Cozy Steak Place

I first read about Les Bouchons on The Travelling Hungryboy’s website, where he promised “an unpretentious French place specializing in Steak Frites”. Well that was enough to sell it to Mr Greedy Glutton and I, so we took our hungry stomachs off to Ann Siang Road.

This was actually the second time we tried to get in here – the first time it was fully booked (not surprisingly when you see the limited number of seats) so I rang ahead this time and booked a table. Well, I fell in love with this cozy little restaurant as soon as I walked in – it was exactly as we’d anticipated – unpretentious, undeniably French… and the food smells wafting through from the kitchen were amazing… There was even a table of Frenchmen on the table next to us, just to complete the ambience!

This is definitely a carnivores-only place, with a very limited menu of Steak Frites and very little else (well, with the exception of a couple of Lamb dishes, and a couple of Fish dishes). We dithered over whether to go for the 1kg “Cote de Boeuf” Prime Rib for two, but I eventually settled on the Grilled Rib Eye Steak with “Vigneron” Butter,

while Mr Greedy Glutton went for the Grilled Sirloin Steak with Herbs. All the plats here come with a free-flow of crispy frites, and a side salad.

Well what can I say? The steak was delicious, the fries were delicious, and washed down with a nice bottle of Red, we had ourselves a fantastic evening in this lovely cozy little hideaway.

I almost don’t want to tell too many people about it in case it becomes so popular that I can’t get a table… but Les Bouchons has definitely become my number 1 spot for Steak Frites in Singapore…

Les Bouchons – 7 Ann Siang Road

Celebratory Steaks

It was my Birthday Eve and Mr Greedy Glutton had arranged to take me out for a slap-up carnivorous meal at famous steakhouse, Morton’s, The Steakhoue at the Mandarin Oriental, what a lovely surprise!

I started off with a ridiculously-priced Pomegranate Martini in the bar, which certainly looked impressive and, once I’d managed to suck through the thick layer of froth, packed a powerful punch.

We then headed through to the restaurant itself. This has a very different atmosphere from the outset from most other restaurants we’ve been to in Singapore. The windowless room with, low ceilings, comfy seating and walls adorned with photos of past patrons gives a definite flavour of North America, which is of course the home to the original Morton’s.

The service too is more akin to a North American restaurant than to your typical Singaporean one. As we all know, Singaporean waiters can be somewhat lacking in attentiveness, and often friendliness – but here we were welcomed like long-lost friends and made a thorough fuss of the whole meal… even if it hadn’t have been my birthday, I should certainly have felt like it was.

As soon as we were seated a waiter appeared with some bread. However, this was no small bread roll to nibble on while we perused the menu –oh no at Morton’s they serve you an entire loaf of freshly baked bread!

We were even warned by the Maitre D’ not to eat to much or risk ruining our steak appetites… so they obligingly parcelled it up so we could enjoy for breakfast the next day!

The fun really began when our waiter arrived to explain the various cuts of steak. He carried with him a tray filled with lifesize (Read: enormous) versions of these hunks of meat to illustrate his banter – which was quite theatrical in delivery as he talked us through how he envisaged each being prepared and cooked.

All theatrics out of the way, we were finally allowed a peek at the menu, although the Sommelier wouldn’t assist with the wine choice until we had chosen our steak, as obviously each different cut merits a different accompanying wine! So obviously we made a quick decision so as to get our hands on a bottle of red quickly! Although the wine list was long and comprehensive, with the majority being in the very expensive range, I am pleased to say that the Sommelier was more than happy to help us choose a suitable wine to fit our still-expensive-but-not-ridiculously-so budget.

So, to the food… as we were obviously going for fully carnivorous main courses, we looked to the ocean for our starters, with me opting for the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail and Mr Greedy Glutton choosing the Lobster Bisque. The Lobster Bisque was very tasty – rich and creamy and garnished with large lumps of lobster tail.

I was a teensy bit disappointed with my Shrimp Cocktail – mainly because the dipping sauce was loaded with Horseradish, which happens to be a bit of an aversion of mine – and without the dip the Shrimp was left a little lost.

Never mind, onwards we went to the main reason for being here – the Steak. Having taken note of the ridiculous size of the cuts of meat on our waiter’s tray, we both opted for the “Slightly Smaller Steaks” – a New York Strip Steak for Mr Greedy Glutton, served with a Peppercorn Sauce (yes, this really is a ‘Slightly Smaller Steak’ despite the fact that it takes up the entire plate!)

