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October 20, 2008 Quest for the Perfect Steak

Yesterday, the Wakeboarding Smurf asked about good places for steak in Singapore as he too is a connoisseur of the slab of red meat that we all love and adore. As you already know, I am in search of the perfect steak in Singapore along with my sidekick Comic Boy. So I write this post to impart my progress of this daunting search.

The great steak problem in Singapore is that there is absolutely no discretion on the types of meat you can find here. Invariably, your meat will be classified by country of origin and this usually means the US, Australia or New Zealand1. Your most common cuts of meat2 are going to be the big three – tenderloin3, sirloin4, and rib-eye.

Beyond that, there is no further differentiation of the meat. We’re missing the gamut of beef from the British Isles and other beef exporting countries, like the Netherlands. A shame since there are nuances in the Dutch beef5 and British beef.

Furthermore, the cow’s breed is often a contributory factor in the structure of the end steak. Rick Stein’s Food Heroes on the BBC6 highlighted the importance of breed and rearing to the ultimate taste of your steak. Most mass produced beef is going to be homogeneous in its taste – even with the USDA Prime classifications. Singapore is a not a meat producing country and its taste buds have yet to drive a strong demand for a better quality cut.

So what to do for the steak lover in Singapore? Well, there are a number of choices. First choice is to buy back and cook your own steak and second choice is eating out.

Cooking Your Own

When you buy your own meat, you probably want to avoid Cold Storage. If you can’t due to budget constraints, then try for the branches located in “upmarket” places as I have found that these have nicer cuts of meat7.

The Marketplace at the Paragon does some nice cuts but this again is standard fare and you’ll pay a premium for the Australian which I find isn’t worth it. The New Zealand beef is more reasonably priced and the taste difference won’t affect you too much at this end of the beef scale. You also have upmarket butchers which I have never bought from although I have had the privilege of being a guest at dinners where meat from these places has been served from these places – Swiss Butchery8 and Espirito Santo9.

The advantages of home cooking is that you get your steak the way you like it. Two pitfalls for the steak lover in Singapore are that it’s often hard to call the steak size you want and be aware of what your definition of how it is cooked translates into the understanding of the establishment10.

Eating Out

The other alternative is to eat out. Unfortunately, I cannot put my finger on any one place and say that it is the definitively the best (and the quest continues…) but I can give an indication on where you can get your steak fix and still be satisfied11.

The Prime Society12

At top recommendation is The Prime Society in Dempsey Hill. Good steaks but still room for improvement – the thickness should be a little bigger as they are a little thin on the plate. You are limited to the size of your steak to two options – small and large. Last time I asked, these had been pre-cut so not much room to call your steak size. The meat served is of US origin.

Service is friendly if not a little hit and miss in consistency; and in groups of larger than five, it is best to avoid since it can be a little bit of nightmare as it doesn’t seem they are prepared for that.

Dan Ryan’s13

I tried Dan Ryan’s again last night and a candidate for a strong steak. I’ve only tried the steak there three times. The thickness of the cut is good14 for the rib-eye but they do serve the steaks unsalted, leaving the joy of salting it to you. The first time I took away from there so the taste was unspectacular as it wasn’t salted. The second time was with my SMART team from the expo, so we were ravenous as dogs and it really is hard to compare if you are hungry as hell. Last night’s visit showed me an appreciation of their steaks, although I over-salted my own steak which was embarrassing15.

This demands further investigation…

Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse16

Probably the most expensive steak that you will find in Singapore for what you get and what you think you get. The sizes are American so expect your steaks to be large. To be honest with you, I’ve only tried the fillet steak here and, for the best cut of meat around, was distinctly disappointed. The cut was too chunky as in it should have been rounder, flatter more like a steak than the cylindrical tube of beef I did receive the last time I was there. As a result, the beef was fridge cold in the centre rather than being a nice room temperature when I asked for it blue/very rare.

The ambiance is nice although the place does seem staffed by drones and one time I went there, they failed to honor the booking that was made. You’d think they would know that when you make a booking, then it must be for a special reason as you’re not likely to be booking a place that serves the most expensive steak in Singapore for any old reason. Perhaps it is an authentic Chicago steakhouse, attitude and all.

Not a place that is recommended for steak on the basis of value for money; Morton’s is definitely the place to take folks where you need to pretentiously show off the bling.

