Singapore officially lifted its ban on US beef today, so what better way to celebrate than to get a nice bloody steak? The venue tonight was The Tavern (229 River Valley Road, 6737-6995). This was a quaint and cozy little wood-paneled place, complete with Continental European menus written on a wheeled chalkboard that are pushed by to your table. Almost as if Morton's and Lawry's joined forces, this place pushes the raw meat over to your table, and then carves it in front of you (before cooking though), where it is weighed in order to calculate the charges. To be honest, I didn't know that US beef was available already, but when I noticed it on the menu, I was a bit surprised, and the waiter told me that this was the first day. The dish selection was a no-brainer then!
It was pretty good: tender, rich, and full of that flame-broiled taste. They underdid by "medium" a bit, but I didn't mind so much, as it sure is better than being overdone. I also got the goulash to start, which was piping hot and full of little diced ingredients. I've never been to Hungary, so I can't really say if this was authentic or not, but it was pretty good, even if it didn't seem as spicy as some others that I've tried (I was quite addicted to Soup Central's until they closed their International Plaza branch). Finally, I finished this off with the "Mango-Mango," which was basically just sliced mango with mango sorbet.I heard that long ago, this place would feature beef from Niman Ranch back home, but no one seemed to know a thing about it tonight (I guess they haven't served US beef in so long that they forgot). This place came with Morton's-like prices though, so for that kind of money, I'd admittedly still rather go to Morton's instead. The Tavern does have a bar next door, billed as a "Wine, Tapas, & Music Bar," so I thought it might be nice to come back to try the tapas one of these days (and they seemed to have some "All-Night-Long, Drink All You Can" special for only S$30 or US$17.65 on weekdays). But I looked at the menu very quickly before leaving, and alas, it wasn't Spanish food - it was just random bar snacks, complete with mini hamburgers and tandoori chicken. Hmph. Oh well. I heard that Lawry's was going to throw some sort of US beef reunion party or something tonight. I wonder how that went.
4 comments:
their set lunch on sat is really cheap. Under S$20 u get 3 courses plus coffee or tea... Damn worth it...
Go try the set lunch :) J
I really enjoyed reading your blogs. I must say you are really adventurous and done very well with all the food venturing.
If you haven't tried the following places, check them out and hope you'll enjoy it.
1. Our Village in Boat Quay, al fresco dining on the 5th floor with lovely view (try their famous Chicken dish, the names too long to remember)
2. En Japanese Bar and Dining (located on Mohd Sultan Rd, close to Siam Supperclub)
3. Wasabi Tei (Far East Plaza, 5th Floor)
4. Hooha Cafe and Bar (Pasir Panjang Village)
5. Shima (Goodwood Park Hotel)
Enjoy! :-)
Thanks. Yes, I've been to En a couple times and I recall it being pretty good, but that was years before I started this blog.
I am not a big fan of Shima though. Granted, it was the lunch buffet (and I hate buffets), so maybe their regular meals are a little better. But I never went back after that lunch.
I'll keep your other suggestions in mind though...what kind of cuisine are Our Village and Hooha Cafe? And is Wasabi Tei a sushi bar or something?
Yes, they used to serve Niman Ranch Beef. I love Niman Ranch Beef as the flavour was very rich and the texture was to die for. Unfortunately they don't serve that anymore. I guess the market back then was not willing to pay SGD300/KG for steak which is relatively unknown in Singapore.
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