And I opted for the Filet Diane- a filet mignon with a mushroom, cognac and mustard sauce. It was delicious… and cooked exactly how I like it. Whilst I normally order my steak rare, the waiter warned me that it would still be cold in the middle, so I upped my order to medium-rare, and it was perfect.

We threw in a side order of fries and some garlic sautéed green beans to pretend we were being healthy and we had ourselves one ginormous feast.

We were completely and utterly full to the brim by the end of the steak course… but it was a special occasion, and everybody knows that special occasions merit desserts… What did look particularly special was the soufflés that were being carried to other people’s tables – but these need to be ordered at the same time as the main courses, and we wouldn’t have had enough room anyway… so we shared a Crème Brulee instead.

Well those lovely waiting staff only went and stuck a candle in the dessert and accompanied it en masse to our table where they all sang Happy Birthday to me (in harmony, no less!) – they then took our photo and turned it into a dated birthday card signed by all the team…

So yes the food, and in particular the steaks, was delicious… but what really made the evening was the enthusiasm and energy of the waiting staff… who made me feel like a very special birthday girl indeed…

Morton’s - http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/509000168.asp

Steak on a Rainy Day

On Sunday it rained. All Day. So what do you do in Singapore when it rains? Well, you either shop, or you eat... and there's no prizes for guessing which one the Greedy Gluttons chose to do.

We grabbed our umbrellas and took a cab up to Dempsey Hill (and no we weren’t there for the teak shops). It was a little early for dinner when we arrived so we stopped off to kill some time over a couple of beers in the fab Hacienda bar before heading on to the meat-tastic The Prime Society.

We started off with some Lemon Salt & Pepper Calamari, which was a little disappointing (bland and slightly too chewy),

but really we should have known - the only thing to eat in Prime Society is steak. We naturally obliged and ordered up a Sirloin each - a 160g with herb butter for me, and a 220g with blue cheese butter for my greedier other half.

I'm pleased to say they were a 100% improvement on the calamari starter. Served on oak plank boards, they had been cooked to specification and the butter accompaniment enhanced the flavour without overpowering. The accompanying vegetables had also been cooked perfectly, and were a worthy companion.

A word of praise too is due to the waiting staff, who have obviously been well trained and were attentive, smiling and polite.

Ah yes, a juicy rare steak and a few glasses of red wine... the perfect antidote to a miserable Sunday afternoon... and certainly beats walking round a shopping mall any day....

The Prime Society - www.theprimesociety.com

Treetop Treats

Wednesday evening and we once again headed back to the Banyan Tree for dinner, this time taking the buggy further up the hill to Treetops. As the name suggests this beautiful, breezy restaurant is spread across wooden decking up in the treetops, looking out to sea – dimly lit and incredibly romantic.

The menu was an eclectic mix of Indonesian, European and Grill items, so plenty to choose from. For starters we shared the Lumpia Udang Karang – crispy lobster spring roll with fresh vegetables, glass noodles and sweet chilli sauce (I mean, lobster in spring rolls? - did I die and go to Heaven?!) and the slightly less exciting Fried Scallop-Crab Meat Cakes which came with a jalapeno mayonnaise, snow peas sprout salad, diced mango and peppermint oil.



From main courses we both opted for Australian Black Angus Beef Sirloin Steaks from the grill section, served with Potato-parmesan Gratin and Ratatouille. Now, we normally have a rule against ordering the same dish - usually opting for different dishes so that we can sample as much as possible off the menu – but having spent the morning playing golf and the afternoon playing tennis, our appetites were large, and big juicy steaks were in order. And we did slightly differentiate our orders through our choice of sauce – Red Shallot Glaze with Port Wine for me, Champignon Crème with fresh herbs for Mr Greedy Glutton. And our cooking requests were also different although unfortunately my 'rare' was slightly more well-done than Mr Greedy Glutton's 'medium'…but I was on holiday, and sufficiently mentally-horizontal not to care too much.



No dessert tonight as (it rarely happens) we admitted to having eaten sufficient not to require one… instead treating ourselves to another bottle of full-bodied Aussie Red…


Treetops, Banyan Tree, Bintan – www.banyantree.com