Angus Steakhouse – Ngee Ann City17

Comic Boy swears by Angus Steakhouse as it seems to be his favourite place to meet up with me; but then he has his steak burnt to a cinder so what does he know? I am not really too fond of this place. The steaks are too thin, covered with a horrible layer of onion gravy18. It’s also covered with a funny piece of garlic herb butter which doesn’t really melt. Perhaps the Wagyu beef is better but not having the will to shell out for the premium beef scam, the only reference is that Comic Boy stopped paying for his Wagyu beef and downgraded to regular fillet.

Be aware that stepping over the threshold of the Angus Steakhouse will take you into a strangely Kubrik-esque zone of non-reality. A piano plays freakishly on its own while the waitresses wander around in maid’s outfits in somewhat of a daze19. This is all colour coordinated with the black and white checkered floor accentuated by plaster walls. Sophistication seems to have become an art form to be studied, parodied and butchered along with the steaks.

Black Angus Steakhouse20

Reasonable fare although the steaks were a little tough from what I recall. I definitely find this to be more value for money than the Angus Steakhouse at Ngee Ann. I do think the char-grilled taste became overbearing to the point of it tasting borderline burned (even for a rare steak). Been to this place a few times and the effect was never wow.

If you ask me this place is a dressed up Jack’s Place. However, amuse yourself by picking a prime window seat and spot all the dirty visiting tourists and their newly acquired girlfriends walking by.

Of course, there are plenty of places that have steak on the menu and these are a few of them. I’m still in search of the perfect steak in Singapore. I suspect that the Raffles Grill at the Raffles Hotel might be holding something truly sumptuous although vaguely remembering the Wagyu steak I had there, it wasn’t too spectacular although the price tag was. I can’t recall if last year I had the Chateaubriand but that probably says something about its memorability.

And so the quest continues…

  1. This is also the order of “premium” so the US meat being the most expensive and the beef from New Zealand being less so. [↩]
  2. Since hardly any beef is imported from the UK, we are going with the US designations of cuts much that I am loathe to further the cause of Americanism around the world. [↩]
  3. Tenderloin is also known as fillet steak in some countries [↩]
  4. Sirloin is also interchangeable with striploin, although the sirloin comes from the surloin area of the cow while the striploin usually originates from the short loin area [↩]
  5. Holland produces some of the nicest veal in the world, but then I am biased. The Italians would probably beg to differ but then we don’t shut our calves without sunlight in a box and feed them unnaturally with milk for the duration of their lives. [↩]
  6. Food Heroes Meat Directory on the BBC. [↩]
  7. For example, there is difference in the Cold Storage in Takashimaya and the Cold Storage in Cluny Court (I suspect because of the large number of expats in the area). [↩]
  8. Swiss Butchery
    Mon-Fri 10 am-7pm
    Sat 10 am-6pm
    Closed Sunday
    30/32 Greenwood Ave
    Tel (65) 6468 7588
    Takes credit cards [↩]
  9. B2 Great World City
    Tel: 6256 5070
    Monday to Sunday 10am-7.30pm [↩]
  10. For details on the standard international definitions of rare, medium and well-done, Wikipedia has a good article – Wikipedia’s Steak [↩]
  11. Note satisfied, not sated. [↩]
  12. The Prime Society
    http://www.theprimesociety.com
    10 Dempsey Road
    #01-20 Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
    Tel. 65 6474 7427 [↩]
  13. Dan Ryan’s

    http://www.danryans.com/dans/

    91 Tanglin Road
    #B1-01 Tanglin Place

    Tel: 6738 2800 [↩]

  14. The thickness of the cut should vary with the actual cut of the meat I feel [↩]
  15. In all honesty, they should have salted the damned thing [↩]
  16. Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse
    Level 4, 5 Raffles Avenue,
    Marina Square,
    Mandarin Oriental Singapore
    Singapore 039797

    Tel: 65 6339 3740 [↩]

  17. Angus Steak House
    391 Orchard Road
    #04-25 Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya)
    Singapore 238872

    Tel: 67356015 / 67356016 [↩]

  18. I’ll be honest, I have no idea what the hell the sauce is about even after being generously given a boat full of the stuff to add to my rice of all things [↩]
  19. Be warned, never ask for anything outside the process of regular ordering of food. Doing so will invariably spoil your appetite. [↩]
  20. Black Angus Steakhouse
    #01-08, 1 Tanglin Road,
    Orchard Parade Hotel
    Singapore 247905

    Tel.: 65 6734 1181 [↩]

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