With all these new cafes and restaurants mushrooming all around Singapore in the past few years, I was starting to tire of it. More often than not, concept restaurants and cafes are overpriced with sloppy service, and the food mediocre at best. I was starting to wonder if we have reached saturation point. But one restaurant restored my faith in our F&B scene.
Enter Burnt Ends, a twelve-seater counter top restaurant in Chinatown, opened last May by Chef Andre Chiang of Andre and hotelier Loh Lik Peng. Branding itself as a modern Aussie BBQ restaurant, Burnt Ends serves up food that is exactly as its name suggests-- food with charred ends and a smoky flavour, mostly cooked using the wood-fired ovens in the open concept kitchen. The menu is different every day, as they use seasonal ingredients.
We kicked off our meal with the Smoked Quail Eggs ($6), smoked and lightly sprinkled with sea salt. I popped one and the yolk burst in my mouth out as I bit into the egg. The oozing yolk wass delightful, but the eggs were rather plain, and left a slightly bitter, smoky aftertaste. Kinda like eating a tea leaf egg without the flavour of tea leaf.
Next up was the Kingfish and Lemon. A western sashimi, if you can call it that. The zesty lemon sauce gave the fresh slices of fish a refreshing touch.
One of the best things about Burnt Ends is you can watch the chefs prepare the food. Unlike a regular restaurant where you'll just play with your phone while waiting for your dish to be served, it gives you an opportunity to make conversation with your mates as you wonder what ingredients the cooks are using for each dish.
 |
| Chef David Pynt |
It's easy to screw up lamb. Some chefs either make it too dry and tough or too raw, but the Lamb and Carrot here was cooked to tender perfection. Each bite oozes a sweetness from the juices of the meat, paired with the pumpkin puree underneath.
The Sobrasada, a Spanish raw, cured sausage to be eaten on toast
is flavourful and filled with chunks of pork with a bit of heat from the
paprika and peppers mixed in. While some may find it a tad salty, it
was an absolute delight for me.
I'm not a fan of leek at all but I decided to have a little piece of this dish of Leek, Hazelnut and Brown Butter. Not only was it juicy and tender without the stink of Chinese stir fried leeks, the aromatic combination of hazelnut and brown butter was out of this world.
This is the Toast Tomatoes and Lardo. Even the top and bottom ends of the tomatoes are burnt without drying out the insides. The tomatoes are carefully laid atop a piece of toast, then topped with a thin, sheer layer of Lardo, an Italian cold cut which turns transparent when melted, due to the heat from the toasted tomatoes. Take a bite, close your eyes, and you can almost see yourself in the Mediterranean.
The Fennel, Orange and Burrata is another example of a dish with literal burnt ends. The Burrata lends a savoury touch to the smoked fennel which could be rather plain eaten on its own.
The Burnt Ends Sanger ($20) was one of the highlights of my meal. It's a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and a slightly spicy chipotle aioli which honestly, tasted a bit like cheddar cheese. Not a bad thing at all, although a slice or two of melted cheese would've taken the sandwich to another level. Often, brioche buns turn out to be too thick and dry, but Burnt Ends has nailed it. The soft and pillowy brioche buns were made even better with perfectly moist pulled pork. It is deliciously rich and also messy to eat so don't order this one if you're on your first few dates! But otherwise, don't leave the restaurant without having this.
After the deliciously rich and sinful sandwich came the perfectly seasoned Whole Baby Snapper with a heap of veggies. One of the healthiest options on the menu.
The only disappointment of the night was the Jamaican Chicken. It lacked the heat and spice that a Jaimaican chicken should have, and the thighs were raw.
However, the 45 Day Dry Aged Mayura OP Rib made me forget about
the raw chicken I bit into. Undoubtedly the best steak I have ever had.
Each slice is beautifully marbled and velvety smooth. A top contender.
We rounded up our meal with a Rocky Road and Granola Ice-cream, Pineapple, Rum and Vanilla, and toasted marshmallows. The rocky road and granola ice cream is the winner: A bed of deconstructed fudge brownie with bits of turkish delight and marshmallows topped with fragrant granola ice cream.
Despite being less than two years old, Burnt Ends deserves all the buzz and hype. The food is unpretentious yet sophisticated; simple yet thoughtful, and the use of quality seasonal ingredients justifies the higher prices they charge for each dish. Be sure to make a booking at least a week in advance if you wanna get a good view of the action in the kitchen!
Burnt Ends
20 Teck Lim Road
6224 3933
