Sunset Bar & Grill

C says:

This place has the best buffalo wings in Singapore, by a mile. A discovered it when he went there a couple of years ago for a friend’s stag night, and it was by sheer luck that the both of us managed to find it again a few months after that. It’s tucked deep (and I do mean deep) within Seletar Airbase, amongst old colonial bungalows and aircraft hangars. In fact, the restaurant is situated right next to the runway, and if you’re lucky, you can catch a plane taking off or landing while you feast on the scrumptious food. Of course, once we found the place, we took no chances and asked them to give us a detailed map, which we followed precisely on our next visit, and we’ve been going back so often ever since that the route is now second nature to us.

To me, the place is worth going purely for the buffalo wings. The wings arrive piping hot and are tender and juicy, with the meat practically falling off the bone. The hotness levels range from Level 1 all the way to Level 10. We’ve never tried anything beyond Level 4, though, which already pretty much reduces everyone to tears. The deep fried calamari is also very simple but one of the best I’ve tried, with the calamari crispy on the outside yet tender and not at all chewy.

On Friday night we went with our friends S and E. We had brought S there before, but it was E’s first time. S’s chili tolerance is on the low side, so we had half a dozen Level 1s just for her, and another dozen Level 3s for the rest of us. The wings didn’t disappoint, although they were definitely less spicy than previous Level 3s that we’ve had there. I’m quite sure that chili levels are arbitrary, because unless they have precise measurements on how much chili goes into Level 3, 4, 5, etc, you’ll never get the exact same amount of spiciness each time. Friday’s Level 3 was like a normal Level 2, but they were still enjoyable to the last morsel.

The four of us shared a brownie with ice cream for dessert. A wanted his own brownie but unfortunately they only had one brownie left. The brownie here is baked by the owner Jerry’s wife, and is typically old school – warm, soft and almost cake-like, with only a minimum amount of nuts, then drizzled with hot fudge sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. Interesting point – S asked the waitstaff what brand of vanilla ice cream they use, expecting it to be Haagen Daaz or Ben & Jerry’s. To our surprise, it was Nestle! The ice cream was surprisingly good, so perhaps Nestle’s quality has improved in recent years.

A says:

Unofficial history (derived from rumors, gossip & hearsay) – the owner of Sunset is the Jerry of Jerry’s. He sold that and went on to start Buckaroo’s. Sold that and is now doing Sunset.

Each place has its own specialty in my opinion (Jerry’s has better beef ribs while Buckaroo’s has the onion tower thing), but this place is my favorite. Almost all the starters rock. The calamari is also some of the best I’ve had in Singapore. The starters are so good that we order a whole bunch of those and just skip the mains. In fact, the only main really worth ordering is the hamburger.

I think besides the food, what sells the place is the setting. It’s laidback and getting there is an adventure in itself. So good luck finding the place!