Steak in Singapore and KL

[PCL]

Being based in the region at the moment, I recently had the a couple of revelatory steak related experiences while in Hong Kong. I thought to myself, 'it's impossible that the same can't be had in KL or Singapore,' however, people I've spoken to have all either sneered or shaken their heads.

In KL, there used to be Jakes in Damansara, off what is now that ultra busy super road that leads into town. Then the chefs moved to Bukit Damansara and opened up Rib Cage. They were good. Wholesome, no nonsense steak houses serving up an awesome oxtail soup to boot.

Then The Ship, I'd tried them a couple times in the past, but we're talking years now.

So it occured to me, ask eGullet. There might just be someone who knows....

[Tepee]

Hey PCL

Jake's charbroiled steaks has opened in the Feast Village in Starhill. Hubby also said IHO, good steak can be found at San Francisco Steak House which has outlets in D'sara Intan, Mid Valley and Sunway Summit.

Edited July 16, 2006 by Tepee (log)

[PCL]

I've eyed off San Francisco a couple times now... always been wary of chains, but hey, always a first time, so next time I'm at Mid Valley, might just give it a whack... probably for lunch.

Funny thing was, the family and I piled into Jake's last night (the original) and they were celebrating 25 years in the business with one change of ownership like I'd mentioned earlier. I got talking to the present owners and turns out, seeing as I started going there with the fam from when I was about 5, they kind of recognised me as the 'longest' serving customer there that night!! Pretty cool.

I digress... food was excellent. The old fashioned prawn cocktail rocked, the potato skins rocked, the oxtail soup was tasty but maybe with a little too much starching to thicken up... and the steaks... they exceeded expectations. Dad had the tenderloin and I saddled up with a Wagyu sirloin. Well cooked, and even though we sent back an overdone rib of lamb, service did not miss a beat. I was also impressed with the beer list!

Any other names for KL/Singapore???

[JC]

I think all the better known steak houses have already been mentioned. How about Victoria Station, which is next to Jake's?

Say PCL, how is Vlado's in Melbourne? Someone once mentioned to me their steaks were very good.

[Julian Teoh]

I've eyed off San Francisco a couple times now... always been wary of chains, but hey, always a first time, so next time I'm at Mid Valley, might just give it a whack... probably for lunch.

Funny thing was, the family and I piled into Jake's last night (the original) and they were celebrating 25 years in the business with one change of ownership like I'd mentioned earlier. I got talking to the present owners and turns out, seeing as I started going there with the fam from when I was about 5, they kind of recognised me as the 'longest' serving customer there that night!! Pretty cool.

I digress... food was excellent. The old fashioned prawn cocktail rocked, the potato skins rocked, the oxtail soup was tasty but maybe with a little too much starching to thicken up... and the steaks... they exceeded expectations. Dad had the tenderloin and I saddled up with a Wagyu sirloin. Well cooked, and even though we sent back an overdone rib of lamb, service did not miss a beat. I was also impressed with the beer list!

Any other names for KL/Singapore???

←

How about Le Bouchon in Changkat Bukit Bintang? Not a steakhouse, but being a French place, they do a good grilled sirloin and tournedos Rossini. The owners also claim to use goose foie gras, which for some reason is incredibly hard to find in Sydney.

[ecr]

PCL, what kind of sauce for the prawn cocktail at Jake's - Australian-style (French dressing-ish) or American-style (horseradish-based tomato-ey)?

FWIW, Le Meridien @ Sentrel is advertising the imminent opening of their 'international' steak restaurant, whatever that means....

[PCL]

Hmmm... the Le Med... could be an American chain. I've heard rumours of Morton's opening up in KL. They are a Chicago based chain and they have a restaurant in Tsim Tsa Tsui, Hong Kong. It's pretty good, but there are better in HK.

Julian, first up, I just remembered I never got round to giving you my notes on that thing you were doing. Apologies. Now, re: Le Bouchon... not good reports at all from my folks and friends, but seeing as you've given it a thumbs up, I'll just have to wander down. I like the area. RE: Goose foie... I am confident that in KL, one can get good quality foie. Like at Cilantro, Frangipani etc. Even some high end Chinese restaurants to it well. The problem with Sydney, or the whole of Australia really, is that you can only get the stuff pasteurises, aka mi cuit as the French call it. Damn quarantine laws. It's illegal to grow it in Australia.

ecr: The sauce is the American type, actually, pretty close to a Thousand Island... now, that is retro classic steakhouse stuff...

