Beast of a Feast

There’s something incredibly honest about a solid slab of meat coaxed over open flames into a lovely charred outer while remaining tender and juicy on the inside. Not just the meat, the sauce is dizzyingly impressive too. Both work perfectly together, the flavour profiles of each being brought out by the other.

🗒 Flank, 205gms ($53.30)

The objective was to taste as many OMG dishes as possible, and sticking to two courses and dessert was no way to win. The only limitation was the size of the table. Our third plate - roast beef and tartare salad.

🗒 Roast Beef and Tartare Salad ($14)

The very best bits of a roast, but on toast, with mayo and sweet pickles. Why must the most delicious things also be the trickiest and messiest to eat?

🗒 Beef Marmalade and Pickles ($14)

Currently ranked 70th on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list and 14th on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Burnt Ends is a modern Australian barbecue joint tucked away in a narrow strip of shop house space in Chinatown’s Teck Lim Road.

The restaurant features a 8-seater chef’s table tucked at the far end and a burned rain-tree-wood counter table with a seating capacity of 18. The casual dining approach encouraged you to relax, chat and eat freely with your date, or whoever you were with. The table is minuscule, sure, but that was all part of the intimacy as the menu is geared toward small plates meant for sharing.

We were recommended some excellent appetizers. Our first starter was the Jamaican Chicken with Lime Crema. Packed with tons of bold flavour, it was fragrant, savoury and smoky all at once. And the grilling gave the outside a nice crispness while the inside stayed nice and juicy-tender.

🗒 Jamaican Chicken with Lime Crema ($10)

​Beefy, bloody and bizarrely hard to get right, steak has an appeal far beyond the average piece of meat for me. The best steak I ever ate was my first Wagyu steak. The year was 2007, and it was served at a little-known diner called Astons Specialties at East Coast Road that would soon become a household name synonymous with quality and affordability steaks. Weighing 250g and priced at $150, the Grade 11 Wagyu striploin steak arrived perfectly pink in the middle, and it delivered flavour, tenderness and juiciness in a combination. Nearly a decade after eating it, I'm still moved by the memories of the experience.

So when I heard about the wallet-friendly ribeye steaks of quality at The Betterfield, I couldn't help but be reminded of Aston and its humble beginnings. And I knew I had to check this place out.

Recently relocated from Waterloo Street to High Street, the down-to-earth joint is sparse-to-brutal, with plain walls done in white, the service counter is canteen-ish, the square table on a single pole with four chairs around it just isn't the inviting place to spend time. In restaurant terms, it leaves something to be desired.

I ordered the MBS 4 Australian Wagyu Ribeye, and was surprised when told the dish would be finished by the chef at the tableside - a service often reserved for fine dining. The hefty piece that arrived at the table was carved into thick slices and torch-flamed. Trust me, there's nothing quite like a meal and a show. But here's the thing - it was pulled off with a feeble presentation on a metal trolley. To make matter worse, instead of enjoying the delightful aroma wafting from the torched meat, I had to suffer the stink of cigarette smoke from the server. Anyone can put on a suit but wearing it well is another story.

And the taste of this ribeye? Unctuously tender but lacking in flavour. Typically a ribeye would pack a 'beef-y' flavour because it's marbled with fat. And we know fat is flavour. Is it why the truffle mustard and sea salt were offered to complement the meat, I wonder.

🗒 MBS 4 Australian Wagyu Ribeye - 200g, ($42)