Strictly Steaks

H O S T E D

Inspired by “The Flat Iron’ in London”, @TheFeatherBlade is an “alternative steakhouse” launched in Singapore earlier in May that is very shrewd about their offering and who they are targeting. Essentially they want to be top-of-mind when people think about where to go for #propersteaks at pocket-friendly prices.

This explains their concise menu which is focused on a 200gm piece of steak priced very attractively at $21. Naturally at this price, the Australian beef is not a prime cut but the meat which comes from the shoulder area, is lean and flavourful. And because they pay close attention to how it is cooked, results in a decent level of juicy tenderness.

The other way to enjoy the steak it is to order their off-the-menu Burger. Also priced at $21, the beef is minced and formed into a patty that is grilled, then placed between super-soft brioche buns and dressed in a truckload of house-made bearnaise sauce plus fried onions. I enjoyed this the most from all that I tried at the hosted lunch.

As for the side dishes, there are four, priced at $7 each. They are a Caesar Salad (it has a whole crispy nacho chip-coated soft-yolk egg!), sautéed shimeji, shiitake and button mushrooms, hand-smashed potatoes deepfried in beef fat and spinach in parmigiano-reggiano cream with a pinch of nutmeg.

If you like a sauce with your steak, there are four as well to pick from: Szechuan peppercorn (I liked this a lot), bearnaise, horseradish cream and red wine jus ($2).

The newly-launched Gyudon is very good value for money at $14. Besides the 100gms of sliced steak, you also get very tastily-seasoned Japanese rice, an onsen egg, soft-cooked onions, garlic chips and pickles. And if you are a fan of foie gras or Hokkaido scallops, there is the option to add them on for another $11 per item.

Only one dessert, an ice-cream sundae, is listed in the menu but it did a great job in satisfying. I found plenty of happiness in the Madagascan vanilla ice-cream with Valhorna dark hazelnut chocolate sauce, salted caramel and crunchy flakes of feuilletine biscuit ($8).

The Feather Blade also offers special cuts and have garnered quite a following for their “Picanha Thursdays” and “USDA Prime Sando Tuesdays”. Do follow their Instagram account for updates.

Thanks Sheen for hosting us for the lunch.

Shown here is the “BEFORE” and “AFTER” of the three kinds of ribeye from the U.K., the U.S. and Japan that I had for my birthday celebration.
Executive Chef Greg did a formal presentation before whisking the raw meats into the kitchen for Chef Kelvin Teo and his team to transform them into a platter of exceedingly delicious steaks.

A short while later after we had demolished a few appetisers (separate posts about those to come soon), the ribeyes reappeared with instructions to eat them in a certain sequence. This was to ensure each was savoured at its optimum. I loved how this allowed for side-by-side comparison and a never-before lucidity to discern and appreciate their individual taste profiles. In other words, I got to feed my brain as I feasted - how cool is that 😊

As with any good steakhouse, the sides, sauces and condiments play vital roles. But it did seem like all stops were pulled at my birthday dinner because I couldn’t see the table surface for all the little jugs, jars and saucers that conquered it. Thank you very much for that, Chef Greg 🤗

A trip to this New York institution is a foregone conclusion for anyone who is into steaks.
In my personal opinion, it is the total experience that makes Peter Luger memorable, not just for the steak.
We had ordered the dry-aged USDA Prime Steak done medium-rare and yes, it delivered on all fronts and had a nice crisp finish but to be frank, it didn’t quite blow me away like I thought it would. Perhaps the reason is the fame of this restaurant had led me to set my expectations too high.
It has to be said however, that our choice of appetiser, the thick slab of sizzling bacon, was incredible. No prizes for guessing what was my absolute favourite thing here.
By the way, we were informed by the staff there will be a Peter Luger Steakhouse opening in Tokyo in 2020. So if you are planning a trip there next year, you can consider stopping by for a meal.

H O S T E D
Sandwiches don’t get more ridiculously indulgent than this. Limited to only 3 of 4 portions per day, the Fat Cow Wagyu Sandwich features a no-holds-barred gigantic slab of Miyazaki Wagyu that’s been coated in a thin layer of breading and fried, between thin slices of toasted and buttered bread. I almost had to unhinge my jaw to take a bite (yes, it was THAT THICK) but I was handsomely rewarded by the fantastic combo of ultra-smooth, buttery soft, fat-laced beef dressed with a hint of a tangy-sweet sauce and the light crunchiness of the toast.
Here’s a tip: Go during lunch and you can enjoy this massive sandwich for $88++. That’s $20 less than the stated price of $108++ in the a la carte menu.

