one at Marriott in KL, but the filling is much better. Good flavour and texture on the meat and a lovely soup.
This was my dining partner’s favourite dish of the day. You can hardly see the siew mai here as the abalone and prawn outweighs the pork base, but the siew mai itself is large and substantial. It had a very satisfying mixture of marinated pork and some mushroom, and even eaten alone, it doesn’t disappoint. Now, add the luxurious topping of a perfectly cooked, crunchy prawn and a tender braised abalone – the humble siew mai then undergoes a delightful transformation. This is a basic dimsum elevated and improved by doing the basics right and pairing it with well cooked ingredients that complement it.
Complimentary jelly and sesame biscuits
No dimsum is complete without egg tarts!!! I loved the egg tarts! The pastry chef at Tin Lung Heen is excellent, seeing that all the pastries were stellar. Warm, buttery, flaky and fragrant – this describes all the pastries that we had that day. This egg tart was no different. I could have eaten a plateful of these tarts. 
Double boiled milk with birds nest in ginger. This was really good too, very good marriage of milk and ginger. The gelatinous birds nest also has a nice texture to it, and is neither stringy nor tough.
We chose to have sake to go with our dinner and they presented us with a choice of sake cups which I thought rather lovely. Weakness for tableware.
Mmmmm….
Second course: Foie Gras flavoured with porto and wasanbon sugar served with fresh figs and sesame cream sauce.
Third Course: Charcoal grilled Alfonsino with matsutake mushroom in ichibandashi soup
Fourth Course: Sashimi, standard offerings of hirame (I’m guessing here), akagai, hotate, ebi and saba sushi.
Fifth Course: Charcoal grilled Amadai brushed with Miso-yuan sauce
Sixth Course: Cold Kegani crab egg custard with grated fresh apple vinegar
Seventh Course: Wagyu beef shabu shabu, lotus root cake and onion ponzu sauce.
Eighth Course: Steamed rice topped with Ikura salmon roe
Ninth Course: the RyuGin Specialty -196 °C pear candy and 99 °C pear jam
I love pear and I loved how the differing temperatures of the two components came together in a pleasing mixture to show off the pear ingredient. Very clever. My dining partner is harder to please though.
myhumblefood 