Ministry of Steak

8th December, Tuesday

A newly opened steak restaurant at Serangoon Garden. It came as a direct competitor to Aston's with its cheap and affordable steaks.

French Onion Soup

This was average. Nothing special, but still acceptable.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Wagyu Beef

(I didn't get a picture of this because the waiter asked me to check its done-ness. And without thinking, I sliced the beef... and the picture couldn't be taken anymore. -.-)

MOS was having a promotion on their Wagyu beef, so it cost only $29 instead of the usual $39. And it was Australian Wagyu ribeye! The beef was a bit thin, but it was still totally worth it. I ordered it medium rare, and it actually came a bit closer to rare. But nevertheless it was delicious and juicy.

V's verdict: 8/10
K's verdict: 10/10

To top things up, there was no service charge or GST. And their service was excellent. Definitely a recommended place!

Borsche Steakhouse

8th December, Tuesday

An extremely old Russian restaurant at Serangoon Garden. And evidently not much renovation was done, since the place looked exactly the same 10 years ago.

Hard boiled egg with caviar

I think I could count how many eggs there were on the egg! The caviar was okay (actually too little to really taste it). The hard boiled egg was hard and seemed to have been cooked too early and left in the fridge.

V's verdict: 5/10


Shrimp cocktail

Urgh, the shrimp they used was those small and stale ones! One bite and I refused to eat anymore of it.

V's verdict: 3/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Cream of mushroom soup

I think a more appropriate name for this would be 'Water of mushroom soup'. It was so diluted and tasted horrible!

V's verdict: 3.5/10
K's verdict: 3/10


Borsch soup

After tasting the real Borsch soup at Russia, this one doesn't come close. But still, if you ignore the fact that this isn't original, it still tasted decent.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 5/10


Sirloin steak
K ordered this. It came on a sizzling hot plate. The seasoning and taste was quite good, but I found the beef a bit lacking in natural flavour. The beef was no doubt from New Zealand. But K found it quite good.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Mixed grill

This was my main course. Mixed grill = Beef, pork, lamb, chicken. The beef was a small piece only, but it was a tenderloin so relatively it was better. The pork was a bit dry but still decent, and the lamb was ultra tough. I felt as if I was chewing a piece of rubber. The chicken was not bad though.

V's verdict: 6/10

Despite its ratings, the price was very affordable. K's set (sirloin steak) that comes with the starter, soup and a drink cost only $13.80, while my dinner set (mixed grill) costs $20.80, and it also comes with the same stuff. It's actually quite all right, if you don't mind the quality a bit.

Canopy

2nd September, Wednesday

Beef Tenderloin

I must have been dreaming when I was ordering this, because I missed the description that says "blue cheese on top of the beef". So when I ate a bit of the blue cheese, I thought it tasted funny. Unlike most people, I didn't think that it stinks, but the taste was very strong and personally, I thought that it didn't go well with the beef. But many other places do pair beef with blue cheese, so it's just my taste.

So I scraped the blue cheese off the beef. The potatoes were pan-fried and were absolutely delicious! The sauce used was also quite good - thick and tasty. The beef itself was not bad, though I expected tenderloin to be a bit more tender. The natural beef flavour was there, but a pity it wasn't stronger.

V's verdict: 7/10


Seafood chowder soup

Their soup of the day for today. I thought that this was not bad.

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Equinox

20th July, Monday

Semi buffet style; one main course and buffet.

Char grilled beef onglet

I dunno what an "onglet" is. When I asked the waiter, he said it's a kind of beef cut. Yeah, like that helps. Dictionary.com referred me to hanger steak, and the definition is:

"a cut of beef similar to flank or skirt steak in texture and rib-eye in flavor and from the diaphragm that hangs between the last rib and the loin; also called hanging tender, butcher's steak, [butcher's tenderloin], onglet"

The beef lacked a bit of the natural flavour, so it was only average. It was done just nice; not too cooked and not too raw, so that managed to save it some marks. I didn't mind it being a bit more rare, though.

As for the buffet, they shifted the foie gras into the kitchen, so you have to order from the waiter instead of queuing and asking the chef to fry it. They said it was because of the smell. True enough, the smell of pan fried foie gras is very strong and fills up the whole place.

The foie gras wasn't too good today. It wasn't juicy enough; perhaps it was a tad overdone? But the oysters and crab were excellent! I seldom see such fat and fresh oysters in Singapore. Their parsnip soup was not bad.

Salmon sashimi wasn't as good as before, but still decent. For dessert I mainly had ice cream, so I was pretty contented. $59

V's verdict:
6.5/10 (beef)
7/10 (buffet)

Prego

15th June, Monday

An Italian restaurant at Fairmont Hotel. My AMEX card gives me a 50% discount if I were to dine here with one more person, so it's very worth it.

Vitello tonnato e giadiniera ortolana



This is basically poached veal salad. The ham-like meat at the bottom of the dish is the poached veal, and beneath that is a layer of tuna. Nothing special with the poached veal and tuna. The sauce was a bit too sour for me, so I didn't really enjoy this dish.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Manzo alla salvia con patate artosto



Roasted ribeye. This didn't look too appetizing, I must admit. But it turned out ok. I asked for it to be medium rare, but was told that since it is roasted, it can only be well done. Oh well.

The meat was a little tough, but still okay for me. Tastewise it was all right too. The potatoes, however, were too dry. Oh, and it wasn't well done, by the way. It was medium well.

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

9th June, Tuesday

Pepper steak (Pepper lunch Express)



This was on offer ($7.90 instead of $8.90) so I decided to give it a try. It was not bad, especially since I love bean sprouts. The steak was quite all right, though you have to be careful not to overcook it. But compared to Pepper Lunch, they obviously used lower quality beef (not surprising, since it's around 50% cheaper). Still, I was quite satisfied.

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Cheese roti prata



Prata with cheese. It was prepared very nicely, and the dough was crispy. Cheese prata isn't really my type though; I still prefer it plain (kosong). The gravy could be thicker too.

V's verdict: 5/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Canopy

26th April, Sunday

Located at Bishan Park. My uncle is actually the one of the owners, and it's one of the few places in Singapore where people can bring their dogs to without worrying whether it is legal or not.

Lobster bisque



Excellent! The soup was thick and full of flavour, with small chunks of lobster inside. $11

V's verdict: 8.5/10
K's verdict: 9/10


New Zealand Green Shell Mussels



The mussels itself didn't taste too good, but their sauce --- a tomato cream sauce --- managed to make up for it. In fact, the sauce was so good that I finished up almost all of it. My father didn't really like the sauce, though. $14

V's verdict: 7/10


Australian Beef Ribeye



This was quite all right. I ordered medium rare, but I think it came out as medium. Couldn't verify it by sight as we were sitting outside and it was too dark. Served with mashed potatoes and asparagus and topped with a thick gravy. $28

V's verdict: 7/10


Canopy's Gourmet Beef Burger



My mother ordered this and was quite pleased with it. The beef patty was juicy, the bread was a bit crisp, and the fries were freshly fried and tasted good. My only sore point is that it didn't come with bacon or cheese; an additional $3 was required. $15

V's verdict: 7.5/10