I swear I have never had a flatiron steak that tasted this soft, tender and juicy. Somehow my impression of this lean cut of beef has always been that you‘ll need to sacrifice some texture for taste.
BUT I have concluded no steak can withstand the combined charms of Head Chef Dave Pynt, his team and the glowing embers from the restaurant’s huge wood-fired oven and grill. Together, they rendered the otherwise rather tough shoulder cut of flatiron into the most sublime explosion of beefy perfection. Which became even more irresistible with blobs of creamy bone marrow, a sweetish onion sauce, the peppery edge of fresh, crisp watercress.

Sexily smoky steak, a mountain of shoestring frites and a complex little number of a black pepper sauce. Pretty worth it for $28++ if you ask me.

Good beef is bliss.
Exemplifying this was the beautifully done Black Angus tri-tip I had on both of my visits. And each time, it made an appearance in the company of wood ear mushrooms (also known as black fungus), burnt carrots and a puddle of tamari sauce (a type of Japanese soya sauce).
Also, like those enviably chic individuals who can throw anything on and exude coolness from every fibre of their being, so’s the plating here. Each dish somehow comes off as really stylish despite looking like it didn’t try very hard.

Craving a blast of protein for brunch? You can consider the Steak 'N' Eggs Churrasco but only if you like your beef lean.
The U.S. beef, served sliced, had a negligible bit of gristle but was done perfectly medium-rare like I'd asked. It was laid on a bed of scallion cream, and topped with a very mild chimmichuri. I found the meat a little chewy but that's likely due to it being cut along, rather than across the grain.
Also, even though the menu had stated "bacon hash" as a part of the dish, for whatever reason (I wasn't given any explanation), two quarters of a round cheddar waffle showed up in its place. Not that I am complaining as they were tasty in a crunchy, savoury, crumbly way.
As expected, I could choose how to have my eggs, so fried they were.

That's not beef. It's butter.
Ok, I'm kidding. It IS beef but only the most velvety smooth of texture that I've had in years. Am pretty sure the cow which had been fed on grass for 3 years and grain for 2 years (I hope I remembered the numbers correctly!) had something to do with it.
@ivanbrehm the Head Chef-owner of this brand new restaurant, Nouri, deserves the rest of the credit in developing this unreal piece of tenderloin to such exquisiteness.
Simply named "Beef and Alliums", this is a main course option in the Chef's Dinner Tasting Menu. Besides the tenderloin, it showcases a variety of produce from the onion family that have undergone unusual preparation methods before arriving on the plate. The menu lists them as: cultured onion, Guinness Stout-pickled onion, onion ketchup and charred spring onion purée.

Fresh off the cherry wood-burning grill, this beautifully cooked 300gms of Australian ribeye was sheer pleasure to eat.
It ticked all the boxes of what I look for in a steak. Firstly, it's about 33% bigger than many that are sold out there, which accounts for the slightly higher price. I was also greeted by a mouth-watering smokiness when the waiter set the extra large dish down in front of me. Then, once I popped a piece of that ribeye in my mouth, I learned exactly how juicy and tender it was (medium-rare is the recommended done-ness). For those reasons alone, I was already grinning like a monkey. However, also appearing on the plate were above-average accompaniments of a smooth potato mash, grilled asparagus and tomatoes, as well as a little jug of creamy truffle-mushroom sauce. These gave me even more reasons to love this. And for someone who usually prefers her steak with nothing more than a sprinkle of salt, I have to say, that sauce was impossible to resist.

On my first visit to Bar-A-Thym for lunch last week, I decided to have their $38++ set menu. Because I picked the Scottish Angus Beef Striploin served with Béarnaise sauce, mesclun salad and frites (that's French for fries), I had to cough up $10 more. Nonetheless, it's still good value considering the steak weighed in at 250gms.
The piece of meat I got was pretty lean so it's not exactly buttery soft but I had expected that. It was however, full of flavour and very juicy. And although I usually prefer just a sprinkle of sea salt flakes on my steaks, the rich, creamy sauce was a great accompaniment in this case. Those crispy fries were highly addictive as well.

With the theme song from "The Flintstones" cartoon show running through my head, the caveman in me was unleashed to attack this brontosaurus-sized Tomahawk Steak. I wasn't going in alone; there were three other equally gung-ho diners with me.
The meat was juicy, tender and had done-ness ranging from medium-well at one end to mostly medium-rare (which means all of us found slices that suited our preference).
We also scooped out the bone marrow to have on its own - I have to warn you, it was exceedingly rich and guilt-inducing.
For our choice of two sides, we went with the green beans sautéed with strips of ham and the duck fat fried potatoes. Both were really satisfying.
After having the fresh oysters and pull-apart bread for starters, followed by this gigantic serving of steak, we were so completely filled we had to think very hard if we could squeeze in desserts.