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Singapore Dining - Burnt Ends

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  • Singapore Dining - Burnt Ends

    Singaporeans are a well travelled lot. With amazing connectivity out of Changi, not to mention really good airfare deals, folks living here travel far and wide. Many go abroad to try new restaurants and cuisines. Some go to near-insane lengths to dine well.

    But of course it isn’t always necessary to fly out of Singapore for great food. Occasionally, we get lucky: apart from home grown culinary talent (Of which there is plenty), there are also chefs and restauranteurs of international acclaim who have come here.

    I’m not talking about celebrity chefs who fly in, setup a fancy restaurant with their name and brand, then fly out. Few in that category have invested the time and effort to make their foreign outposts anything as memorable as the original. I am referring to another category altogether: a growing number of top chefs who have decided to make Singapore their base.

    A good example of the latter would be David Pynt and his restaurant here, Burnt Ends. The buzz had already begun to build up before Burnt Ends opened in Singapore. Mr Pynt's pop-up restaurant in London in 2012, named Burnt Enz, had already generated a lot of excitement. A quick Google search of “Burnt Enz” will generate a whole lot of hits, with many raving about the wonderful barbeque served up at this pop-up restaurant.

    Mr Pynt had also spent time at Asador Etxebarri, where chef Victor Arguinzoniz had done amazing things with barbeque. I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations (Series 5, episode 7) where Bourdain visited Etxebarri and sampled some of the amazing things that chef Victor did with his custom grilll. And Etxebarri is featured again in his latest season of Parts Unknown. I suspect Mr Pynt learnt a thing or two about barbeque during his stint there.
    Last edited by yflyer; 12 June 2017, 09:25 AM.

  • #2
    Burnt Ends is located in a conservation shophouse at Teck Lim Road, near the Keong Saik Road junction close to Chinatown.





    It is not a large restaurant…



    …with mainly counter seating, either looking towards the barbeque and large woodfired oven, or bar counter seats facing the wall.



    Apart from the counter seats here is also a chef’s table for 6-8 or a private room on one of the upper levels that can seat 6-14.

    At the counter, you can watch the chefs at work at the grill…



    …and also see what goes in and out of the huge custom oven…

    Last edited by yflyer; 12 June 2017, 09:26 AM.

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    • #3
      I came here with Mrs yflyer for lunch in March 2017…



      …and also dined there a few months prior with a good friend.

      On both occasions I was there, David Pynt, the chef /owner and driving force behind Burnt Ends, was on the other side of the counter, working with his team and ensuring guests were having what might possibly have been the best barbeque meal of their lives…





      What makes Burnt Ends so special?

      While the cuts of meat look very impressive (and so did the seafood)…



      …what really impressed me was the single minded focus on preparing great food.

      The restaurant is casual in setting and ambience, and what could be more back-to-basics than barbeque and a wood fired oven, but Burnt Ends distinguishes itself through the level of care that the team takes in preparing the dishes on offer, which have a level of refinement and sophistication in taste and texture that you simply do not expect in this type of cuisine.

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      • #4
        But first, drinks. A curated wine list, and an intriguing selection of cocktails and cleansers.





        I started with a smoked old fashioned.

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        • #5
          As usual, in order to maximize the number of dishes we could try, Mrs yflyer and I ordered a selection of dishes to share. We ordered onglet (A cut of beef otherwise known as hanger steak), which was sold by weight, as well as several starters. The raw cut of meat was presented to us for inspection before its turn on the grill…



          The selection of meats changes each day.
          Last edited by yflyer; 12 June 2017, 09:27 AM.

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          • #6
            We shared a few starters…

            Smoked quail’s egg and caviar…



            This was an inspired match of flavours. The quail’s egg had a wonderful smoky quality to it.

            Duck hearts with peri peri seasoning was next, which was another winner…



            On a previous visit, we also ordered the grissini with taramasalata, which was a crisp bread with a tangy, bracing, topping of creamy spread made from fish roe…



            The sanger (A kind of pulled pork sandwich) was a miracle of moist, juicy pork and coleslaw in a large black-sesame crusted bun…



            Best to share, as one whole sanger would probably constitute a meal in itself…

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            • #7
              Our first barbequed steak course was the beef onglet. This was served medium rare, together with onions and bone marrow…



              This was very tender, and wonderfully flavoured beef…



              …which went very well with a glass of red from NZ winery William Downie…

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              • #8
                On the previous occasion, I was there, I also sampled the Mayura cube roll…



                …which was simply one of the most delicious cuts of steaks I had eaten in Singapore in a long time…



                On one hand, this was just meat grilled over a flame...but different cuts of meat do taste different, and just how it is grilled makes a world of difference.

                There is a lot more on offer at Burnt Ends than just barbeque, but sampling a couple of different cuts of beef here is likely to lead you to think that perhaps conventional thinking about how to prepare steak should be thrown out, and pehaps more restaurants should be installing custom grills in their kitchens...
                Last edited by yflyer; 12 June 2017, 09:39 AM.

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                • #9
                  Some of the sides we ordered included Leeks with hazelnut and brown butter…



                  …and a bone marrow bun (which sounds as indulgent as it is…)…



                  We didn't order any seafood that day, but some of the other tables did. The grilled king crab that was served that day looked particularly delicious.
                  Last edited by yflyer; 11 June 2017, 10:56 PM.

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                  • #10
                    There is exactly one dessert on the menu, a plum and blueberry tart…



                    …which we shared. A moist and tasty tart, which provided a suitably sweet ending to this very substantial meal.

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                    • #11
                      Final impressions?

                      This restaurant is one-of-a-kind. The concept is fairly unique, and the cuisine is of a standard seldom found in Singapore restaurants. Who knew the humble barbeque/grill could achieve such greatness. Service is good: casual in concept but warm and professional. And across the counter, the food preparation is going on in front of you at a dizzying pace…quite a spectacle to watch.

                      All that said, if the intention is a quiet romantic dinner gazing into your partner's eyes, then Burnt Ends may not be the ideal venue: most seats face the grill. A few seats face a bare wall. You'll be looking at food the whole time, not your companion. Neither does the place aim to offer fussy, buttoned-up fine dining. Probably the opposite. The vibe is casual, functional, even utilitarian, which allows both staff and diners to focus on the matter at hand: the food, with ingredients carefully selected and prepared with what appears to be minimal compromise.



                      Burnt Ends would have been a hit restaurant in any country in the world. But it’s right here at our doorstep in Singapore. Whether you live here, or are visiting, and whether you are a fan of barbeque or not, you owe it to yourself to check this place out. I doubt you will regret it!
                      Last edited by yflyer; 12 June 2017, 02:36 AM.

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                      • #12
                        Thanks for doing this. Enjoy your writing. Do more please

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by jani View Post
                          Thanks for doing this. Enjoy your writing. Do more please
                          Thanks, jani! Yes, more in the works...

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                          • #14
                            Look who just dined at Burnt Ends!

                            https://www.facebook.com/BurntEndsSG...332058411645:0

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                            • #15
                              KFC no good?.....

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