JC: Vlado's is Vlado's... an institution. It's a good place to start. The steaks are superlative. Nothing fussy, just meat meat meat and more meat. I've never reviewed it simply because it's been too long since I was last there, but post a question on the Aussie forum... I'm sure people will bite.

[yunnermeier]

Or what about the Australian Outback Steak House in Bangsar Village? I haven't been there but have heard good stories about it.

[ecr]

Ack! American-style, to this American anyway, is tomato-horseradishy. It should have a good bite from the horseradish and not be too sweet. We encountered that Thousand Island-ish version in Australia. An utter abomination. (No offense to Aussies intended ).

[PCL]

Okay, to be fair, it was quite a piquant sauce. It wasn't too Thousand Island-ish...

And yunner, re: Outback Steakhouse... sounds like another chain/gimmick thing ... scary...

But in the name of intrepid dining... I might just venture forth.

[Shiewie]

Although not a steakhouse, Chalet at Equatorial does a pretty good tenderloin. I'm not a big fan of Jake's though.

[PCL]

Good and bad opinions wanted... Shiewie, would you mind elaborating on Jake's?

I've heard good things about Chalet. It's a Swiss type restaurant isn't it?

[ShawnTripp]

In KL I have only had (and will continue to have) steak at one place...Suzy's Steakhouse. I think its on Jalan Ampang. Cheap atmosphere, cheap prices, great steaks. Tenderloin for 20RM can't be beat.

In Singapore there are many options...

Morton's - Chicago based very high end chain, cheapest steak $75, Oriental Hotel

Lawry's - Prime rib specialists, Orchard Road

All hotel restaurants have a standard steak on them

The Cellar Door - Bukit Timah Road, NZ Aussie theme, good steak.

[Rambutan]

In KL I have only had (and will continue to have) steak at one place...Suzy's Steakhouse. I think its on Jalan Ampang. Cheap atmosphere, cheap prices, great steaks. Tenderloin for 20RM can't be beat.

In Singapore there are many options...

Morton's - Chicago based very high end chain, cheapest steak $75, Oriental Hotel

Lawry's - Prime rib specialists, Orchard Road

All hotel restaurants have a standard steak on them

The Cellar Door - Bukit Timah Road, NZ Aussie theme, good steak.

Agree with you about Suzy's corner. it's not only visited by locals but I know for a fact the Expatriates living In KL regularly visits the place too. It's in Jalan Ampang and any decent Taxi Driver would know it by name. Cheap steak and casual dining experience the malaysian way.

As for The Ships claim for the best steak in town, i would they have the best chewy steak in town is more accurate. If you like to exercise your jaws, than The Ship is the best place to go to....

Another place worth mentioning is Chilis at Suria KLCC. Good portions and the price not so bad.

[DeliciouslyLekker]

For steak, Prime at Le Meridien is said to be the best!

[Rambutan]

Although not a steakhouse, Chalet at Equatorial does a pretty good tenderloin. I'm not a big fan of Jake's though.

Chalet is closing down at the end of this month. What a pity, the place has been around since 1973 and one of the longest running fine dining restaurants in KL. They are going to tear down Equatorial Hotel and henceforth the fate of Chalet has been sealed....

Edited March 18, 2012 by Rambutan (log)

[Keith_W]

We have a thread on steakhouses in KL and nobody has mentioned The Coliseum in Jln Tunku Abdul Rahman yet? My dad ate there when he was a kid, I ate there when I was a kid, and my old man assures me it has not changed one bit. It's really old fashioned in a colonial kind of way. Worth a look.

[Bu Pun Su]

CUT

 

Ever since the opening of 2 casinos in the island, numerous foreign celebrity chefs flocked into Singapore. However, apparently Singapore is not an easy market to handle especially if we observe what has happened at Marina Bay Sands. One by one, those restaurants carrying famous chef names including 3-star French of Guy Savoy decided to ‘close shops’. CUT, the high-end steakhouse of Wolfgang Puck, on the other hand has been very successful (Waku Ghin is another solid example). I came here for the first time with my parents when it just opened within one year and was quite impressed. The astronomical price has hindered me to make a return; moreover I’m not a hardcore fan of steak. What lured me to return here then? First, the introduction of Japan’s ‘snow’ beef in sometimes in ‘15 tempted me (one can hardly eat this rare steak outside Japan); then earlier this year I noticed there was a 10% disc of dining at CUT with Citibank card. It might not seem much but elite gastronomy restaurants offering a CC disc is usually unheard of. Therefore, I decided to re-visit CUT this Feb with my spouse.

 

We began with cheese gougeres – tasty and fluffy. The bread was quite good too such as the focaccia. For the appetizer, I shared the famous bone marrow flan. The custard made the marrow more flavorful though I preferred the plain one. It was balanced by the mushroom marmalade and toasted brioche. It was good and the half portion was just nice for me. For the main shows, we had:

Me: Hokkaido snow beef; the sirloin part and cooked medium rare – beautifully broiled with some burnt char on the surface. It was marbled, juicy and could still be pleasantly chewed (the ratio of meat vs fat was a bit balanced for Japanese wagyu standard). Moreover, it tasted more on the (slightly) salty side but not overly rich. The small portion was nice and I comfortably ate around 100 grams of it; my spouse took the other 20 gr

Wife: She likes ‘beefier’ steak and not too oily. Hence, the filet mignon cooked medium of Idaho’s American wagyu suited her taste. I tried ¼ of her portion. It was also tasty, a little buttery with good texture though nowhere as rich & delicious as any Japanese wagyu beef IMHO.

 

We also ordered 2 side dishes: creamed spinach with fried egg (not too heavy) and the smooth potato puree. Both were suitable accompaniment for our steak. Since we had flavorful premium meat, any additional sauce was unnecessary. Lastly, we shared kaya ‘baked alaska’ for the dessert. The chef adapted this classic dessert with local flavor. It was nice for a few bytes, but in the long run it’s quite 1-dimensional; everything (pandan ice cream, coconut sorbet, egg sabayon etc.) was sweet, just in different degrees. I preferred the restaurant’s chocolate soufflé over this dessert.  

 

As a fine dining steakhouse, the interior of CUT was chic and modern, dominated by dark color furniture. The light was dim, supposedly creating romantic ambiance, but this made producing good pictures became challenging.  I also found the distance between tables was not that spacious; it’s not that difficult to overhear the other tables’ conversations. The service was as expected at fine dining level – professional and friendly. Staffs promptly refilled our water and they’re not too difficult whenever you need them. The restaurant manager was busy and only took care of big tables that generally drank more than 2 bottles of wine. Anyway, it was a good meal at premium price. I think CUT can get 1 michelin star in the upcoming Singapore edition. 2 star? The red guide would be too generous ..

 

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157663364563054/with/25547003762/

 

[huiray]

On 3/18/2012 at 5:00 PM, Keith_W said:

We have a thread on steakhouses in KL and nobody has mentioned The Coliseum in Jln Tunku Abdul Rahman yet? My dad ate there when he was a kid, I ate there when I was a kid, and my old man assures me it has not changed one bit. It's really old fashioned in a colonial kind of way. Worth a look.

 

I loved, LURVED The Coliseum in my time there, and was always so grateful when my father took us out to the place. Their tit-pan steak (steak served on a HOT iron plate w/ sauce poured over it AT THE TABLE in front of you) was always such a treat and joy. There are even cartoons about the "regimen" of lifting up the edges of the white linen table cloth over one's front as the sauce was poured over the sizzling-steak-in-the-hot-plate. I, myself, chose (even when young) to use the (linen) napkins instead. :-)  BTW, for those interested, this place was an avatar of what is called Colonial Hainanese Cuisine in Malaysia. Their mulligatawny soup was another wondrous thing.

 

See here for a thread on this place. :-) ;-) 

 

ETA: PS - that was Batu Road, before the overzealous-colonial-era-scrubbing-govt-committees got to work renaming streets in KL.

Edited May 7, 2016 by huiray (log)